Let's Go Back to the Bible

What God Says About Homosexuality (Part 4 of 5)

When one claims to speak (or write) what “God says,” obligation is placed upon that person to do just that—speak what God says and only what God says.  The apostle Peter wrote, “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God” (1 Pet. 4:11, NIV).  The intent of these articles is not to present personal opinion or to offer harsh criticism or to render unfair judgment.  It is simply to present “what God says”!  Having already investigated some Old Testament passages, consider these from the New Testament.

Romans chapter 1 is explicitly clear.  “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (1:18).  Now, notice what God’s wrath is revealed against specifically.  “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies” (1:24, ESV).  What were they doing?  “God gave them up to dishonorable passions” (1:26).  What were they doing?  “For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another” (1:26-27).  These were “men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due” (1:27, NKJV).  This is such a graphic and instructive text.

Note in this passage that the behavior is “impure,” “dishonorable,” “contrary to nature,” “shameful” and an “error.”  Those are not my words or my evaluation; those are God’s words and God’s evaluation.  Verse 32 goes on to conclude that “those who practice such things are deserving of death,” as well as those who “give approval to those who practice them.”  This is serious and not something to be taken lightly or dismissed nonchalantly.

As Romans 1 revealed the wrath of God against all unrighteousness, Paul asked this question in 1 Corinthians 6: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” (6:9).  Those who practice unrighteousness will suffer eternal consequences for it.  Paul then specifies, “Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (6:9-10).  Note the two words, “homosexuals” and “sodomites,” which the NIV translates, “men who have sex with men.”  While some have been led to believe that this doesn’t actually mean what it says, note how Paul begins by saying, “Do not be deceived.”

This is not a comfortable or popular topic to discuss, in some respects, however, we must know what God says, so that we can follow what God says in our lives.