THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST
SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUs
The Truth About Homosexuality
Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, Ben Bailey.
Fifty years ago, homosexuality was something about which you heard very little. But not today! The homosexual movement is being shoved down people’s throats at an alarming rate. We are told that homosexuals were “simply born that way,” and that it is an “alternative lifestyle” that we need to accept. So, today we are going to examine what the Bible has to say on the subject of homosexuality. Welcome to our study on the truth about the homosexual movement and what the Scriptures say about homosexuality.
What does God say about homosexuality? Does the Bible have anything to say about homosexual practices? If so, does God condone or condemn such practices? We begin our study in Genesis 1:27, although we will be looking at several verses in both the Old and New Testaments that deal with homosexuality. We begin as early as Genesis 1:27 where the Bible says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” When God created humankind, He did not make Adam and Steve. Rather, He made Adam and Eve. God made man and woman. That was the ultimate design in His plan. Man and woman can cohabitate, reproduce, and be fruitful and multiply as the Scriptures teach regarding God’s laws of marriage. But man and man cannot do that. Thus, we must be very careful to understand that all the way back to the beginning of creation, God has had a plan for males and females, not for males and males. Now, also look at what Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” When God set things in order for the first home and family, He said that a man should leave his father and mother and be joined—not to another man, but to his wife. God set up this plan to include man and woman—so that the two of them could become one flesh in order to make up the home and family. So when marriage was initiated by God back at the very beginning of time, marriage was heterosexual—between men and women, not between males and males (it has never been that way in the Scriptures).
It is true, of course, that the media today promote homosexuality at an alarming rate. To have a popular sitcom be successful on television today, it is a well-known fact that you must have at least one homosexual included. Think about that. To be accepted by Hollywood, and to have a successful sitcom, it is necessary to promote this kind of agenda? Look at the media. Everywhere you turn, homosexuality is becoming popular. The “gay community” is growing at an alarming rate because people are promoting homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle. But in the Scriptures we see that God does not at all condone homosexual practices. Look at Genesis 19 where the people had degraded their morals. In Genesis 19:5 we see that two angels had come to deliver Lot and his family from the immorality associated with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot brings them into his house, and the people of the city called out to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” These people were so wicked that angels from Heaven came to deliver Lot and his family from that evil generation. And what did the people of Sodom and Gomorrah say? Their attitude was, “Here are ‘new men.’ Bring them out to us so that we can know them carnally.” Lot, of course, urged the people not to carry out such a wicked plan. Eventually, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their wickedness. What did homosexuality get these two cities? It turned the two cities into ashes. What wickedness was described as being in these two cities! How is that any different from certain places today—when all that people can think about is the fleshly lusts and desires that are related to homosexuality?
There is another important passage in Leviticus 18:22. If there was ever clear language in the Bible condemning homosexuality, this would be it. “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” How strongly does God feel about homosexuality? God said, “Do not do it. It is an abomination in My sight!” People often say, “Where does the Bible say that homosexuality is wrong? You cannot find one verse that says that it is sinful and that we should not do it.” I beg to differ. Leviticus 18:22 says, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” The word “abomination” is an interesting term. The strength of it implies that this is something that God abhors. It “turns God’s stomach and makes Him sick,” to so speak. In the time of the Jews that would have felt like the bringing of a pig into the temple would have been a complete abomination—the most defiling type of thing imaginable. That is the way God feels about homosexuality. It is an abomination—a defilement—against the holy plan of marriage and the home that God established. Someone might ask, “Well, how serious is homosexuality, really?” Turn a few chapters later to Leviticus 20:13, which teaches just how serious a matter this is: “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” When we look at what the Scriptures say about homosexuality, we find that it is not “an alternative lifestyle” or something on which we can simply “look the other way.” God says, “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death.” How strongly did God feel about this sin? There were some sins listed in the Bible that were worthy of death in God’s eyes. Homosexuality is one of those sins. It was an abhorrence in God’s sight, and to His original plan of marriage, family, and the home. God understood the destructive nature of such practices. When people degrade their morals in such a fashion, it will not be very long until they turn away from God and the morals of Christianity altogether. Thus, God said “These people deserve to die.” It ought to be a crime against society today when people commit lewd acts such as those involved in homosexuality.
But as you look down the stream of biblical time, you will find another passage in Judges 19:22-23 where homosexuality is depicted as a gruesome, ungodly act. A man had come to the Benjaminites, and
“As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, ‘Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!’ But the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, ‘No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not commit this outrage.’”
When this “new person” arrived in town, the people cried out, “Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!” Look at the wickedness of these people. Someone new had come to the city, and their attitude was, “Aha! We now have someone knew with whom to engage in these illicit practices!” Notice what Judges 19:23 says, “But the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, ‘No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not commit this outrage.’” How did the righteous man feel about homosexuality? He said, “No, do not commit this wickedness!” Homosexuality is to be equated with wickedness and those things that are evil in God’s sight. It is not an “alternative lifestyle” as far as God is concerned. It is not just “something different or new.” Rather, it is wicked in the sight of God. It is, as the man in Judges 19:23 said, an “outrage.” It is an outrage against the act of marriage and the character of God. This all goes back to God’s character. In Genesis 1:27 we see that God created man in His own image. God did not create man homosexual in nature. God made people “male” and “female.” Thus, it disdains God’s holy and righteous character to engage in homosexuality.
Look also at 1 Kings 15:12, where the setting deals with homosexuality and how it is sinful in God’s sight. Of the righteous King Asa it is said, “And he banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.” Someone might ask, “How does that apply to homosexuality?” Here is how. The Hebrew word for “perverted” implies people (both male and female) who were involved in homosexual activity during the worship of false gods. How did the righteous king feel about homosexuality? He banished from his kingdom those people who participated in such acts. He did not want them to be a part of a righteous and holy nation, so he banished them from the land. The same principle should apply to our society today. When people get involved in practices like these, we ought to have laws in place to banish such ungodliness—or our society may become like that of Sodom and Gomorrah. History teaches us that in societies of the past, when homosexuality became rampant and accepted, it was not very long until internal decay destroyed those societies.
Someone might say, “Yes, but all of these passages come from the Old Testament. And we do not live by the Old Law today. The New Testament does not have much to say about homosexuality, does it?” Yes, the New Testament does have much to say about the ungodly practice of homosexuality. Let me turn your attention to Matthew 19 where Jesus was discussing the topic of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. The people had come to Jesus to ask him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” (vs. 3). Jesus said, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female’?” (vs. 4). In this passage, Jesus reinforced the family arrangement (that is, the plan of marriage) that God had established. Jesus did not say, “He who made them at the beginning made them male and male.” Jesus said that God had made them “male and female”—one man and one woman for life. That was God’s original plan regarding marriage. Anything outside that plan is an abomination in God’s sight. So, whether it be two men together or two women together, it is unholy and unrighteous in God’s sight. We must understand that in Matthew 19 Jesus condoned God’s original plan for marriage. And in so doing, He condemned homosexuality.
Someone might say, “But it doesn’t really mention homosexuality in Matthew 19. Let’s turn our attention, then, to the passage that is very likely the clearest in the entire New Testament regarding the ungodliness of homosexuality. Look at Romans 1:26-29, where the apostle Paul was discussing the ungodliness of the Gentiles, who had been separated from God and who therefore had been committing ungodly sins. As a result, they needed the Gospel in order to be saved. Paul cataloged some of the Gentiles’ sins by saying,
“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting….”
How did God feel about homosexuality in the first century? It was something that was unnatural. It was not holy, but was something shameful. It was an error, and those who participated in it received a penalty. That is how God feels about homosexual practices. It is not natural. It is not the way that God created human beings. He created us as male and female—to work perfectly together. God did not intend males to do that. Homosexuality is against the home and the family. God made man and woman in that relationship to be fruitful and to multiply. Men and men cannot do that. It is something in which people engage, for which they should be ashamed. In Jeremiah 8:12 the people were unable to blush because of their sins. Today, in our society, we are becoming that way, too. Because homosexuality has become so open, and because it appears practically everywhere you look, it is no longer a shame to us. We should have the same kind of righteous indignation that Jesus possessed in John 2:16—to speak out against things like this. Notice what the Scripture says: “They will receive the penalty for the error that they have committed.” Homosexuality is an error against God. On the Judgment Day, people who have lived in homosexual activity are going to be judged by God, and it is not going to be a good day for them.
Now turn your attention to 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. People often ask, “Are you saying that someone who lives and dies involved in homosexual practices is not going to Heaven?” That is not what I am saying. The Bible says that a person cannot live a homosexual lifestyle and go to Heaven. Listen to what 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says:
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? 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.”
Take all the rest of that passage out and notice these words: “Do not be deceived…. Homosexuals…will not inherit the kingdom of God.” That is what the Scriptures say. Someone asks, “Are you saying that homosexuals will not go to Heaven?” I am saying that if they repent and return to God’s law, then, yes, they can go to Heaven. But let’s be clear. The Scriptures say that there will not be any person who lives and dies in a homosexual relationship who will be with God in the end. It simply will not happen. That is what the Scriptures say in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, where both “homosexuals” and “sodomites” are described in graphic language. Whether it is the individual playing the part of the male, or the individual playing the part of the female, both will be condemned by God. Thus, we can understand in a very clear way that God does not approve of such actions. Those who get involved in such activities will be lost as a result.
Paul had something to say to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:9-10, where he cataloged a list of sins (such as adultery, idolatry, etc.) that would cost people their souls. Paul wanted Timothy, a young evangelist, to be on the look-out for these sins.
“Knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.”
Among these ungodly, sinful people were those who practiced homosexuality. God said that such people could not be right with Him because their actions were unholy and sinful.
Please understand that as I speak to you about these things, I am not mad or upset with a specific individual. I love all people, and want them to go to Heaven. But I hate the sin of homosexuality because of what it does to the family, what it does to children, and how it perverts the arrangement of the home that God established. The home has, for a long time, been the foundation of our country. When we start disrupting that godly arrangement, we can be sure that there will be horrible consequences to follow from such actions.
Now turn your attention to Jude 7, where Jude described in graphic terms the lewd nature of some people in the past and even in the present. “As Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Remember those in Genesis 19 who wanted to “know carnally” the men who had come to Sodom and Gomorrah? That is what composes the reference in Jude 7 to “strange flesh” (the sexually immoral). God says that such people are going to suffer a penalty. They are going to lose their eternal salvation is they live that way. Over and over again the Scriptures teach that homosexuality is a sinful practice. It is not something that God condones within the Scriptures.
Frequently an argument is offered by those who promote homosexuality which suggests that homosexuals are “just born that way,” and thus “cannot help themselves as they follow their natural desires.” People who believe the Bible cannot say such things. Genesis 1:26-27 teaches that God made male and female in His own image.
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
If someone says that homosexuals are “born that way,” yet the Scriptures teach that humans are made in God’s image, what is the logical conclusion? It would be that God Himself must be homosexual. But we have seen where God has spoken out clearly against homosexuality. So people cannot be created in God’s holy image, and then claim to have been “born homosexual” (something that God Himself has condemned). It just would not make sense. The evidence, even from science itself, shows that people are not “born homosexual.” Science certainly has not proven that people are born as homosexuals. Dr. Simon LeVay often is quoted as having offered proof through his genetic studies that people are born as homosexuals. But when Dr. LeVay was asked about this, he said that was not the case. He said, “It is important to stress what I did not find. I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic or find a genetic cause for being gay. I didn’t show that gay men are born that way—the most common mistake people make in interpreting my work. Nor did I locate a gay center in the brain” (a quote from the Salt Lake Tribune in 2001). This quote shows from Dr. LeVay (the man most often quoted when people try to prove that homosexuals are “born that way”) that Dr. LeVay himself admitted that he did not establish a scientific basis for homosexuality. Dr. Levay admitted that there is no genetic center in the brain that makes people gay. Nor did he discover a “gay gene.” Such claims are simply not true. Thus, so who claim that homosexuals are “born that way” have no evidence to support such a claim. Anyone who believes the Bible must admit to the fact that all humans are created in God’s image, and that God Himself has condemned homosexual activity.
So how does a person deal with issues such as these? Let’s say that someone has been involved in homosexual practices? How can such a person deal with that? How can the person overcome those types of things and go to Heaven? If a person is willing to change his ways, yes, he can overcome homosexuality and go to Heaven. It would be incorrect to say that a homosexual could not change his ways and get right with God. Say that someone in his past has engaged in homosexual activities. If that person is willing to repent and change his ways, he can be forgiven. But he must truly repent, which means that the person must turn from sin. In 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, Paul commended the Thessalonians because they “turn from” idols and “turned to” God, serving Him the rest of their lives. The same principle applies to homosexuality. A person must turn from that evil practice and turn to God. Then, the person must spend the rest of his life in service to God, doing what is right. Of course a homosexual can be forgiven. In Acts 3:19 we are told to “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” If someone has engaged in homosexual acts, he can be forgiven. But he must study what God has to say on this subject. And he needs to tell others. If someone who has engaged in homosexual activities realizes the error of his ways, and is trying to live a godly live, he needs to do whatever he can to help others to do the same. Part of being a faithful child of God is being one who is willing to speak the truth. We must say what the Bible says. We need to “speak as the oracles of God” (1 Pet. 4: 11). We need to preach God’s Word (2 Tim. 4:2). Part of the responsibility of a former homosexual would be to tell others who are living in that lifestyle what the Bible has to say about this subject.
What if there is someone today who is viewing to (or listening to or reading) this presentation? Perhaps you did not know what the Bible says about homosexuality. Can you get right with God and go to Heaven? Yes. But you, too, must stop doing wrong. If you are willing to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, repent (that is, stop doing those activities and turn from them to God), confess that Jesus is God’s Son, be baptized in water, you can become a Christian today. You can begin to put that past behind you. But you must follow God’s plan of salvation. The apostle Paul was told in Acts 22:16, “Why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Someone might ask, “How can I be forgiven of the horrible sin of homosexuality? The apostle Paul had done some terrible things in his life. In 1 Timothy 1:15 he said that he was “the chief of sinners.” In Acts 8, he was dragging men and women who were Christians into prison—where they most likely would end up dying. Paul killed Christians! Yet he could be forgiven. In Hebrews 8:12 God said, “I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Yes, you can be forgiven. And if you are a Christian who has engaged in homosexual activities, then you have to repent of those practices. If you are not a Christian, you need to repent, obey the Gospel, and do what God says. Then you need to know that you can begin afresh. You can live a new life. One of the great things about being a Christian, according to 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Christians get a second chance. According to Romans 6:4, along with that second chance comes the responsibilities to rise to walk “in newness of life.” Today, then, may we come to understand that the Bible has much to say about the subject of homosexuality. The truth about homosexuality is that it is an abomination in the sight of God. Those who practice it, and who continue in such a lifestyle, will be lost. They will not be able to enter into the heavenly kingdom (1 Cor. 6:9-10). May we as Christians speak out against such practices, and may we begin to blush once more over such sins. May we always strive to live our lives, and help others live their lives, by the glorious Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
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1. How does Genesis 1:26-27 relate to a discussion about homosexuality?
2. What does Leviticus 18:22 say about homosexuality?
3. According to Genesis 19:5, what had the men of Sodom done that finally evoked such anger in God that He decided to destroy both Sodom and Gomorrah?
4. According to Leviticus 20:13, what was the penalty under the Old Testament for those who were caught engaging in homosexual practices?
5. In Judges 19:22-23, when homosexuals wanted to have carnal relations with a man’s visitor, the man begged them not to commit such an act. What is the last word of verse 23, which the man used to describe what the homosexuals wanted to do?
6. According to 1 Kings 15:12, whom did righteous King Asa ban from his kingdom?
7. In 1 Kings 15:12, to whom does the term “perverted persons” (in the original Hebrew language) refer?
8. How do Jesus’ comments in Matthew 19:4 relate to homosexuality?
9. If someone asked you to present one specific passage from the New Testament that condemns homosexuality, what passage would you use?
10. According to Romans 1:26, what had the women of Paul’s day done that drew an apostolic condemnation?
11. According to Romans 1:27, what had the men of Paul’s day done that drew an apostolic condemnation?
12. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, the apostle Paul specifically stated that homosexuals would not do something. What is that “something”?
13. Paul said in Romans 1:32 that homosexuals were acting in way that made them worthy of something. What is that “something”?
14. What, according to Jeremiah 8:12, were the people of Jeremiah’s day unable to do?
15. What term is included in the catalog of sins in 1 Timothy 1:9-10 that applies to homosexuality?
16. According to Jude 7, what sin did the people of Sodom and Gomorrah commit?
17. According to Jude 7, what punishment befell the people of Sodom and Gomorrah for their sin?
18. According to Acts 3:19, what must a homosexual do if he wants to go to Heaven?
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