Is Homosexuality a Sin?
The question "Is homosexuality a sin?", is commonly being put forth today. And the reason for this is that we live in a time where people are demanding an answer from everyone on this question. There is increasing pressure that demands you to declare whether you affirm homosexuality or not. For example, it's almost expected that if a person is known to be a Christian and holds some influence in the public eye, someone will ask their opinion in a public forum regarding homosexuality. And this type of pressure is only going to rise. We are going to feel it in our families, we are going to feel it with our friends, and we are going to begin to feel it also, as many of you have, within your workplaces.
Answering From God’s Word
For the Christian, who, like everyone, is going to be forced to answer, we must answer according to God's Word. John 17:17 tells us that God's Word is truth. And so when we come to the question, "Is homosexuality a sin?", we must, as Christians, turn to God's Word to find a truthful answer.
Listen to what God's Word says in Romans 1:24-25.
“Therefore God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. They worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who was blessed forever. Amen.”
God gives over those who reject Him. We're seeing that in our society. And what's an outworking of that? We'll consider verses 26-28.
“For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women, exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural (homosexual activity), and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”
Now, consider Paul's words to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 6:9: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
And then he says, "Do not be deceived," which I find intriguing. Paul’s comment highlights the fact that we're often deceived in the world about these things. He says, "Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals."
The Unambiguous Answer
So when it comes to the question, "Is homosexuality a sin?", our answer as Christians should not be ambiguous. And the reason for that is because God's Word is not ambiguous.
Homosexuality is a sin. Is this a popular answer? No. Is this a politically correct answer? No. But is it a truthful answer? Yes. And because it's truthful, it's the only answer that is genuinely rooted in love.
And so may you and I love people enough, and may we care about truth enough, to declare God's Word in love, trusting it to bless our neighbor and ultimately to glorify Him.
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