Homosexuality and the Bible

Again in order to understand these two verses we need to put them in there full context. In Romans 1:18-32 Paul addresses the universal sinfulness of mankind and the consequences of sin. There are some homophobic bigots who teach that verses 24-32 apply only to homosexuals, however this is nothing more than a private interpretation and perversion of what Paul wrote.

I have a standard explanation of the above three Scriptures, however my knowledge of Koine is not good enough to exegete those verses, which is why I have chosen to use the following links. While I do not agree with David Malick's interpretation of Genesis 19:5, I personally believe his understanding of Romans 1:26-27, 1st Corinthians 6:9, and 1st Timothy 1:10 is accurate.

The Condemnation of Homosexuality in Romans 1:26-27
The Condemnation of Homosexuality in 1 Corinthians

The final two Scriptures we need to discuss are 2nd Peter 2:6 and Jude 7.

Matthew 19:3-6
3 And some Pharisees came to Him, testing Him, and saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all?" 4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read, that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said,' For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh'? 6 "Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." NAS

John 5:24
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. NAS

The first rule to understanding the Bible is context, context, context. Leviticus 18 is where Yaweh establishes the sexual morality code for "the sons of Israel (Leviticus 18:1-5). These 5 verses tell the Hebrews they are not to practice the same sexual behavior practiced in Egypt and Cannan. This prohibition has nothing to do with the worship of false gods or some holiness code applicable only to the Levites as some teach. The sexual aspects of worshipping false gods is the subject of Deuteronomy 23:17.

We know from ancient records that the sexual practices prohibited in Leviticus 18 were not only part of Egyptian and Canaanite culture they were common in most cultures throughout the inhabited world. We also know that Yaweh elected the Hebrews to be a holy nation to accomplish His predetermined plan for the salvation of those who believe and obey Him.

Secularists and gay theology appeal to the psychological concept of sexual orientation in an attempt to teach that Moses did not understand sexual orientation and therefore Leviticus does not apply to those "born gay". This argument crumbles when we put Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 in there full context and use common sense, since Leviticus 18 also prohibits adultery, incest, and beastiality, which are sexual sins of those "born straight" and the punishment for adultery and homosexuality are identical. Yaweh is judging behavior not "orientation".

The next proof text used by some is Deuteronomy 23:17.

When properly translated this verse does not really need to be explained. Yaweh is prohibiting any sexual behavior associated with the worship of other gods. The Hebrew word qedesh and it feminine counterpart qedashah should be translated male and female prostitute not Sodomite and whore. The KV translators allowed cultural bias to override a proper translation of the Hebrew.

Now, we move to the New Testament.

Romans 1:26-27
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 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. NAS

1st Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. NAS

1 st Timothy 1:7-11
8 But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers 10 and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
NAS

2nd Peter 2:4-8
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter; 7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8(for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds)..NAS

Jude 7-10
7 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in the same manner these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. 9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you." 10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.
NAS

When we put 2nd Peter 2:6 and Jude 7 in context we can discern that Peter and Jude were not addressing homosexuality per se, they were both referring to the universal sinfulness of mankind. Ungodly and unprincipled men does not equate only to homosexuals, both words apply to all human beings who have arrogance, careless, ease, abundant food, and do not aid the poor and needy. When Jude describes the men of Sodom and Gomorrah as committing gross immorality and going after strange flesh he does so as a Jew who believed Yaweh's explanation for the destruction of those cities. When he compares the men of Sodom reviling angelic majesties with the Archangel Michael's dispute with the devil over Moses' body common sense tells us that Jude is not referring to homosexuality. These proof texts can be used to refer to homosexuality, however they also refer to idol worship, adultery, and all the other abominations commonly practiced in Sodom and Gomorrah.

The lesson that all of the above verses teach those dealing with same sex desires is that Yaweh abhors sexual sin regardless of the orientation of those who engage in sexual sin and only those who control their sexuality will enter the Kingdom of God. Another lesson we can take away from these verses is that unprincipled men control institutional Christianity and pervert the Gospel of the Kingdom of God by discriminating against one group of people outside Christianity and one group within Christianity -- those who deal with same sex desires, while at the same time ignoring the sins of the majority.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

1 st Corinthians 5:9-13
9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler-- not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves. NAS

When the Political Religious Right bemoans our liberal culture that condones gay rights and the acceptance of the gay community they demonstrate they are hypocrites and white-washed tombs (Matthew 23:27-28) who are so busy judging those outside their churches they are ignoring the gross immorality within their own churches in complete violation of Yaweh's expressed instructions as given to us by Paul, who in 1st Corinthians 5:1 takes the Corinthians to task for ignoring a heterosexual sexual sin as one that even Gentiles do not engage in and it is not homosexuality. It is time the PRR took a long hard look at Matthew 7:1-5 and Romans 2:1 and concentrate of the Great Commission.