Is Homosexuality Sinful?

When Nick Clegg, one of the main architects of same-sex marriage in the U.K., stood down as leader of the Liberal Democrats in 2015, he was replaced by Tim Farron, a Christian who consistently voted against same-sex marriage.

Mr. Farron himself stood down as Lib-Dem leader following the general election in 2017 because he found that being a Bible-believing Christian was incompatible with being the leader of a political party in a secular humanist society.

One of his frustrations was that throughout the election campaign the media had shown no interest whatsoever in his policies, but only in his attitude toward homosexuality, continually asking him whether he believed that homosexuality was a sin.

My understanding is that his position on this was that according to the Bible homosexual activity is, indeed, sinful.

So, let’s have a look at what the Bible says on the subject and see if Mr. Farron’s take on it is correct.

First of all, we need to follow Christ’s guiding principle on this (Matthew 19:8) and go back to how it was in the beginning.

As we have already seen from Genesis 1:26-28, God made us male and female so that we could ‘be fruitful and increase in number’ (Genesis 1:28 NIVuk). This means that God intended sexual activity to take place between a man and a woman for the purpose of producing offspring.

In Genesis 2:18, God says that the man should not be alone, that he needs a ‘suitable helper’, and that God Himself would make one for him. Then in verses 21 to 24 we learn about God’s provision for Adam being Eve, the woman formed by God from Adam’s own flesh and bone, and that God’s purpose in this was that the one who was drawn out of Adam should be re-united with him in the relationship which we know as marriage.

Clearly from these passages we can see that, in the purposes of God, our sexuality has two, and only two, functions, namely (a) reproduction, and (b) the union of one man and one woman in the lifelong covenant of marriage.

Therefore, any sexual activity between two or more people, or any man or woman and any non-human creature, lies outside the will of God and is, by definition, sinful (if we accept the general definition of sin as being any activity which is outside the will of God).

Are there any scriptures which specifically deal with homosexuality, which could better enable us to appreciate God’s attitude towards it?

Yes, there are. Not many, but enough to give us a clear picture:

Let me make a couple of comments on what I have and have not included in these quotations.

Firstly, I have included neither Genesis 19:5-8 nor Judges 19:22-23, as these passages deal with acts of mob violence with a homosexual dimension rather than straightforward homosexual relationships, and therefore lie outside the scope of this article.

Secondly, the passages in 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy 1 show that homosexuality is viewed in the New Testament as a sin like any other, neither more nor less wicked than the general run of wrongdoing.

The 1 Corinthians 6 passage is worth noting for two reasons.

One is that a few years ago it was quoted in part (usually just verses 9 and 10) quite a few times on social media as a jibe against gay men. However, the point behind this scripture is not to find fault with the sinner, but to reassure them that whatever sin they may be guilty of, whatever lifestyle they may have been involved in, there is a way back to God, through Jesus Christ, in and by Whom we are washed, sanctified, and justified in the sight of God.

The other is related to the first. I remember hearing a comment on this by Barak Obama, while he was U.S. president, to the effect that he would rather listen to Christ’s sermon on the mount than to some obscure verses from Paul, and I thought at the time:

• (a) the verses from Paul are only obscure if you’re not familiar with the Bible, and

• (b) which part of the sermon on the mount did he have in mind? I suspect that he was thinking of the beatitudes: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth; Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:5,7 NIVuk). It’s highly unlikely that he had either of these in mind: “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20b – NIVuk); or “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33b – KJV)?

I suspect that at this point someone reading this might be thinking, or saying, “Who gives you the right to foist your Christian morality on other people? You can live your goody-goody holy Joe life if you want to, but leave us alone to live the way we want, which is none of your business” (or words to that effect).

I totally agree that how anyone else lives their life is none of my business, and I have no interest whatsoever in interfering with them. My purpose, in this set of articles, is simply to outline what the Biblical, and therefore the Christian, position is on this subject.

A problem, however, arises when people maintain that Christians ought to change their view and accept homosexuality as being OK.

For example, during the Asher’s Gay Cake case, referred to earlier, the representative of the Equalities Commission observed that many Christians are quite comfortable with homosexuality and same-sex marriage, so why shouldn’t the McArthur family be?

Today there are churches which celebrate same-sex weddings, have gay clergy, and even gay bishops. So why don’t the rest of us just move with the times, get over ourselves, and join the club?

I would present the answer to that in the form of another question, which is: by what authority are you doing these things?

This very question was put to Jesus by the religious leaders of His day:

The chief priests and the elders were the ones who decided on matters of righteousness and morality in Jewish society in those days, but Jesus was coming along and challenging them. Their reciprocal challenge to Him is encapsulated in that question: by what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority? This is a perfectly legitimate and entirely appropriate question, and one that we should always be asking when someone comes along who is trying to get us to think, believe, or do something.

Jesus is smart enough not to give them a direct answer, but instead puts them on the spot by asking them who the authority was behind John the Baptist, who was the fore-runner of Jesus, who had predicted His coming, who had identified Him when He came, who was almost universally accepted by the ordinary people as a genuine prophet of God, but who was rejected by the chief priests and elders as being a madman.

Was John the Baptist from God or was he a fake?

This question presents the religious leaders with the dilemma which is narrated in verses 25 to 27, which leaves them looking like idiots, because they are unable to give an answer.

By what authority am I believing what I believe and saying what I’m saying? And who gave me this authority?

Simple answer to both questions: the Bible, which is the word of God.

Let me put the same question to those who claim to be disciples of Christ, who are being taught by God: If you believe and teach what contradicts the clear word of God, by what authority are you doing so?

I would also ask the representative of the Equalities Commission, or anyone else who similarly asks why I don’t just fall in line and go along with the crowd: are you qualified to determine what is or is not orthodox Christian teaching? Why do you believe that those who support homosexuality are right and I am wrong, except for the obvious reason that they agree with you and I do not?

The Bible states clearly and unequivocally that homosexuality is not acceptable in the sight of God. Has God changed His mind for some reason some time recently and only told a few of His followers, leaving the rest of us in the dark?

The Bible says that He doesn’t do that:

Human beings are very good at flowing with the tide and jumping on the band-wagon in order to remain ‘on the right side of history’. God doesn’t care about being on the right or wrong side of history, because He sits above it all and determines history’s course. Those who love and worship Him should also have no such concern. When we leave this physical world and stand before the Throne of Grace, we will not be judged on how we flowed with history but on how we flowed with Jesus Christ:

Everyone wants to have many friends, but sometimes having worldly friends puts you at odds with God (James 4:4).