Homosexuality
A homosexual is a person who has sexual relations with another person of the same sex. A man having sex with a man is a homosexual. A woman having sex with a woman is also a homosexual, though many people use the term lesbian for a female homosexual. Unlike what you may have been taught in school and what you have seen on television, God teaches us that homosexuality is not due to a genetic difference. People are not born with a predisposition toward wanting to have sex with someone of their own sex; nor does God consider homosexuality an acceptable alternative lifestyle. To God, homosexuality is a sin – nothing more and nothing less.
People want to say that there is a genetic disposition toward homosexuality to remove from themselves any blame for their actions. If people were born homosexuals, it would be difficult to claim that it is a sin. If people can’t help being homosexual, then God would be unfair to label their actions as wrongful. Similarly, to call living in a homosexual relationship an alternative lifestyle is an attempt to get society as a whole to view homosexuality as normal, everyday behavior.
The Bible is very explicit about God’s opinion on homosexuality. In the Old Testament, there is a law recorded in Leviticus 18:22 that clearly says a man is not to have sex with another man. People who were guilty of such acts were punished by death (Leviticus 20:13). The New Testament is also clear on the topic of homosexuality. In Romans 1:24-32, Paul describes the moral decay of the Gentile people over the years. The people turned their backs on God, so God gave up on them and allowed them to practice what their hearts desired. The first phase was the committing of sexual sins such as fornication and adultery. They worshiped the body instead of the Creator of man. The second phase was when women began having sexual relations with women. Paul described it as exchanging the natural use of the body (having sex with a man) for unnatural use. It is obvious from the way God created men and women that men were not designed to have sex with men, and women were not designed to have sex with women. As a result, these people burned in their lusts for one another and committed acts that are shameful. The result is that the acts carry the penalties for the actions. Homosexuals are plagued with diseases that are only transmitted sexually. While these diseases are not the final punishment, they serve as a warning of the punishment to come. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. People who want nothing to do with God have nothing to stop them from committing any number of sins. However, the people who commit these sins will face an eternity in Hell. Not only the people who actually commit the sins but also the people who approve of the deeds though they don’t participate in them.
You cannot be a homosexual and be a faithful member of the church. However, the church does contain people who had committed homosexual acts before they learned the truth and turned to the Lord (I Corinthians 6:9-11). Baptism can wash away all sins, if we will just turn our lives around and live righteously before the Lord. Baptism does not make homosexuality acceptable. A person wanting to be a child of God must give up his sinful practices. A thief cannot continue to steal after becoming a Christian, nor can a lesbian continue to have sexual relations with a woman after becoming a child of God.
Sometimes you will hear people claim that the Bible doesn’t condemn homosexuality. Obviously, the verses we have just read show this claim to be false. The idea that the Bible doesn’t condemn homosexuality is derived from the fact that the King James Version of the Bible does not contain the word homosexual. That statement is true. When the King James Version was written in 1611, the English language did not include a specific word for the act of a woman having sex with a woman. However, it doesn’t mean that the Bible does not talk about the idea, nor does it mean that God doesn’t condemn the act. Modern English does contain the word homosexuality. You will find that the new English versions, such as the New King James and the New International Version, use the word homosexual in the appropriate places.
Many people believe that homosexuality is a relatively new phenomenon. It isn’t. People have been guilty of homosexual acts from as early as the days of Abraham, if not earlier. In Genesis 19:1-25, we have the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. These towns were very wicked. When two men (who were actually angels) entered the city, Lot insisted that they spend the night at his house. After supper, the men of the city, young and old alike, surrounded Lot’s house. They told Lot to send the strangers out so that they could have sex with them. (“To have sex” is the meaning of the phrase “that we may know them.”) Lot went out and tried to strike a deal with the men. He offered to send out his two virgin daughters. They could do whatever they liked with them, but they could not have his guests. The men rejected the idea and threatened to do worse things to Lot than they would have done to the men. At the last moment, the angels rescued Lot by striking the men with blindness.
In Judges 19:16-28, we read of an account that is similar to what happened in Sodom. As in the earlier account, some men of the city of Gibeah surrounded the house where a stranger was spending the night. They demanded that the owner of the house send out the stranger so that they could “know him.” In other words, they wanted to have sex with the man. Once again, they refused the offer of an exchange of a woman for the man. However, when a woman was all they could get their hands on, they raped her all night.
The word “sodomy” was derived from the name of the town famous for its homosexuals. The word means a male prostitute (a man who will hire himself out for sex). It especially means a homosexual. In recent years, the meaning of the word sodomy has broadened to refer to any sexual act that doesn’t include copulation (the man’s penis entering the woman’s vagina). The following verses show that homosexuality was a continuing problem in Israel: I Kings 14:24, I Kings 15:12, I Kings 22:46, and II Kings 23:7.
Some women talk themselves into believing they are “naturally” homosexuals because they find other women arousing. We talked about arousal early in this book and showed that after you reach puberty, arousal is a physical response to physical or mental stimulation. Over time this response becomes more refined. Eventually it will be focused on men, and one day you will learn to focus all your desires on your husband. However, somewhere along the way, some women focus on other women instead of men. This can be corrected with conscious effort on the woman’s part, but too many people these days have no desire to learn to live righteously. Instead, they seek out other women who have similar lusts and begin stimulating each other to higher and higher sexual desires.
Anyone can arouse the sexual desires within you, man or woman. Arousal and the desire for sex are physical responses to things like sights, sounds, and, most of all, touch. Just because a woman manages to arouse the desire for sex within you does not mean you have to give in to that desire. Remember Satan uses our own desires to lead us into situations where it looks like the only way to satisfy those desires is to sin. Don’t be deceived by Satan! If nothing else, walk away from the temptation. Just don’t give in to sin!
It is obvious from the way God designed the sexual organs of men and women that sex is to be between members of the opposite sexes. We don’t even have to turn to a Scripture to prove this. It is obvious from a natural viewpoint. Homosexuality is not a natural phenomenon. It is something that men and women decide to do that is against nature. Yes, the women that participate in it most likely enjoy what they are doing. I’m sure some people get a thrill out of stealing and murdering as well. However, fun doesn’t make an action right or wrong. God views women having sex with other women as an abomination. (An abomination is something extremely disgusting and repulsive.)
Sex is pleasurable, but restrict yourself to enjoying sex God’s way – with your husband.
Incest
When a person has sex with other members of his own family, it is called incest. In Leviticus 18:6-18, God gives a long list of various relationships that he does not consider righteous. The idea of uncovering a person’s nakedness implies more than just happening to see a person without clothing. The wording is such that we are talking about a person removing someone’s clothing to expose their genitals. It is implied that the purpose of this is to have sex with that person. Notice that uncovering a man’s wife is equated to uncovering the man himself. The only person who should have sex with a woman is her husband. Any violation of that is a violation of the husband as well as the wife.
Leviticus 20:11-12,17-21 gives the punishments for having sexual relationships with a close relative. A man who had sex with his mother, stepmother, daughter-in-law, or stepdaughter is punished by death. The woman who consented to have sex with him was also put to death. Other sexual relationships with family members were punished by exiling the guilty couple. The couple was no longer considered Israelites.
Obviously, incest has been a problem for a long time in the world. Among the many other problems that Israel had, they were guilty of incest (Ezekiel 22:10-11). Even the early church faced this problem. In I Corinthians 5:1-5, we are told that a member of the church at Corinth was living with his father’s wife. Instead of being appalled by this sin, as even non-Christians would have been, the Corinthian Christians were proud to have this man among them. Paul severely scolded them for their sinful pride and demanded that they immediately separate themselves from this sinful man.
In the passages that we have considered, there is an implication that the people involved in the incest were old enough to desire sex and had consented to the act. Sometimes children are forced to have sex by another member of their family. While we could label this incest, it would also be called rape. Just as a woman who was raped by a man is not guilty of sin, neither is a child guilty of sin when forced to have sex with someone else.
Bestiality
Bestiality means having sex with animals. I am sure you find the very thought disgusting and difficult to imagine. However, believe me, if there is a way to pervert God’s creation someone somewhere has figured out a way to do it.
God clearly condemns the practice in Leviticus 18:23. The punishment was death for both the human and the animal involved (Exodus 22:19; Leviticus 20:15-16).
Study Questions
- List three verses that prove homosexuality is a sin.
- How else do we know that homosexuality is not natural?
- How long has homosexuality been around? When is it first mentioned in the Scriptures?
- What is incest?
- What does it mean to uncover a person’s nakedness?
- If a child is forced to have sex with an adult, who is guilty of sin?
- What is bestiality?
Class Discussion
- Does “being in love” justify homosexual marriages?
- Does having a homosexual experience make you homosexual?
- Why do you think people seek after perverted or corrupted styles of sex?