Christianity and LGBT People

Questions and answers about gays in terms of the Bible.

Q. Some people say homosexuality is natural and moral; others say it is unnatural and immoral. How do we know?

A. Our standard can only just be what God says. In Romans 1 we read,

God gave them to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. Just as the men also forgotten natural relationships with women and were inflamed with lust for just one another. Men dedicated indecent serves with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty because of their perversion (Rom 1:26-27).
So even though homosexual desires feel natural, they are actually unnatural, because God says they may be. He also phone calls all sexual involvement outside of marriage immoral. (You can find 44 references to fornication-sexual immorality-in the Bible.) Therefore, any form of homosexual activity, whether an one-night stand or a long-term monogamous relationship, is by definition immoral-just as any mistreatment of heterosexuality outside of relationship is immoral.

Q. Is homosexuality an orientation God intended for some individuals, or is it a perversion of normal sexuality?

A. If God experienced intended homosexuality to be always a viable sexual choice for a lot of, He would not have condemned it as an abomination. It is never talked about in Scripture in not negative terms, and nowhere does the Bible even hint at approving or giving training for homosexual romantic relationships. Some theologians have argued that David and Jonathan’s romantic relationship was a homosexual one, but this state does not have any basis in Scripture. David and Jonathan’s deep camaraderie was not sexual; it was one of godly psychological intimacy that truly glorified god, the father.

Homosexuality is a manifestation of the sin character that people share. At the fall of man (Gen 3), God’s perfect creation was spoiled, and the taint of sin affected us literally, psychologically, intellectually, spiritually-and sexually. Homosexuality is a perversion of heterosexuality, which is God’s plan for His creation. GOD, THE FATHER Jesus said,

Initially the Creator made them male and feminine. Because of this, a guy will leave his father and mother and become united to his wife, and both will become one flesh (Matt 19:4, 5).
Homosexual activity and pre-marital or extra-marital heterosexual activity are all sinful attempts to find intimate and psychological expression in ways God never intended. God’s desire to have the person captured in the trap of homosexuality is the same as for each other person caught in the snare of the sin nature; that we submit all areas of our lives to Him and become transformed from the inside out by the renewing of our thoughts and the purifying of our hearts.

Q. What can cause a homosexual orientation?

A. This is a complex issue, and it is unfair to give simplistic answers or explanations. (However, for insight on this issue please consider our articles Answers to Questions Most Asked by Gay-Identifying Youngsters and “Why Doesn’t God Answer Prayers to ELIMINATE Gay Emotions?”)Some individuals begin as heterosexuals, but they rebel against God with such passionate self-indulgence that they end up embracing the gay lifestyle as another form of sexual expression. As one entertainer put it, “I’m not going to go through life with one arm tied behind my back again!”

But the majority of those who experience same-sex attraction sense they may be “different” or “other than” from very early in life, and sooner or later they should identify this difference to be gay. These folks may experience “pre-conditions” that dispose them toward homosexuality, like a delicate and gentle temperament in young boys, which is not named acceptably masculine in our culture. Another may be poor eye-hand coordination that prevents a guy from doing well at sports, which is a sure way to request shame and taunting from other guys (and, most regrettably, from some of their own fathers and family members). Family associations are usually very important in the development of homosexuality; almost all those who have a problem with same-sex attraction experienced a hurtful romantic relationship with the same-sex parent in youth. The existence of misuse is a recurring theme in the early lives of several homosexual strugglers. In one research, 91% of lesbian women reported childhood and adolescent abuse, 2/3 of them victims of intimate abuse.1 There's a big difference, however, between predispositions that impacts gender identity, and the options we make in how we handle a predisposition. Because we are created in the image of God, we can choose how we respond to the various factors that may contribute to a homosexual orientation.

Q. Wouldn’t the presence of pre-conditions let homosexuals “off the hook,” as they say?

A. Preconditions make it simpler to sin in a specific area. They do not excuse the sin. We are able to pull a parallel with alcoholism. Alcoholics often experience a hereditary or environmental pre-condition, which makes it easier to allow them to fall in to the sin of drunkenness. Could it be a sin to want a glass or two? No. It’s a sin to drink to surplus.

All of us experience various predispositions that make it easier for all of us to fall into certain sins. For instance, highly intelligent people think it is simpler to fall in to the sin of intellectual pride. People who were in physical form abused as children may fall into the sins of rage and violence easier than others.

Current popular thinking says our behavior depends upon the environment or our genes, or both. However the Bible provides us the dignity and responsibility lacking from that mechanistic view of life. God has invested us with free will-the capability to make real, significant options. We are able to choose our responses to the affects on our lives, or we can pick to let them control us.

Someone with a predisposition for homosexuality may fall into the sin of the homosexual behavior much more easily when compared to a person without it. But each of us alone is accountable for offering ourselves authorization to cross from temptation into sin.

Q. What’s the difference between homosexual temptation and sin?

A. Unasked-for, uncultivated intimate desires for a person of the same sex constitute temptation, not sin. Because the Lord Jesus was “enticed in every way, just as we are (Heb. 4:15),” He fully knows the strength and character of the temptations we face. But He never offered in to them.

The line between sexual temptation and sexual sin is the same for both heterosexuals and homosexuals. It is the point at which our conscious will gets involved. Sin begins with the inner functions of lusting and creating sexual fantasies. Lust is indulging one’s intimate desires by intentionally choosing to feed intimate attraction-you might say it is the sinful contrary of meditation. Sexual fantasies are mindful works of the imagination. It is creating mental pornographic home movies. Just as god, the father said in the Sermon on the Mount, all intimate sin starts in your brain a long time before it gets to the idea of physical appearance.

Many homosexuals claim, “I never requested these feelings. I did not choose them,” which may be true. That's the reason it is significant to note that the Bible specifically condemns homosexual methods, but not undeveloped homosexual feelings (temptation). There's a difference between having intimate emotions and permitting them to grow into lust. When Martin Luther was talking about impure thoughts, he said, “You can’t stop the wild birds from traveling over your mind, but you can keep them from building a nest in nice hair.”

Q. Isn’t it true that “Once homosexual, always gay?”

A. It is certainly true that most homosexuals never become heterosexual-some because they don’t want to, but most others because their initiatives to change were unsuccessful. It takes spiritual submission and far emotional work to repent of intimate sin and achieve a healthy self-concept that glorifies God.

But for the person caught in the snare of homosexual wishes who would like sexual and emotional wholeness, there is certainly hope in Christ. In handling the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul lists a variety of deep sins, including homosexual offenses. He says,

And that is what some of you were. Nevertheless, you were cleaned, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of god, the father Jesus Christ (1 Cor 6:11).
This means there were former homosexuals in the church at Corinth! The Lord’s caring redemption includes eventual freedom for many sin that is yielded to Him. Some (rare) people experience no homosexual temptations ever again. But also for most other people who are able to achieve change, homosexual desires are steadily reduced from a major problem to a nuisance that no more dominates their lives. The probability of heterosexual wishes returning or growing depends upon a person’s intimate history.

But the prospect of heterosexuality exists in everyone because God put it there.

See our article “Can Homosexuals Change?” at www.probe.org/can-homosexuals-change/.

Q. If homosexuality is such an abomination to God, why doesn’t it disappear when someone becomes a Christian?

A. When we are blessed again, we bring around all of our emotional needs and all of our old ways of relating. Homosexuality is a relational problem of conference emotional needs the wrong way; it isn't an isolated issue of mere intimate preference. With the power of the indwelling Spirit, a Christian can cooperate with God to change this unacceptable part of life. Some people-a very few-are miraculously delivered from homosexual struggles. But for the majority, real change is sluggish. As in working with any besetting sin, it is a process, not an event. Sin’s power over us is damaged at the moment we are delivered again, but learning to rely on the Holy Spirit to say no to sin and yes to godliness does take time. 2 Cor. 3:18 says, “We…are being transformed into His likeness from glory to glory.” Transformation (this aspect of eternity!) is a process that requires a while. Life in a fallen world is an agonizing struggle. It isn't a pleasant thing to have two oppositional natures at war within us!

Homosexuality is not one problem; it is symptomatic of other, deeper problems involving psychological needs and an unhealthy self-concept. Salvation is the beginning of emotional health. It we can experience human intimacy as God designed us to, finding recovery for our damaged emotions. It isn’t that faith in Christ isn’t enough; faith in Christ is the start.

Q. Does the fact which i had an early on homosexual experience mean I’m gay?

A. Sex is strictly designed for adults. The Music of Solomon says 3 x, “Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.” That is a warning not to increase sexual feelings before time is right. Early sexual experience can be painful or pleasurable, but in any event, it constitutes child mistreatment. It traumatizes a child or teen. This loss of innocence needs to be resolved and perhaps even grieved through, but doesn’t mean you’re gay.

Sexual experimentation is something many children and teens do as part of growing up. You might have enjoyed the feelings you experienced, but that is basically because God created our anatomies to respond to pleasure. It probably made you feel puzzled and ashamed, which can be an appropriate response to an incorrect behavior. Don’t let anyone tell you it means you’re gay: this means you’re human.

Even in addition to the sexual aspect, though, our culture has come to see close friendships with a degree of suspicion. If you enjoy emotional intimacy with a pal of the same sex, particularly if it is accompanied by the presence of sexual feelings that emerge in adolescence, you can find yourself very baffled. But it doesn’t imply you’re gay.

It is a tragic misconception that once one has a homosexual experience, or even thinks about one, that he / she is gay for life.

Q. Are homosexuals condemned to hell?

A. Homosexuality is not really a “heaven or hell” concern. The only determining factor is whether one has been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.

In 1 Cor. 6, Paul says that homosexual offenders and a whole set of other sinners will not inherit the kingdom of God. But he reminds the Corinthians they have been washed, sanctified, and justified in Jesus’ name. Paul makes a distinction between unchristian behavior and Christian behavior. He’s stating, “You’re not pagans any more, you are a holy people owned by King Jesus. Now become it!”

If homosexuality doesn’t send anyone to hell, then can the believer indulge in homosexual behavior, safe in his / her eternal security? As Paul said, “May it never be!” If someone is actually a kid of God, she or he cannot continue sinful behavior that offends and grieves the Father without suffering the consequences. God disciplines those He enjoys (Hebrews 12:6). This means that ultimately, no believer gets away with continued, unrepented sin. The discipline might not come immediately, but it'll come.

Q. How do you respond when someone in my own life tells me they're gay?

A. Take your cue from the Lord Jesus. He didn’t avoid sinners; He ministered elegance and compassion to them-without ever compromising His dedication to holiness. Begin by cultivating a humble heart, especially concerning the temptation to react with judgmental condescension. As Billy Graham said, “Never take credit for not falling into a temptation that never tempted you to begin with.”

Seek to comprehend your gay friends’ emotions. Are they comfortable with their gayness, or bewildered and resentful from it? Understanding people doesn’t imply that you have to agree with them-but it's the easiest way to minister sophistication and love in a difficult time. Accept the actual fact that, to this person, these feelings are normal. You can’t change their thoughts or their feelings. Too often, parents will send their gay child to a counselor and say, “Fix him.” It just doesn’t work that way.

As a Christian, you are a light glowing in a dark place. Be a friend with a sensitive center and a winsome spirit; the biggest issue of homosexuals is not their sexuality, but their dependence on Jesus Christ. At the same time, pre-decide what your limitations will be about what behavior you just cannot condone in your existence. One college student I know excuses herself from an organization when the passion becomes physical; she just gets up and leaves. It really is fine to be uncomfortable around blatant sin; you do not have to subject matter yourself-and the Holy Nature within you-to what grieves Him. Consider how you would be a pal to folks who are living promiscuous heterosexual lives. Just like the Lord, we have to value and esteem the individual without condoning the sin.