Homosexuality – What does the Bible say?

Let me just quote what the New King James Version of the Bible says about homosexuality. It is written in the Old Testament as well, but I have chosen to bring you these three passages from the New Testament.

Romans chapter 1, verses 24-27
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9-11
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 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 and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 8-11.
But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

Based on the above, it should be obvious to everyone that the Bible certainly does not bless homosexuality (Note!! This is not about a person being homosexual, but rather about the action of homosexuality) Actually, the Bible likens it to violent criminals, liars, murderers, slave traders, etc.! So, based on that, you could say with reference to God’s own word that homosexuality is a sin God wants us to turn away from.

But why is it a sin? ….for God isn’t against love, is He? And who defines what love is anyway?

…If we go back even further – all the way back to the beginning, actually, God created man and woman to be together – and to “become one flesh”, to bind themselves together and to propagate with each other. We were not created as hermaphrodites or as “choose your own gender” or as “buy a surrogate” for a homosexual couple – it is actually “society” that has changed – not God!

Now, when the Bible says that it is just as wrong to have sex with someone of the same gender as it is, for instance, to have sex with your siblings, then how can we as humans “invalidate” what God says…? If you think I am making an unfair comparison, then compare it to lying instead – can we legalize lying – and if so, where do we draw the line…? When is a lie big enough to be bad…? How can we as humans invalidate any decision God has made, because God HATES all lies – in His eyes they are sin! …A sin equal in severity to having sex with the same gender or being unfaithful to one’s spouse.

Think of it like this: God sets up laws to protect us – because He loves us! God knows the consequences of something like lying. God also knows the consequences of killing a person, lying, being an alcoholic, being addicted to gambling, etc. can be for the individual person and for the person’s family. It is precisely the same with Danish laws – you get a ticket for speeding… because it can kill people or yourself – i.e. to protect yourself and others. In God’s set of rules, it is also a sin for two people of the same gender to be together – because what’s natural is replaced with the unnatural. Two women or two men just can’t naturally have children together – and I actually believe that God wants a child to have both a father and a mother.

“But Andreas, you just don’t get it, and you are condemning all homosexuals indiscriminately, and you are making yourself better than everybody else…” No, I am not, because many homosexuals are actually the nicest people you’ll ever meet, who couldn’t “hurt a fly”, but that just doesn’t make their choice to be gay or lesbian okay with God according to what we read in the Bible. My question, then, goes to the opposite: If God says it is wrong to lie, to kill, and to have sex with your siblings, then can we force God to bless it and accept after all? …and NO – I am NOT saying that killing etc. in human terms is equal to homosexuality – far from it… but I am saying that in the eyes of God, a sin is a sin. There might be disagreement about certain points, but that simply doesn’t change God’s attitude – and whether or not we want to, I would assume that we can’t force God to accept sin…? And where are the limits for that??
– Just because the limits of society change, that actually doesn’t mean that we suddenly have power over God to force Him to bless a sin – not even if it is done in sincere and deep love of another human being.

“Honestly, Andreas… don’t you get it that homosexuality is a DNA deviation – a genetic thing?” Nope, sorry, but with the Bible as my guide, I must say that it is still, and always will be, an active choice to be homosexual, which can actually be rooted in any number of different things. In addition, I am actually naïve enough to believe what I have experienced time and again that demons are a real thing. They can plague a person with anything from illness to lust and sexual fantasies, etc. If it is a matter of demons, there is deliverance from that as long as a person sincerely wants to be free. We have seen that MANY times…!

If you believe in Jesus wholeheartedly, and therefore in the Bible as well, then can you really take liberties with ascribing degrees of truth to it? If we sincerely want to SUBMIT to Jesus Christ and make Him the center of our lives, then how in the world is it possible to emphasize only certain parts of the Bible in our own favor? …Because then I suppose we might as well take out the whole concept of ‘sin’ and ‘conversion’ from the Bible, and if we remove those, then there is absolutely no reason why Jesus bore our sin on the cross? Or….? And why did He even die, if sin doesn’t matter?….I suppose there is no hell either, then? And there you go, we just did away with the cross and the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection! And once that is gone, then why even believe in Jesus?

So – if you believe in Jesus and want to submit to Him, then you can’t also be homosexual… otherwise your faith in Jesus is focused on what YOU want and not on Jesus.
James 4:8 says: ” Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
– So I am sorry to say it, but if you are looking for God to bless your homosexuality, you are barking up the wrong tree, because God will NEVER go against His own word. But you might also ask yourself: If you are really not interested in submitting to Jesus Christ in everything, then why do you need His blessing…? And the pastor who in God’s name blesses something God detests is bringing God’s judgment down upon himself – and only the pastor is responsible for that. Actually, it says in James 3:1, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment”

Remember that God loves ALL people – but according to the Bible, only those people who turn to Jesus, who turn away from all sin and who let themselves baptize with water and with the spirit will be called children of God. Jesus does not condemn us when we turn from our sin, but he does condemn if we flagrantly continue to live in sin once we know it is wrong. You might want to read John 8:3-12, how a woman is caught committing adultery… but Jesus saves her by the skin of her teeth from being stoned – saying to the woman: “Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
…How amazing is it that Jesus forgives EVERYTHING when we turn from sin – and then we no longer have to live in His condemnation, but rather in His complete freedom…!

Are you on fire for Christ in your heart – while you have homophile tendencies – and have you truly tried to ask God for freedom but without experiencing any, then you can be quite sure that a lot of what you are experiencing is demonic influence. Believe me… Satan can really “play with your thoughts and feelings”. We  have experienced that several times – and in these cases, you will often recognize something like an unsafe childhood with things like neglect, molestation, violence, fear, or e.g. lots of fighting etc. in childhood, because all of these things are footholds for Satan, even though it is not YOUR fault. Your failure to experience the freedom you want by seeking God yourself is not caused by God not being there, but because you need to deny Satan access to you…. For that you need some Christians that are part of a deliverance mission to pray for you.

Andreas Slot-Henriksen
August 2018