God’s Love for the Sinner
Before we answer the question: Where in the Bible does it say that homosexuality is a sin, you need to know that although God hates sin, He loves the sinner to the point of death. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting” (John 3:16).
Through God’s gift of love, it becomes possible for the believers to be “called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). There are none to whom God arbitrarily refuses the benefits of saving grace. There is but one condition—belief in, and willing cooperation with, Christ (John 1:12).
The Bible and Homosexuality
The scriptures teaches that homosexuality is a sin in Genesis 19:1-13 and that it is an abomination to the Lord “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination” (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13). “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them” (Leviticus 20:13).
In the New Testament, it also stated, in Romans 1:26-27, that homosexuality is a result of denying and disobeying God. Also, in 1 Corinthians 6:9, it is very clear that all who practice sin, including homosexuality, will not inherit the kingdom of God. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
The Bible states that the moral law ( Exodus 20:1–17) condemns 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” (1 Timothy 1:9,10).
The Lord declares that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and are born with flesh that lusts after sin (Ephesians 2:3). Some struggle with homosexual thoughts, but that is considered a sin when a person yields to the temptation and commits the sinful act (James 1: 14-15).
A person may be born with a greater propensity to homosexuality, just as some people are born with a tendency to lust heterosexually. But that does not excuse the person in choosing to sin by giving in to his sinful desires. If a person is born with a greater tendency to anger, for example, does that give him the right to give in to those tendencies? Of course not! The same is true with homosexuality.
God Gives Victory
The good news is that the Lord is ready to forgive the repentant sinner (1 John 1:9; 2 Peter 3:9), though He cannot forgive these sins in the sense of overlooking them. Confessed sins are borne by the Lamb of God (John 1:29). And God promises not just to forgive the sinner but to also to give him full strength to have victory over every sin, including homosexuality.
The promise of a new nature is given to all those who believe in Jesus Christ for their salvation. ”Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Then, the believer can declare triumphantly, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
