Homosexuality: A New Testament Perspective

So last time we talked about homosexuality, it was from an Old Testament perspective. In this blog post, we’ll be going over the New Testament perspective. This is my view of what the New Testament says on homosexuality. As you know from the last post, I believe homosexuality is a sin. Having said that, I believe in living how Jesus lived, in loving the sinner and hating the sin. I know that phrase may be offensive to some, likely because they don’t see being homosexual a sin. And as I said in the OT Perspective blog, if you do not believe in the Bible, this may not be very convincing to you. Let’s dig into the New Testament perspective.

The first scripture is from Romans 1:26-27 NKJV:

²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ 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.

This word, “use” means the natural use of sex. The context here is that people turned against God, so He gave them over to their sinful desires. God created us a certain way, as this scripture states. Women were going against how God created them to be sexually. So were the men. Men “burned in their lust for one another.” Lust is a perverted sexual desire. Men and women lusted toward their own genders. I’ve heard the argument that some scriptures only denounce forced homosexual sex. However, this scripture here says otherwise. This scripture is referring to consensual homosexual sex.

Another scripture is 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV:

⁹ 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, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

            The word for in this verse for “homosexual” is μαλακός. This can mean effeminate. It can also mean a boy that was kept for homosexual sex for an adult man. Some have used this scripture to say that it only refers to this, thereby trying to excuse their lifestyle choice or that of a friend/family member. However, this word also means a man that does unnatural sexual acts with his body willingly.

            1 Timothy 1:9-10 NKJV says this:

⁹ 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, ¹⁰ for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,

            One thing I’ve noticed is that when Paul states who will not be in heaven, he always is referring to people who refuse to give up their sins. It’s one thing to sin unintentionally. The Bible refers to this as trying to hit the target, but not quite making it. However, it’s another thing to live in complete contradiction to God’s laws. That said, Paul also writes a list of multiple kinds of sins. He didn’t focus on just one in these previous scriptures.

So what’s the point in the last couple of scriptures? It doesn’t matter what the sexual sin is or any other sin. If we refuse to give it up, it will keep us out of Heaven. A man cheating on his wife (or vice versa) is just as much a sin in God’s eyes as is homosexuality. Looking at pornography is just as bad a sin as two people of the same gender engaging in sexual acts with each other. Stealing will keep us out of Heaven just the same way any kind of sexual sin will if we refuse to give it up.

            Jude 1:7 has this to say KJV:

as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

            Jude is simply saying here that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of “going after strange flesh” and partaking in sexual immorality. As we’ve already discussed, sexual immorality includes homosexuality, adultery, and other acts of sex outside of God’s original intention for sexual relations.

Some folks use Matthew 8:5-13 as proof that Jesus condoned homosexuality. It tells the story of when Jesus healed the servant of a Roman centurion. The claim is that in some cases, these servants were actually male sex servants. However, this is negated by their own defense of another passage. As we discussed in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, the word for homosexual in this passage could mean a boy that was kept as a homosexual sex servant for an adult man. So we see that this defense is defenseless. Homosexuality is a sin.

Also, many times before Jesus would heal a person, He would say, “Your sins are forgiven.” He would also tell them to go and sin no more. As I have stated in previous posts, Jesus loves everyone. But He loves us all too much to leave us the way we are. He wants to transform us into His image.

Jesus created marriage as a holy union between a man and a woman. But let me go one step further. Marriage is meant to have Jesus as the head, and the man and wife second. Any husband and wife that love Jesus more than each other is what God intended. He created marriage to mirror how deep intimacy should go between us and Him, individually. I leave you with a few scriptures. I will write another post in this series. It will be along the lines of how we should treat those who live in sinful opposition to God, whether that sin is sexual immorality or lying.

Matthew 19:4-5 (NIV)

⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?

Genesis 1:27-28 (NIV)

²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,
   in the image of God he created them;
   male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

John 3:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.