Why is homosexuality a sin? Do gays go to hell?
Answer:
Homosexuality (and by extension LGBT lifestyles) is a sin because God tells us that it is not the way He made us and it is against His commandments. We must see however that every person, homosexual or not, is separated from God and condemned to hell because we have sinned against God. All people (including homosexuals) must repent from their sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many homosexuals have been told and now believe that they are born that way and cannot and should not change. Let us take a look at what the bible says about this issue.
Old Testament
Leviticus 18:22, 29: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. … For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people.”
Leviticus 20:13: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”
New Testament
1 Tim 1:9-10: “Understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,”
1 Cor 6:9-10: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Rom 1:24-28, 32: “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done… Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”
The bible tells us that it is not in man’s nature to be homosexual. God did not make men and women to be homosexual. Nobody is born homosexual. Many are “given up in their lusts” to the lie of homosexuality, whereas if they had sought after God, He would have desired to reconcile them to Himself. Many are tempted by homosexual thoughts – only some give in to them. It is entirely possible to repent and turn from a LGBT lifestyle.
The Romans 1 passage above cites homosexuality as an example of wickedness. The bible clearly identifies homosexual acts as an abomination before God. There is little dispute about what the bible says. The only way to deny homosexuality as a sin would be to deny the authority or clarity of the bible, which some people have done.
There are those who would still choose, in the face of the obvious, to re-interpret these passages to refer only to pederasty, orgiasty, temple prostitution, perversion vs inversion, rape or relationships of unequal power. However, there is no biblical, logical, literary or historical evidence to support these claims. Many of those who claim that the bible does not condemn homosexuality are merely seeking to twist God and His word to suit their own choices and passions, or because they wrongly believe that they are hopelessly stuck, unchangable, having been “born” homosexual and therefore feel God’s wrath but see no possibility of repentance.
While the bible does speak of homosexuality as an abomination, we also have to remember that it is not the only sin in the bible. The bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned” and thus are condemned to hell. Homosexuals who do not repent from their sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will go to hell. Nobody is exempt. Homosexuality is no “worse” a sin than greed, materialism, lying, drunkenness, hatred, lust, or any other form of rebellion against God. As it is with all other sinners, God commands the homosexual to repent of his or her sins and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and he or she will be saved.
Please refer to our other questions on the topic of homosexuality:
Leave a Comment