Is Homosexuality a Sin?

[joelcharig]

Thanks Shiloh for that insightful view, just what I was looking for =)

Bopeep I have indeed read the bible, I think it's a little unfair that you judge me on that; the bible has hundreds of events so you can't really expect me to know about them all.

I do on the other hand openly admit that I do not read the bible as much as I should, which is probably true to us all, no matter how much we read the bible.

[Guest Butero]

Homosexual acts are a sin.  The Bible says sin is the transgression of God's law.  In the OT, homosexual acts were punished by death, and the sinfulness of homosexual acts is re-affirmed in Romans chapter one of the NT.  The attraction in general may not be a sin, but acting upon that attraction is.  It is no different than a heterosexual man being attracted to a woman other than his wife.  While lust is wrong, temptation can still occur without sin taking place, but when the man acts upon that attraction and commits adultery, he is guilty in the sight of God, and adultery was a capital offense in the OT too.  So the answer to your question is, the attraction is not necessarily a sin, but acting upon it is. 

[kwikphilly]

Blessings joel

      Welcome to Worthy,I think you have been given adequate referrance to Scripture concerning the matter of homosexuality but I would like to add(contrary to what others may think).Having the attraction to someone of the same sex is not the same as being "attracted to someone of the opposite sex" and I do believe that in itself is sinful because it is "lusting " after the flesh.....Gods Word tells us that lusting after another mans wife is the sin even without acting upon thjs temptation,why-because the act is in the heart & it is a sin to commit adultery.........being attracted to the opposite sex is not necessarily "lusting"after for sexual intention but if a person is attracted to someone of the same sex then what is their intention?They are "lusting" in their heart for something that God says is an abomination in His eyes........yes,it is a sin

     As far as "not liking" homosexuals.....that is not right either,we are to love one another and hate the sin ,not the sinner.....we are not all "bad" in the eyes of God once we place our sin under the Blood of Christ.....we are reconciled back to our Father & made Worthy,spotless,sinless..........no matter what we did prior to Confessing Christ as our Lord & Savior! God bless you & Glory to God!

                                                                                                                    With love,in Christ-Kwik

[Guest Butero]

Blessings joel

      Welcome to Worthy,I think you have been given adequate referrance to Scripture concerning the matter of homosexuality but I would like to add(contrary to what others may think).Having the attraction to someone of the same sex is not the same as being "attracted to someone of the opposite sex" and I do believe that in itself is sinful because it is "lusting " after the flesh.....Gods Word tells us that lusting after another mans wife is the sin even without acting upon thjs temptation,why-because the act is in the heart & it is a sin to commit adultery.........being attracted to the opposite sex is not necessarily "lusting"after for sexual intention but if a person is attracted to someone of the same sex then what is their intention?They are "lusting" in their heart for something that God says is an abomination in His eyes........yes,it is a sin

     As far as "not liking" homosexuals.....that is not right either,we are to love one another and hate the sin ,not the sinner.....we are not all "bad" in the eyes of God once we place our sin under the Blood of Christ.....we are reconciled back to our Father & made Worthy,spotless,sinless..........no matter what we did prior to Confessing Christ as our Lord & Savior! God bless you & Glory to God!

                                                                                                                    With love,in Christ-Kwik

This is a tough question.  Is simply being attracted to someone a sin?  Lets take David.  Was he guilty of sin just because he was attracted to Bathsheba?  Obviously lust was conceived in his heart, but was the attraction itself a sin?  If a man sees a woman on the street and finds her attractive, is that a sin?  At what point does attraction become a sin?  To me, homosexual attraction is a mental disorder.  Lust as a result is sin, and acting on the lust is an abomination.  I can't really claim to understand homosexuals, as I have zero attraction to men, but I do understand temptation, and I recognize we are all weak in different areas. 

[Guest shiloh357]

It is not a sin to be tempted.   If a person who is a believer and has been delivered from homosexuality is walking down the street and sees a member of the same sex and feels that familar "tug" of temptation, there is no sin in that.  It is how he/she responds to it that defines when a sin has taken place.  Do they cast it down in Jesus' Name and immediately ask Jesus to remove the temptation, or do they entertain it?   If they choose to entertain it, they have crossed the line from being tempted over to choosing to sin.

 

Sin never happens on accident and it is never outside our control whether we sin or not.   We fall into temptation, but we choose whether or not we sin.

 

People who have been delivered from homosexuality need a church family to help keep them strong and support them.

[OakWood]

Blessings joel

      Welcome to Worthy,I think you have been given adequate referrance to Scripture concerning the matter of homosexuality but I would like to add(contrary to what others may think).Having the attraction to someone of the same sex is not the same as being "attracted to someone of the opposite sex" and I do believe that in itself is sinful because it is "lusting " after the flesh.....Gods Word tells us that lusting after another mans wife is the sin even without acting upon thjs temptation,why-because the act is in the heart & it is a sin to commit adultery.........being attracted to the opposite sex is not necessarily "lusting"after for sexual intention but if a person is attracted to someone of the same sex then what is their intention?They are "lusting" in their heart for something that God says is an abomination in His eyes........yes,it is a sin

     As far as "not liking" homosexuals.....that is not right either,we are to love one another and hate the sin ,not the sinner.....we are not all "bad" in the eyes of God once we place our sin under the Blood of Christ.....we are reconciled back to our Father & made Worthy,spotless,sinless..........no matter what we did prior to Confessing Christ as our Lord & Savior! God bless you & Glory to God!

                                                                                                                    With love,in Christ-Kwik

 

I always view that slightly differently, Kwik.

It's not a sin to be tempted but it is a sin to try and use literal non-action as a safe get-out clause. The whole point of salvation is that you want to change who you are. You want to become perfect. You are handing yourself over to Jesus and wish to be cured.

If a man decides that he won't commit adultery by having sex with another man's wife, but instead he goes home fantasises about her, carries out the act in his head and deliberately enjoys the pleasure of that fantasy to its conclusion then he is still committing adultery because he is showing an unwillingness to change his ways. He is hoping that because he doesn't physically commit the act then he is doing no wrong. It's a variation of works over faith.

 

However, to have a strong sexual urge that simply won't go away is not the same thing. It just means that you weren't praying hard enough or trying hard enough. It can happen to anybody, and to finally give in to that urge may be a sin, but is completely forgivable if one then repents.

The idea behind the 'committed adultery in his heart' clause is to show that you can't just blindly follow rules with no intention of ever changing your ways.

It's the same with homosexuality. You have to want to change. The sin is neither here nor there, as sins are forgivable and while we're on this Earth, we're all sinners.

Christians expect homosexuals to stop sinning straightway and to take a life-changing vow of celibacy immediately, without realising that things take time, even with the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

When a homosexual says to himself, "I don't want to be like this, I wish I was straight," then he has taken the first step towards salvation, but when he enjoys being homosexual, believes it is right in his own eyes, and wants others to admire him for it too, then he is walking down the path of darkness.

 

We are quick to judge homosexuals but then we try to correct ourselves by saying "I love the sinner but not the sin", but quite often that is not true. We are hypocrites because we are judging them by our own relatively comfortable standards.

 

We expect homosexuals to change straightaway, even though their condition is deeply engrained and it must be extremely difficult for them, because they are not just trying to turn away from lust, they are also fighting against their own identities, peer pressure and many other types of insecurities.

We need more patience with them than we do with most other types of sinners.

As an adulterer, all I have to fight against is lust, but a homosexual has to fight against lust and also the fact that he is attracted to the 'wrong type' of body. It's a double cross for a homosexual to bear.

[Fez]

 

Blessings joel

      Welcome to Worthy,I think you have been given adequate referrance to Scripture concerning the matter of homosexuality but I would like to add(contrary to what others may think).Having the attraction to someone of the same sex is not the same as being "attracted to someone of the opposite sex" and I do believe that in itself is sinful because it is "lusting " after the flesh.....Gods Word tells us that lusting after another mans wife is the sin even without acting upon thjs temptation,why-because the act is in the heart & it is a sin to commit adultery.........being attracted to the opposite sex is not necessarily "lusting"after for sexual intention but if a person is attracted to someone of the same sex then what is their intention?They are "lusting" in their heart for something that God says is an abomination in His eyes........yes,it is a sin

     As far as "not liking" homosexuals.....that is not right either,we are to love one another and hate the sin ,not the sinner.....we are not all "bad" in the eyes of God once we place our sin under the Blood of Christ.....we are reconciled back to our Father & made Worthy,spotless,sinless..........no matter what we did prior to Confessing Christ as our Lord & Savior! God bless you & Glory to God!

                                                                                                                    With love,in Christ-Kwik

This is a tough question.  Is simply being attracted to someone a sin?  Lets take David.  Was he guilty of sin just because he was attracted to Bathsheba?  Obviously lust was conceived in his heart, but was the attraction itself a sin?  If a man sees a woman on the street and finds her attractive, is that a sin?  At what point does attraction become a sin?  To me, homosexual attraction is a mental disorder.  Lust as a result is sin, and acting on the lust is an abomination.  I can't really claim to understand homosexuals, as I have zero attraction to men, but I do understand temptation, and I recognize we are all weak in different areas. 

 

Did David not commit adultery in his heart? The warning being do that and you have already committed it. 

[kwikphilly]

Blessings Willow

     Funny,it seems to me that we pretty much have said the same thing only that you elaborated on the repentance and forgiveness more than I did, although I did briefly state any sin is covered by the Blood.......I tried to only address joels question....

     And the only reason I am addressing you is because I sincerely hope you are not insinuating that I am a hypocrite & trying to correct myself by saying "we hate the sin & not the sinner".....since you used my words .Of course the Lord knows my heart & I do not need your approval but I would be very surprised & disappointed if you,my brother,could not see the love of Christ in me....................Praise & Glory to God

                                                                                                              With love,in Christ-Kwik

[joelcharig]

Blessings joel

      Welcome to Worthy,I think you have been given adequate referrance to Scripture concerning the matter of homosexuality but I would like to add(contrary to what others may think).Having the attraction to someone of the same sex is not the same as being "attracted to someone of the opposite sex" and I do believe that in itself is sinful because it is "lusting " after the flesh.....Gods Word tells us that lusting after another mans wife is the sin even without acting upon thjs temptation,why-because the act is in the heart & it is a sin to commit adultery.........being attracted to the opposite sex is not necessarily "lusting"after for sexual intention but if a person is attracted to someone of the same sex then what is their intention?They are "lusting" in their heart for something that God says is an abomination in His eyes........yes,it is a sin

     As far as "not liking" homosexuals.....that is not right either,we are to love one another and hate the sin ,not the sinner.....we are not all "bad" in the eyes of God once we place our sin under the Blood of Christ.....we are reconciled back to our Father & made Worthy,spotless,sinless..........no matter what we did prior to Confessing Christ as our Lord & Savior! God bless you & Glory to God!

                                                                                                                    With love,in Christ-Kwik

 

I half agree with you Kwik, but I believe that the natural attraction to the same sex is not the person's fault necessarily, so I don't think this is the sin. Instead, I believe that the actions of homosexuality is the sin, as this is not being willing to change and is giving in to the temptation. The acting upon it is the only part of the whole situation that IS the person's choice, not the natural and instinctive attraction.

That theory just feels like the fairest way to me, what do you think about it?

 

Also, is lusting after flesh (as you put it) really always a sin? I can understand that lusting obsessively is sinful, but having the occasional and almost uncontrollable "tug" towards someone you see shouldn't be a sin surely? Obviously with the exception of having a relationship with someone different to who you are lusting over, or lusting about someone who is already in a relationship.

But as Butero said, at what point does attraction become a sin?

[joelcharig]

I don't see why would it be a sin, it's not a choice, people are born homosexual. So if god created them homosexual, that must be for a purpose I guess. Could be because homosexuals can't reproduce and our earth is getting overpopulated rapidly, so that could be a god's mechanism of population control.

 

Now that, is a very interesting point! But from I've seen in the bible (especially the reference made earlier about the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah), committing acts of homosexuality is a sin.

But we should keep our minds open to all possible reasons, so don't think I'm discarding your idea =)