New Testament References of Same Sex Lust

New Testament References Of Same Sex Lust

Romans 1:21-27

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and to fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For which cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”

This passage in Romans is the clearest New Testament passage that condemns male and female homosexuality. But these verses can not be looked at by themselves. They have to be studied in light of the verses around them and chronologically when it happened.

Many Bible scholars believe that the verses in Romans 1:18-32 are an account of the stages of world apostasy after the flood of Noah. The names of some them are, C. I. Scofield, Henry Morris, Finis Jennings Dake, and Lester Sumrall. Studying these verses in conjunction with Genesis 11 sheds much light about what occurred to humanity in the first 300 to 500 years after the flood. The verses reveal that mankind did not descend into the depths of depravity overnight, but that it took a period of time.

It is a physical law that babies do not grow into adults overnight, it takes years for the transformation. In the spirit it is similar, a baby Christian does not grow into spiritual maturity over night. On the flip side mankind does not descend into spiritual monsters overnight.

Sin does not have an eternal past, it had a beginning, it started somewhere; mankind, individually and as a whole does not degenerate overnight but gradually. I am not saying that man becomes spiritually dead or separated from God gradually; because of Adam’s sin we are all born with the law of sin and death in our nature, but when we reach the age of accountability we all die spiritually because we all sin, and that happens instantly. But just as there are levels of growth in Christ, there are levels of descent in sin. It is true that the reign of sin over man began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and the particular sin of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, a forbidden tree, and because of that all mankind was lost. But our state or condition can become worse. Jesus said in Matthew 12:45, “…the last state of that man is worse than the first.” What the man did was allow a wicked spirit and “seven other spirits more wicked than himself” to enter in. In 2 Peter 2:20, Peter wrote of the condition individuals who turn their back on God as being “…the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” Individual men and women, families, communities, whole nations and cultures do not become totally corrupt overnight, it is a gradual descent. A step by step abandoning of boundaries that otherwise would prohibit the corruption.

In Romans 1:21-27 it is revealed when the spirit of homosexuality entered the human realm. Comparing Genesis 18 & 19 with Genesis 11 and Romans 1 we can with confidence say it was within the first 450 years after the flood. Homosexuality is a lust driven by a spirit, it is not a sexual orientation, and it began plaguing humanity at a particular time in human history. Romans 1:21-25 show that homosexuality began when idolatry, which is also a spirit, was embraced by man and that occurred at a particular time in history.

Becoming vain in their thinking occurred after they rejected revealed truth; it is true here, and it is true in 2 Kings 17:15:

And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.

The people the Apostle Paul was referring to in Romans though claiming to be wise, these people were really fools. They were fools because they began worshipping images of man and animals. In Romans 1:24 & 26 we see the revelation of the, “wrath of God” in response to man when he, “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image” (verse 23). In verse 24 God “gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves.” When they began worshipping idols they changed the truth of God into a lie, after that the next step in the degenerative process was male and female homosexuality. The phrase “gave…up” is a compound Greek word. (3860 * paradidomi; para-to the side of, over to; didomi-to give) It means “to deliver over or up to the power of someone. Spoken of persons or things delivered over to do or suffer something, unto the power or practice of someone or something.”[i] In Romans 1:24 the Lord gave these people over to the power of sexual and moral uncleanness and they began acting out the lusts in their heart and dishonored their bodies.

These vile affections, these disgraceful passions are described as changing “the natural use into that which is against nature”. To understand fully what these words mean they have to be compared with the phrase in verse 27, men “leaving the natural use of the woman”. In sexual intimacy, anatomically speaking, men complement women and women complement men. It is the created order. The desire to have sexual relations with a member of the same gender is a “vile affection” that is “against nature”, they are not sexual orientations. In Romans 1:27, the phrase, “men with men working that which is unseemly”, is a discrete way of saying, according to the Greek, “men engaging in actions with the sexual private parts of another man.”

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, not idolaters, not adulterers, not effeminate, not abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God.”

The Greek word for the phrase “abusers of themselves with mankind” is the compound word ‘arsenokoites’. It means a man who lies in bed with another male, a homosexual. It is the same Greek word used in the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament in Leviticus 18:22: Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Verse 9 of 1 Corinthians 6 begins with a question. To put it simply, he asks, “Don’t you know that people who are not righteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” Paul warns us in verse 9, “Be not deceived”. There are certain behaviors, including homosexuality, that if you practice, it is an indicator you are not a Christian and you are not going to heaven. By the same standard, I know of people who are fornicators. They live together, they are not married and they go to church every week and they think they are going to heaven, but according to God’s word they are not. When we look at the contemporary church world and the secular world, how they have embraced the mythology about sexual orientation we can see this warning is justified. There are some people within some Christian denominations that are deceived into believing that they could engage in this behavior and still be a Christian. In this passage of scriptures Paul refers to homosexual behavior, and includes them in the group with thieves, idolaters, drunkards, adulterers, revilers, extortioners, and covetous. Then in verse 11 he gives some of the most powerful words of hope he could give. He states that there were members in the Corinthian church who in the past engaged in these behaviors, but because of their conversion to Jesus Christ, they were not only washed and rendered clean and pure in a moral sense but also were declared righteous and set free by God. The Greek word for “justified” is dikaioo (1344), and according to Zodiates Word Study New Testament Dictionary means, “justify by judicial act, to set a man free from his guilt and represent him as righteous, it does not mean mere declaration of innocence, but liberation from sin which holds a man prisoner.”[ii] They were, because of their conversion, no longer adulterers, no longer homosexuals, no longer drunkards, they quit doing those things. This Biblical truth is completely opposite of what we hear from many today, concerning the so called sexual orientation of homosexuals.

For instance, on August 15, 1997, the Associated Press reported, in an article entitled, “Therapy for gays denounced”, that “homosexuality is not a mental disorder and doesn’t need treatment, the nation’s largest group of psychologists (American Psychological Association) has declared in an attempt to quell controversy over so-called reparative therapy.” The article goes on to say, “The newest resolution said lack of information, ignorance and prejudice puts some “gay, lesbian, bisexual and questioning individuals at risk” for seeking “conversion” or “reparative” therapy, which is aimed at reducing or eliminating homosexuality.”[iii] Newsday, another news organization reporting on the same meeting, in an article entitled, “Gay conversions rapped”, and dated 8/15/97, wrote that passage of the resolution, “would mean its membership of 150,000 psychologists would be breaching ethical guidelines should they tell potential clients that there is effective “reparative” or “conversion” therapy for homosexuality.”[iv]

Another example is found in a Permanent Injunction issued in 1994 by U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegle against Cincinnati’s Issue Three, an effort by the voters in Cincinnati to remove “sexual orientation” from the city’s anti-discrimination law. “Furthermore, relevant and credible evidence revealed that sexual orientation is unamendable to techniques designed to change it, and that such techniques are considered unethical.”[v]

On June 10, 2004 World Net Daily reported that, “The National Mental Health Association has declared changing one’s sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual can be damaging to mental health,” www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38870.[vi]

If the National Mental Health Association, the APA, and Judge S. Arthur Spiegel were including the Gospel of Jesus Christ in these “techniques” then we have to go with what God’s word says in Romans 3:4 “…let God be true and every man a liar.” If there is no hope for the homosexual in the gospel then there is no hope for the drunkard, there is no hope for the adulterer, there is no hope for anyone. But thank God through Jesus Christ there is hope to not only receive forgiveness for all of our sin, no matter if its drug abuse, alcohol abuse, or sexual immorality of any kind, but also break entirely free from the bondage. The passage in Romans 3:4 echoes in principle what Isaiah 8:20 says, “…if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Folks, if anyone says things that are directly contrary to what the Bible says, don’t believe them.

1 Timothy 1:8-11

But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

One of the messages the Apostle Paul is saying in these verses: Laws that forbid among other things, lying, murder, kidnapping, and homosexuality are not only “good” and “sound doctrine” they are also according “to the glorious gospel of the blessed God”. One reason that makes these verses vitally important to our time is the definitions of a couple words. The Greek word “whoremonger”, is pornos. It means a male prostitute, (Zodiates, 4205).[vii] The other phrase, “them that defile themselves with mankind”, is one Greek compound word. It is arsenokoites , and it means, “a man that lies in bed with another man”, (Zodiates, 733);[viii] these definitions are important to our present time in light of the warning the Apostle Paul writes in his second epistle to Timothy. In 2 Timothy 4:2-4 he writes:

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

The Apostle Paul warns that the time was coming when people would no longer believe sound doctrine, i.e. laws that forbid homosexuality, but they would gather around and listen to teachers who would accommodate their lusts. There are denominations out there that proclaim homosexuality to be simply one of the varied orientations that make up human sexuality. There are people who flock to these teachers to have their ears tickled. They turn away from the truth of the word of God concerning homosexuality and turn to listen to myths rather than God’s Word.

During the late 70’s, various news organizations began to report how the old mainline denominations’ were struggling over the issue of homosexuality. When I began to see these denominations compromise again and again over this issue, I would wonder, “What in the world is going on? Don’t they know what the Bible says?” One factor that I was not aware at the time was that a perverted theology had infiltrated the ranks of these denominations. It was a heresy that reinterpreted clear scriptural teaching about homosexuality into bizarre doctrine which taught that Christianity and homosexuality are compatible; this heresy is homosexual theology. Looking at the growth of the homosexual movement in the church world in the last 25 years we can see the heretical has now become the accepted.

Let me point out that “theology” is the wrong term to use with this particular heresy. Theology is the study of God, and the teaching that homosexuality and Christianity are compatible is not about God. It is about man’s attempt to incorporate vile affection, vile lusts into a pseudo-relationship with God. Perhaps a more accurate term would be “sodomology”. This heresy is not theology.

The preachers in these churches preaching this poison are apostate; they are fallen away if they were ever born again. I must say not every minister in these denominations is preaching this garbage; there are many godly men and women within these denominations trying to stand for truth, but for the most part, within the last 35 years sodomology has crept into these churches and has caused them to depart from the faith. It was these developments and studying the Scriptures that foretold of these events led me to believe as Christ’s return came closer homosexuality was only going to become a larger, more prominent issue in the church and the world. Just as Jesus said in Luke 17:28-30, “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”

A common thread in sodomology is the accusation that the writers of Scripture were ignorant of what we know today about sexual orientation, so what the Scriptures say about homosexuality does not apply because the authors didn’t have all the facts. In a study by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), called Human Sexuality, published in October of 1994, it is evident that sodomologists are at work within that denomination to spread corruption:

“Some of those who have called for change have claimed that what the Scriptures say about homosexual behavior should no longer be binding on the Church. They have pointed out that the Church has changed its understanding of the Scriptures before. They have claimed the Bible is conditioned by its time—it does not and can not address contemporary understandings of homosexuality and the authentic relationship of gay and lesbian persons who are Christians. Others calling for change have insisted that the Scripture passages that seem to condemn same-sex acts have not been correctly understood. They have argued that the Scripture passages address only homosexual behavior and did not know the concept of “sexual orientation”.[ix]

The Episcopal Church in their study, Continuing the Dialogue, echoes this lie by saying that it is “unlikely” the Apostle Paul knew about “what we today call” homosexual orientation. [x]

These deceitful statements completely contradict what the Bible says about itself. The warnings written by Paul almost 2000 years ago and cited in the beginning of this chapter are being fulfilled before our very eyes. Concerning the scope and range of authority of the Scriptures Paul wrote quite clear in 2 Timothy 3:16, 17.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Scripture concerning homosexuality is God-breathed and is for doctrine about homosexuality, reproof concerning homosexuality, correction concerning homosexuality and instruction. If Paul was ignorant then either God inspired his ignorance or God was and is ignorant and not as smart as man.

To see how effective sodomology has had lets look at a quote from another main line denomination. The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA) is a denomination that has been wrestling with this issue for decades. After all those years of bickering, we find an amazing percentile acknowledged in the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA).

“A great theological divide exists in our denomination on the issue of homosexuality. Over the years, as various proposed amendments were sent to the presbyteries, the votes cast by individual presbyters have indicated that a substantial minority, 40 to 45 percent, affirm an interpretation of Scripture that differs from the guidance of the 1978 and 1979 General Assemblies.”

The 1978 General Assembly of the (UPCUSA) characterized “the practice of homosexuality as sin and instructs that unrepentant homosexual practice does not accord with the constitutional requirements for ordination.” www.pcusa.org/ga216/business/overtures/ovt0427.htm [xi]

Twenty six years after those General Assemblies, 40 to 45 percent of the leaders in the UPCUSA no longer believe that homosexuality is sin, nor believe that unrepentant homosexual practice is a reason not to ordain.

A couple more examples come from the Episcopal Church. The following is from is from the 1994 publication, Continuing The Dialogue, The first quote is from Chapter 5, The Discontinuities, lines 331 to 334:

“Among those who participated in the human sexuality dialogues in our own Church, 80% agreed or strongly agreed that homosexuality is a genuine orientation for some people and 66% said that gay men and lesbian women can be faithful Christians.”[xii]

Eighty per cent is an incredible number especially those who claim to be Christians but it shows clearly that the Apostle Paul was right when he wrote “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.” Another but more grievous example is found in the same chapter, from lines 549 and 566:

“Freud grew to believe that it was as difficult to convert a “fully developed homosexual into a heterosexual” as to do the reverse. Indeed there is no convincing evidence that homosexuals who are 5 and 6 on the Kinsey scale can be truly reoriented. Some are convinced, however, that with sufficient religious motivation, genuine shifts can and do take place. Some Christians involved in ministries such as Exodus and Regeneration have experienced such shifts in behavior and have given clear testimony to Church bodies on the subject…Clinical studies indicate, however, that such treatment may result in serious problems such as anxiety and depression due to the disruption of a lifelong process of sexual identity formation and from injury to the patient’s self-esteem.”[xiii]

Instead of saying what the Bible says, they quote Freud and Kinsey, and clinical studies. Saints, the Word of God is the final authority not Freud or clinical studies, or Kinsey. Not only is this “turning their ears away from the truth”, it is also an example of 2 Timothy 3:5, where Paul writes, “Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof”. They are denying the gospels’ power to overcome and destroy homosexual lust and to transform the sinner into a saint.

The next “Church” statement is from “Human Sexuality Working Draft: A Possible Social Statement of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with Accompanying Documents”. It is Paragraph 56, on page 21:

“Some of those who have called for change have claimed that what the Scriptures say about homosexual behavior should no longer be binding of the Church. They have pointed out that the Church has changed its understanding of the Scriptures before. They have claimed the Bible is conditioned by its time—it does not and cannot address contemporary understandings of homosexuality and the authentic relationship of gay and lesbian persons who are Christians. Others calling for change have insisted that the Scripture passages that seem to condemn same-sex acts have not been correctly understood. They have argued that the Scripture passages address only homosexual behavior and did not know the concept of “sexual orientation”.[xiv]

The above quotes from the Episcopal Church and Lutheran Church are clear examples of 2 Timothy 4:3 & 4. It is a flashing neon sign pointing to the apostasy of segments of professing Christianity. Another began flashing on July 5^th 2005 when the leaders of the United Church of Christ, a liberal denomination of 1.3 million members voted to endorse homosexual marriage.[xv] There are others from other denominations that could also be included, but these are sufficient.

What the Scripture requires the Church to do is use the authority that Christ gave the Church to administer discipline. Under the Old Covenant there were certain crimes that were punishable by death. For instance, in Leviticus 20:11 we read, “…the man that lieth with his father’s wife…both of them shall surely be put to death.” It is the same in Deuteronomy 17:2-5 where the crime is idolatry. “If there be found among you…man or woman, that hath…gone and served other gods…Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman…and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.” Clearly under the Old Covenant these two offences were guilty of death, but under the New Covenant there is a different discipline given. These two sins are dealt with by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5. But instead of ordering the death penalty Paul says the individuals need to be excommunicated. In 1 Corinthians 5:2 the judgment to be administered is “taken away”, and in 1 Corinthians 5:13 it is “put away”. They are both the same Greek word, exairo, which means “to expel or excommunicate”.[xvi] The desired effect, according to 1 Corinthians 5:5 is, “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Living in the world out from under the protection of God, and being the targets of the prayers of the saints is sufficient to bring a person to repentance and back into fellowship with God and his Church. Likewise under the law the death penalty was prescribed for individuals guilty of homosexuality.

Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with women kind: it is abomination.

Leviticus 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Using the same example of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 for other sins that were prescribed the death penalty under the law but were under the New Covenant, we can with confidence in the mind of Christ excommunicate those in the local assembly who are unrepentant, but with the hope and prayer that it is only a step in the process of bringing them back into the body for full fellowship after the repentance is accomplished.

In light of this, those in the Church who advocate death for homosexuals are, I believe in error and need to repent.

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[i] Spiros Zodhiates Complete Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament, # 3860.

[ii] Ibid. # 1344.

[iii] “Therapy for gays denounced”, Associated Press, 8/15/97.

[iv] “Gay conversions rapped”, Newsday, 8/15/97.

[v] U.S. District Judge, S. Arthur Speigel’s Permanent Injunction against Issue 3, 8/9/94.

[vi] “Turning from homosexuality hazardous?”

www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38870

[vii] Spiros Zodhiates Complete Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament, #4205.

[viii] Ibid. # 733.

[ix] Human Sexuality, A Working Draft, A Possible Social Statement of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with Accompanying Documents, p 21, paragraph 56.

[x] Continuing The Dialogue, A Pastoral Study Document of the House of Bishops to the Church as the Church Considers Issues of Human Sexuality, p 21, Lines 326-328.

[xi] “That all may have life in fullness, (UPCUSA),

www.pcusa.org/ga216/business/overtures/ovt0427.htm

[xii] Continuing the Dialogue, A Pastoral Study Document of the House of Bishops to the church as the Church Considers Issues of Human Sexuality, Chapter 5, Lines 331-334.

[xiii] Ibid. Chapter 5, Lines 549-566.

[xiv] Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Human Sexuality: Working Draft, p.21, paragraph 56.

[xv] “Press Statement after Marriage Equality Vote”.

www.news.ucc.org/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=273&Itemid=56&po...

[xvi] Spiros Zodhiates Complete Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament, # 1808.