HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE CHURCH

LGBTQ+
Written By Baily McDaniel

CAN A CHRISTIAN BE A PRACTICING HOMOSEXUAL?

LGBTQ+ pride balloons

Key Facts

  • A majority of U.S. Christians (54%) now say that homosexuality should be accepted. [1]

  • About a quarter of LGBT individuals attend religious services regularly, contrasted with 42% of non-LGBT individuals. [2]

  • LGBTQ adults differ from the general public in that they are much more likely to be unaffiliated with a church (41%), almost twice the rate of Americans overall (22.8%), the study found. [3]

Key Scriptures

  • 1 John 1:6 "If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth."

  • John 8:31 “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.”

  • Ephesians 4:22-24 “in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

  • 1 Timothy 1:9-10 “We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.”

  • Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

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Want to Know More?

  • 10 Things Everyone Should Know About a Christian View of Homosexuality

  • William Lane Craig on Paul's View of Homosexuality

  • Holy Sexuality and the Gospel by Christopher Yuan

  • Does 'willful sinning' threaten my salvation?

Application

It is important before addressing this question to discuss what is meant by the term "practicing homosexual." In this article, it means someone who is consistently engaged in a homosexual relationship or homosexual acts with an unrepentant heart. It is not addressing someone who is merely tempted towards homosexuality or someone who stumbles in their walk with Christ. Moving on to the question at hand, there are several theological points which underlie this debate.

How Are People Saved?

People are saved by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Yet, we are also told that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). While Scripture clearly teaches that salvation does not come through works, it nevertheless puts a tremendous emphasis on our works being a sign of genuine faith. Jesus said that if you love him, you will obey his commands (John 14:15). A faith that is real and genuine will produce good works. Salvation does not come through works, but rather the works of a person are a result of what she believes where her faith lies.

 

Does Sin Affect a Christian’s Salvation?

Every Christian is tempted towards one thing or another (like same-sex desires) and sometimes Christians sin by giving into those temptations. Our salvation is not dependent on our perfection, but comes by grace through faith, not by our own works but by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

The Christian life involves a struggle between the flesh and the spirit. When a person becomes a Christian, they receive a new spirit with desires for holiness, but this fights against the physical body which wants to fulfill its immediate desires. Just as Paul explains in Romans 7:15, there is a struggle to do what is right in the life of the believer, and Christians frequently mess up. Christians can be deceived in a way that results in sin. Sometimes, Christians even knowingly do the wrong thing. This is where the church is to be clear and helpful in revealing the sinfulness of the act and assisting the individual in any way possible as long as the individual is willing. The individual should turn from these sinful ways. Sin does not change the eternal salvation of a Christian. However, persistent and unrepentant sin can raise questions concerning the legitimacy of that person’s apparent conversion to Christ.

Can a Christian Be a Practicing Homosexual?

With those theological points addressed, the original question may be better answered. Everyone stumbles in their walk with the Lord. However, the genuineness of someone's faith may come into question when they are knowingly, willingly, and unrepentantly pursuing sin. This is a mark of someone whose heart may not have been transformed by Christ. Life with Christ is transformative which is why Christians never seek to be like those who "claim to know God, but by deny him by their actions." (Titus 1:16).

Christians are called to judge the actions of other Christians and rid the evil works from the church (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). This means examining other Christians by their works, but we must remember that only God knows the heart of a person. Christians can only view so much of what goes on inside the spiritual life of another and humility should be central as Christians examine the spiritual life of another.

Genuine faith looks like choosing God’s Word over one’s own. The Christian life is not free of errors, but rather full of the grace of God to bring us back to right relationship with Him and rid us of the sins that ensnare us. Each sin creates a separation between the individual and God, the Holy Spirit works to purify Christians of all unrighteousness. Throughout the sanctification process, Christians move away from the life that they lived as unbelievers and walk in accordance with the teachings of the Bible. Homosexuality should be no exception.

In Luke 10, when the rich young ruler is asked to obey every command, he says that he has done it. But he walks away sad because he is unwilling to give up his possessions for the sake of Christ. His wealth had become an idol in his life. Whatever a person holds back from God is what God wants. Nothing should come before God or it is an idol –including human sexuality. He wants obedience in each aspect of life –not just the easy ones. The Bible is clear that in order to be a disciple of Christ, believers are expected to put their desire for Christ above all other desires. As Christians strive to do this, even their most intimate and sexual desires will fall into accordance with the commands of God.

man looking through blinds

Conclusion

Caution should be exercised when questioning another individual’s motivations and commitment to God. This is something that can only be addressed fully by God, who knows the hearts of each man. That being said, the biblical passages are clear that sinful behaviors should be rejected in the church.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "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. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." Paul warns that believers cannot give themselves over to sin (any sin) and expect to inherit the kingdom of heaven. In this passage, Paul points out that living in sin is characteristic of our lives before we were washed, sanctified, and justified. These sins should not be part of the Christian life after Christ has given us freedom from them.

All sin leads to death. Instead of reducing the weight of sin by saying things such as “everyone sins anyway, so if I live a homosexual lifestyle what difference does it make,” Christians can say “all sin is so severe that it leads to death, Jesus saved us so that we can live in freedom apart from that sin.” Christians should take sin seriously because it is sin that put Jesus on the cross. If we love Jesus, that should produce in us a hatred for sin of any kind.

Baily McDaniel
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