Homosexuality in the church

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Feb 6, 2015 at 10:10

Hi, Debanjan

Tovey seems not to have answered you, so I will address the issue.

1. You are correct, that the Old Testament speaks against homosexuality:

Leviticus 18
[22] Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

It is also spoken against in the New Testament:

Romans 1:
[26] For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
[27] 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.
[28] And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
[29] Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
[30] Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
[31] Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
[32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

2. Homosexuality is a common sin in Western countries; but there is an inverse relationship in the world between countries accomodating homosexuals, with countries riddled with corruption. Corruption, of course, is also spoken against in the Old Testament:

Proverbs 17:
[23] A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

If you look at a map of countries according to the prevalence of corruption in them, you will see that the "homosexual" West is quite clean, but Russia is in with the worst.

God will judge all mankind, according to their sins -- both of commission (such as performing homosexual acts), and of ommision (such as being ashamed of preaching the Word of God). You may notice that the United States, whre AIDS was first detected among homosexuals, is one of the largest sending countries for missionaries. This ought not surprise people, when they consider that the Bible says,

Fomans 5:
[19] For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
[20] Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
[21] That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

or as Jesus said,

Luke 5:
[30] But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
[31] And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
[32] I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

As Paul noted in Romans 1:27 (above), homosexuals "receive in themselves that recompence of their error which [is] meet". Homosexuals, as a group, are plagued with a whole host of health problems, apart from AIDS. One study shows that homosexuals cut 20 years off of their life expectancies because of their chosen lifestyle. The Bible teaches that it is better to receive judgment in this life, than in eternity; so I expect to see homosexuals in heaven.

One homosexual I expect to see there is Lonnie Frisbee, the man who was used by God more than anyone else in bringing about the "Jesus Movement" that led to a phenomenal revival in the latter half of the 20th Century. This revival coincided, interestingly, with the Israeli victory in the 1967 war. It was probably the meeting of those two phenomena, that created the massive adventist expectation among "born again" Christians in the Counterculture Movement -- and the concomitant support of Israel by Christians. This was not a minor revival. The church I was part of, which consisted almost entirely of "Jesus People" like Lonnie, has gone one to found outrach churches in England, Wales and all of Latin America; and the children of those church members have sent the gospel into China, Africa, Siberia, Kazakhstan and the Middle East. Lonnie died in 1993, from AIDS.

As you can see, I consider homosexuality a sin. So, as it turns out, did Lonnie, who kept the matter secret because he found he wasn't well received when he talked about it. As born-again believers in Jesus, we are sinners, saved by grace. That's what our religion is all about.

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