Compassion without Compromise: A Christian Response to Homosexuality

Leviticus 18:22 (NAS) You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

What is an “abomination”? Proverbs 6:16-19 (NIV) There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable (an abomination) to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community

Today: 1.God’s purpose for sexuality 2.What does the Bible say? 3.Is change possible?

Genesis 1:27; 2:24 So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. … That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

1 Corinthians 6:16-17 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

Genesis 1:26 “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness ….”

Bishop N.T. Wright: “When you look at the grand narrative about male and female, from Genesis right through to Revelation, this isn’t just one or two arbitrary rules about how to behave with bits of your body. This is about something woven into the deep structure of what it means to be created in the image of God.”

Simon LeVay Hypothalamus Study (1991)

Simon LeVay in 2001: “It’s important to stress what I didn’t find. I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay. I didn’t show that gay men are born that way, the most common mistake people make in interpreting my work. Nor did I locate a gay center in the brain.” Byrd, A. Dean, Shirley E. Cox, and Jeffrey W. Robinson (2001), “Homosexuality: The Innate- Immutability Argument Finds No Basis in Science,” The Salt Lake Tribune. Simon LeVay Hypothalamus Study (1991)

Dean Hamer Gay Gene Study (1993)

Dean Hamer Gay Gene Study (1993) “There is not a single master gene that makes people gay… I donʹt think we will ever be able to predict who will be gay.” —Dean Hamer, The Washington Blade, p. 114 January 30, 1998

What Does The Bible Say? 7 direct references to homosexuality Four in OT: a.Genesis 19:1-25 b.Judges 19:22-30 c.Leviticus 18:22 d.Leviticus 20:13 Three in NT: a.Romans 1:24-28 b.1 Cor. 6:9-11 c.1 Timothy 1:8-11

Leviticus 18:22 Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable. Leviticus 20:13 If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

Mark 7:18-19 “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

1 Timothy 4:3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

Romans 1:24-28 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1 Cor. 6:9-11 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. 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.

Translation of “homosexual” Greek: arsenokoites Man (arseno) + sex (koites) Only place arseno/koites appear in same verse in Greek OT = Leviticus 18:22 & Leviticus 20:13

1 Timothy 1:8-11 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 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, 10 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 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

Here’s what Jesus said about homosexuality: _________________________

AB

Mark Regnerus study (University of Texas) Children of gay parents are most apt to… be on welfare get a sexually transmitted infection have recently thought of suicide report being raped test impulsive smoke get arrested have plead guilty to a crime score high on depression be promiscuous be unemployed live socially isolated from others, including family homosexual-parents-turn-out-the-best-evidence/

1 John 5:2-3 “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not burdensome…”