Marriage and Homosexuality

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. federal government officially altered its own legal definition of marriage to include couples of homosexuals. Supreme Court of the United States, Obergefell v. Hodges Because of this ruling, should we now consider the matter of marriage and homosexuality settled? For Christians, we understand that the Scriptures are the final word on this or any matter. Therefore, regardless of any civil law or court opinion, we must rely on God’s word to define and legislate any matter that it addresses.

Genesis 1: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. This original design remains intact. 1Corinthians 11:7 – Man is still “the image and glory of God.” 1Timothy 2:11-12 – This order and distinction remain.

Genesis 2: Then the L ORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19 Out of the ground the L ORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21 So the L ORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

Genesis 2:18-25 (continued) 22 The L ORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Genesis 2:18-25 God created a woman, not another man, to be the man’s companion. Verse 24 indicates that the institution of marriage is a memorial to the creation of woman. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. This definition for marriage remains intact, for both Jesus (Matt. 19:5) and Paul (Eph. 5:31) quoted verse 24 as an active, binding law.

Matthew 19:3-6 3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” Jesus affirmed the original definition of marriage found in Genesis 2:24. Jesus affirmed that it is God who forms a marriage, not a license from a government.

Has marriage changed since the time of Jesus? NO! Marriage has not changed “from the beginning.” Was it a mistake to empower the government to define and sanction marriage in the first place?

With the advent of sin, the degradation and perversion of the sexual function progressed rapidly. To degrade is to lower the character and quality. To pervert is to turn to an improper or unintended use. The sexual relationship is degraded and perverted when it is removed from God’s design for marriage and transformed into a base act of unlawful indulgence. Most of these perversions had already occurred within the timeframe of the book of Genesis: polygamy (4:19), homosexuality (18:20; 19:4-9), incest (19:30-36), rape (34:1-2), fornication (38:2), and prostitution (38:15).

Romans 1: For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. This process began with man’s willful rejection of God and progressed to God giving man over to the consequences of his own choices. With reference to God’s original design, homosexuality is called degrading, unnatural, and indecent. These are God’s words, not man’s words.

Leviticus 18:22, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination… 24 Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. 25 For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.” The nations of Canaan were defiled by these abominations. Israel was not to repeat this error. For us, the point here is not to apply the penalties for sin from Leviticus, but rather it is to gain insight into God’s view of homosexuality. It is an abomination.

1Corinthians 6: Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. None in the broad category of the unrighteous will inherit the kingdom of God. Government sanction of homosexuality does not equal the sanction of heaven. Do not be deceived! This passage addresses so-called “transgender” persons (“effeminate”).

Conclusion Having examined the subjects of marriage and homosexuality from a Scriptural viewpoint, we see that there is no compatibility between the two. Marriage is a holy union formed by God between a man and a woman. It is a covenant witnessed and honored by God (Mal. 2:14). Homosexuality is an unnatural, degrading, and indecent perversion of the sexual relationship and an abomination that is “contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God” (1Tim. 1:10-11). These are God’s words, not man’s words. Regardless of man’s will on these issues or any others, Christians are bound to abide by the will and word of God. Let us be compassionate and eager to help those who are caught in sin, but let us not be intimidated to compromise the truth.