What the Bible says about homosexuality
The Bible's statements about homosexuality are few, but they are quite clear. Since it regards normal sexuality as an important area of life established by God Himself, the Bible categorically forbids homosexuality as a distorted form of it. One of the first spiritual catastrophes in human history, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, takes place precisely because homosexuality was widespread among their inhabitants. Homosexuality is directly described here as a "very grave" sin, one that draws an outcry from the earth. The legislation of the Sinai covenant, which goes back directly to Moses, forbids homosexuality along with other forms of distorted sexuality and indirectly identifies it as one of the reasons God rejected the peoples who inhabited the Holy Land before the Jews. This prohibition is so unambiguous that only one case of its violation is recorded in the entire history of the Old Testament. The Book of Judges reports that, soon after the settlement of Palestine, something like what happened in Sodom took place in the land of the tribe of Benjamin. In this case too, swift and unavoidable destruction awaits the guilty.
In the New Testament, homosexuality is mentioned in the epistles of the apostle Peter and the apostle Paul. The apostle Peter lists a number of different pagan indecencies and calls Christians not to take part in them. According to the apostle, not taking part in sinful impurity is, on the one hand, the Christian response to the sacrifice of the Son of God; on the other hand, Peter calls this nonparticipation an important form of Christian witness. The statements of the apostle Paul are just as unambiguous. In addition to what Peter says, the apostle Paul calls homosexuality unnatural. In his words, homosexuality contradicts God's design for human beings and for this reason alone is detestable before the Lord. The apostle Paul emphasizes that homosexuality is a consequence of people's falling away from God and, in itself, brings spiritual destruction to a person. Paul also emphasizes that homosexuality is an insurmountable obstacle to entering the Kingdom of God. In addition, the apostle Paul calls people to overcome sins of this kind by crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires. He says that, in order to be saved, one must live according to the command of the Spirit of God and not submit to the sinful impulses of the flesh. In Paul's view, the law was given to humanity precisely in order to restrain them.
Related quotes:
Genesis
ch.
1, verse 27-28
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. | |
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. |
Genesis
ch.
9, verse 1-7
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. | |
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. | |
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. | |
4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. | |
5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. | |
6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. | |
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. |
Genesis
ch.
18, verse 20-22
20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; | |
21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. | |
22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. |
Genesis
ch.
19, verse 1-25
1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; | |
2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. | |
3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. | |
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: | |
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. | |
6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, | |
7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. | |
8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. | |
9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. | |
10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. | |
11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. | |
12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: | |
13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. | |
14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. | |
15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. | |
16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. | |
17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. | |
18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: | |
19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: | |
20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. | |
21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. | |
22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. | |
23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. | |
24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; | |
25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. |
Leviticus
ch.
18, verse 5
Leviticus
ch.
18, verse 22-25
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. | |
23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. | |
24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: | |
25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. |
Leviticus
ch.
20, verse 13
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. |
Deuteronomy
ch.
22, verse 5
5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God. |
Judges
ch.
19, verse 22
22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. |
1 Peter
ch.
4, verse 1-5
1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; | |
2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. | |
3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: | |
4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: | |
5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. |
Romans
ch.
1, verse 21-28
21 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. | |
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, | |
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. | |
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: | |
25 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. | |
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; |
1 Corinthians
ch.
6, verse 9-10
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, | |
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. |
Galatians
ch.
5, verse 16-24
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulful the lust of the flesh. | |
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. | |
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. | |
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, | |
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, | |
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. | |
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, | |
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. | |
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. |
1 Timothy
ch.
1, verse 9-10
9 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 unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, | |
10 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; |
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