The Bible is consistent through both Old and New Testaments in confirming that homosexuality is sin.

Leviticus 18:22 (ESV)

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

Romans 1:26-27

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;  and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1 Corinthians 6:9 (ESV)

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…

1 Timothy 1:10

 The sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine…

Jude 1:7

Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

In this matter, the New Testament reinforces what the Old Testament had declared since the Law was given to Moses.

Leviticus 20:13

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

The difference between the Old and New Testaments is that the New Testament offers hope and restoration to those caught up in the sin of homosexuality through the redeeming power of Jesus. It is the same hope that is offered to anyone who chooses to accept it.

John 1:12

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

John 3:16–18

 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved …

God’s standards of holiness did not change with the coming of Jesus, because God does not change. The New Testament is a continuing revelation of God’s interaction with humanity. God hated idolatry in the Old Testament, and He still hates it in the New. What was immoral in the Old Testament is still immoral in the New.

The New Testament says that homosexuality is a “shameful lust,” a “shameful act,” an abandonment of “natural relations,” a “wrongdoing,” and “sexual immorality and perversion.”

Romans 1:26-27

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1 Corinthians 6:9

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,

Homosexuality carries a “due penalty,” “is contrary to the sound doctrine” and is listed among the sins that bar people from the kingdom of God. Despite the attempts of some to downplay these verses, the Bible could not be clearer that homosexuality is a sin against God.

Homosexuality is not the cause of a society’s decline, but it is a symptom of it; it is the result of people making themselves the final authorities. Romans 1 gives the natural digression of a society that has chosen idolatry and sinful pleasure instead of obedience to God. The downward spiral begins with denying that God has absolute authority over His creation.

Romans 1:21–23

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images …

The result of a society’s rejection of God’s rule in their lives is that God gives “them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.”

Romans verses 26 and 27 say, “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 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.”

The phrase “God gave them over” means that, when we insist on shaking our fists at God, He finally lets us have the perversion we demand. And that is a judgment in itself. Homosexual behavior is the result of ignoring God and trying to create our own truth. When we defy God’s clear instruction, we reap the “due penalty” of our disobedience.

2 Thessalonians 1:8–9

In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

Revelation 21:8

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The good news is that homosexuality is not the unpardonable sin. It is forgivable just like greed, theft, and murder are forgivable when we repent and turn to Jesus.

Acts 2:38

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

He provides us with new identities (1 Peter 1:14; Colossians 2:13). Second Corinthians 5:17 says that “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

1 Peter 1:14

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

Those “old” things include former sins that once held us captive. Whereas we were once defined by our sin, being born again means we are now defined by Jesus and His righteousness.

John 3:3

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Colossians 3:3

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

A thief no longer has to define himself as a thief. He is cleansed from his former ways and made new in Christ. A murderer—such as Saul before he became the apostle Paul—is forgiven and conformed to the image of Christ. And someone trapped in homosexuality can be set free to walk in purity when he or she agrees with God about sin and trusts His power to forgive and restore.

As has been noted, 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 includes homosexuals in a list of those who will not have a part in God’s kingdom. But verse 11 goes on to say, “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

The truth is that some of the saints in the Corinthian church were former homosexuals. God’s kingdom is populated by sinners. No one comes to God on personal merit. We all come the same way: through repentance, renouncing the sin for which Jesus died, and accepting the righteousness of Christ in its place.

2 Corinthians 5:21

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The New Testament offers good news for everyone struggling with sexual identity. Jesus wants to replace our sinful lifestyles with His own righteousness so that we become more like Him.

It’s a common declaration by those who support same-sex marriage and gay rights to bring up that since Jesus never mentioned homosexuality, He did not consider it to be sinful. After all, if homosexuality is bad, why did Jesus treat it as a non-issue?

It is technically true that Jesus did not specifically address homosexuality in the Gospel accounts; however, He did speak clearly about sexuality in general.

Concerning marriage, Jesus stated, “At the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Here Jesus clearly referred to Adam and Eve and affirmed God’s intended design for marriage and sexuality.

For those who follow Jesus, sexual practices are limited. Rather than take a permissive view of sexual immorality, Jesus affirmed that people are either to be single and celibate or married and faithful to one spouse of the opposite gender. Jesus considered any other expression of sexuality sinful. This would include same-sex activity.

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