Homosexuality - Sin
Pastor Jerry Wilhite,
author
What seems to be one of the largest problems today is that people mix the law and grace and try to make them one. The purpose of the Law was to point out sin in people's lives. This knowledge would enable them to avoid sin and change for the better. Until Jesus died for us the only way to be cleansed of sin was by the sacrifice of an animal or bird. This was not necessarily the way God wanted it, but due to the lack of faith in mankind. Jesus came to fulfill the law not end it. His death on the cross and His resurrection completed what the law could not.
John 19
30. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Jesus told us the two greatest commandments are:
Matthew 22
37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38. This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Who is our neighbor?
Luke 10
29. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30. And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34. And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37. And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
The Levite, who represents the Law, and the priest, who represents religion, both passed by on the other side. The law and religion bring judging, condemnation, and unforgiving. God is none of these, but sin is, due to our sins, so God pointed out man's sin to help them realize they needed to be saved.
God had to sow His word in the world to get one to agree to bring Jesus in the world.
Luke 1
38. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
God needed to get Jesus into the Earth in order to fulfill what the law could not do, save mankind.
John 3
16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
What the law did was fulfill in Jesus, and all that say they are of Jesus, that which needed to be done:
Matthew 7
1. Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
If you read the rest of Matthew 7 you will learn that there are two types of people who claim to be believers. One is the true believer and the other is a wolf in sheep's clothing. The wolf is misleading many and there are more wolves than you might imagine.
There are three types of wolves. One type is based in the law and can not get past the law. The second type is an agent of Satan sent to deliberately mislead. The third type goes around doing things based on what they have been taught. The problem is they were taught by the world not realizing the world is more of Satan than of God.
John 3
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to judge(condemn) the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
In translation the word judge became condemn:
17.
|3756| not
|1063| For
|0649| sent
|3588| -
|2316| God
|3588| the
|5207| Son
|0846| of Him
|1519| into
|3588| the
|2889| world
|2443| that
|2919| he judge
|3588| the
|2889| world,
|0235| but
|2443| that
|4982| may be saved
|3588| the
|2889| world
|1223| through
|0846| him.
How is it that so many people think they are better than or know more than Jesus? Since they do what He did not and told us not to do, says either they know more than Jesus or they do not really believe and are lying.
There are three things we must do:
Mark 11
25. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Do you know that as far as God is concerned a sin is a sin? There are not levels of sin. Mankind has tried to make one sin to be worse than another is. Mankind considers certain sins not to be sins any longer such as a lying, cheating on tests or income tax returns, gossiping about others, gluttony, etc.
1 Timothy 5
13. And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers(gossips) also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
13.
|0260| withal
|1161| And
|2532| also
|0692| idle
|3129| they learn
|9999| {to be},
|4022| going around
|3588| the
|3614| houses,
|3756| not
|3440| only
|1161| and
|0692| idle,
|0235| but
|2532| also
|5397| gossips
|2532| and
|4021| busy bodies,
|2980| speaking
|3588| the things
|3361| not
|1163| proper.
Galatians 5
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.
Verses 20-21 above are just a few of the things that are sins, but today we no longer treat them as sin. Drunkenness, hatred, envying are considered as acceptable by many and no longer a sin, but in the Bible it has not changed. The world is changing more and more acts outlined in the Bible from being sin to being acceptable or at least not unnatural. On the other hand some have taken some sins too far and made them worse than any other sin. This is not of grace, love, and God but is of the world.
The following verses show that homosexuality is a sin, not worse than lying, but a sin the same as lying. To God a sin is a sin, is a sin. No one sin is worse or better than any other sin is to God.
John 8
4. They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6. This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11. She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Jesus did not condemn her for being an adulteress. He forgave her; then He told her to go and sin no more.
My point is that we are hypocrites when we condemn someone for one sin and not someone else for another sin, especially when we sin and condemn others for the same thing.
Matthew 7
4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Read below what the word says about homosexuality, but also remember when God and Abraham spoke, God would have spared Sodom for the sake of 10 righteous men, but ten could not be found. The problem is we can be perverted so easily, but allow perversion into our everyday lives. We should not allow this, but at the same time we must not judge. We can pray for a person who sins; forgive those who sin against us, as well as seek forgiveness.
Genesis 18
32. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
God did not destroy Sodom due to homosexuality alone, but due to the fact that all were sinning constantly. The residents of Sodom and Gomorrah would choose sin over the right thing in any situation; they preferred sin to righteousness. He sent His angels to remove those few who were not completely of sin.
Genesis 19
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.
Sodom would have been destroyed no matter if it were homosexuality or lying, it was the level of sin, not the individual sin that brought destruction to Sodom and Gomorrah. It had reached the saturation point and there was no way for them to get more corrupt than they already were…kind of like when God flooded the entire world; every thought of mankind was sinful.
Jesus did not come into the world to condemn or judge but bring forgiveness and everlasting life.
Genesis 13
13. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.
Genesis 14
2. That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
21. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
22. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23. That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
24. Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.
Deuteronomy 23
17. There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a Sodomite of the sons of Israel.
17.
|3808| no
|1961| There must be
|6948| prostitute
|1323| among daughters,
|3478| Israel's
|3808| nor
|1961| will there be
|6945| a homosexual
|1121| among the sons of
|3478| Israel.
Strong's Ref. # 6945
Romanized qadesh
Pronounced kaw-dashe'
from HSN6942; a (quasi) sacred person, i.e. (technically) a (male) devotee (by prostitution) to licentious idolatry:
KJV--sodomite, unclean.
1 Kings 14
24. And there were also Sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.
If you are of Jesus then you will forgive and not judge.