Is Homosexuality a Sin?

We love God, and don’t want our lives to be controlled by bad habits and self centered attitudes that can harm our relationship with Him and with others. The plain truth is that sin separates us from God (2 Corinthians 6:14; 1 John 1:5-7) and we don’t want to be separated from God! We want to grow closer to Him and become more like His Son with each passing day!

But what exactly is sin? If we took a poll of every church and denomination out there, we would find a different opinion from every one of them! Everybody seems to have their own idea as to what is right and what is wrong! So if we wanted to rid sin from our lives, where would we start and whose list should we follow?

Perhaps we should take a different approach and forget what everyone else thinks and go right to the source, the Bible itself. What then? Could we find God’s will by cataloging every sin mentioned in the Bible? If so, how do we handle edicts that seem to change over time? If you thumb through the Bible you will find that such things as marriage, personnel hygiene, dietary laws, and diplomatic relationships with neighboring nations all have changed over the years. So what is right for our culture and the day and age in which we live?

More importantly, what would we do with such a list once we had compiled it? Paul told us over and over again that trying to live our lives by a long list of do’s and don’ts was a lost cause. Why? Because no one is good enough to follow such a list day in and day out! Furthermore, Paul said such attempts would only bring heartache and failure for no one except Jesus Christ Himself is capable of living a perfect life (Romans 3:10-23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22, 1 John 3:5)! Worse yet, if we attempt to earn our righteousness through ‘good deeds,’ we are in fact rejecting the very work that Christ did for us on the cross (Galatians 2:19-3:21, 5:1-6)!

So is trying to do ‘the right thing’ a lost cause? Have we come full circle? Yes and no. First and foremost, we must settle in our hearts and minds that our salvation only comes through Jesus Christ and none other. We cannot earn our way to heaven. However that doesn’t change the fact that we still want to please God and find His will for our lives. So how do we do that?

This question used to perplex me until a friends question and the prompting of the Holy Spirit had me researching everything I could concerning God's love. During that search, I ran across a Scripture that changed my life forever. For in it we find the very heart and soul of God's will. If you study the issue further, you will find that this same “royal” commandment (James 2:8) lies at the heart of both the Old Covenant (old covenant = Matthew 22:37-40) and the New Covenant (new covenant = John 13:34). God has never changed (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; 1 John 4:8, 16), only His instructions on how we should carry out His will have.

Why is this so? Because we have changed over time and the cultures we live in are different from one another. We don’t face the same problems the early Patriarchs faced. Nor were the Apostles encumbered with some of the things we have to deal with today. Each generation and each culture is different. What may be a loving act in one culture may be cause for war in another! In spite of our differences, we are all given the same basic principle to carry out in our lives. That being that we are to...

Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)

"Love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Matthew 22:40 (Amplified)

“These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Simply put, we are to love God first, and then we are to love others, as we love ourselves. If we embrace and follow this belief, we are following God’s will for our lives and we are not living in sin. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

Galatians 5:14 (Amplified)

“For the whole law [concerning human relationships] is complied with in one precept. You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.”



Romans 13:8-10 (NIV)

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Therefore sin is simply this: if I do not love God and put Him first in my life, this is a sin. If I mistreat others or myself spiritually, emotionally or physically, it is a sin. Love is the basis for all of God’s laws, old and new. Sin is the absence or distortion of this love.

So is homosexuality a sin? “It depends” is my answer. The question is no longer ‘gay’ or ‘straight’ but an issue of love in the relationship. First and foremost, is this relationship encouraging both partners’ spiritual growth and relationship with God?” And second, is this a relationship loving and healthy for both parties? God is not concerned with the superficial things that worry us. He does not care what our sexual orientation, gender, skin color, or church affiliation is. These things have no meaning to God. He goes straight to the heart of the matter and simply asks the question, “Is this relationship based on, and operating in, My love or not?”