A Biblical Response to Homosexuality

This sermon was prepared and preached by Pastor Mike Rose at First Federated Church in Des Moines, Iowa,
on Sunday, May 18, 2008.
Copyright © 2008, First Federated Church

Opening Comments: Why speak on homosexuality today? Four reasons:

1. Recent promotion of “A day of Silence” in support of homosexual, lesbian and transgender

people in our local high schools.
2. Recent showing of the movie “For the Bible Tells Me So.” A movie that stated it “reconciled
the Bible with the homosexual lifestyle.”
3. Recent announcement by Gene Robinson, Bishop of the Anglican Church, that he and his
long-time male partner would be married.
4. Friday’s Des Moines Register, front page, “Ruling makes California 2nd state to marry
gays.”

In light of these things, I felt impressed of God that First Federated Church should not ignore them,
but consider them, while fresh on our minds, from a Biblical perspective.

The Bible will be the basis for my message today, because this pastor and church believe the Bible to
be:

• The inspired Word of God – Genesis to Revelation, it is not the creation of men, but of
God’s Spirit as He “breathed” upon men to communicate His message.
• Inerrant, speaks truthfully about every topic it addresses.
• Infallible – Its contents will never lead us to stray, but will always lead us in paths approved
by God.
• Authoritative – It is the final authority for the follower of Jesus; our authority is not the
culture, not our feelings of what is right or wrong, not the government.

Because the topic is so controversial, I encourage everyone to listen carefully, to refrain from
judgment, until all of the comments have been made. Then judge them, in context, as a whole,
according to the teaching of the Bible.

There are two purposes for this message:

1. To present the position of the Bible on this issue of homosexuality.

2. To challenge First Federated Church concerning our response to the teachings of the Bible
against the realities of our culture

I hope that when you leave this morning, both will be clear in your mind.

The flow of the message, A Biblical Response to Homosexuality, will be as follows:

1. The argument from design.

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 2. The argument from commandment.
3. The argument from consequence.
4. The Church and its response.

1. The argument from design.

It is common knowledge that the “things” we use each day have specific designs for specific uses.
Clothes washers and dishwashers are designed to wash, but they wash different things in different
ways. Dishes in your clothes washer or clothes in your dishwasher will give you less-than-satisfactory
results.

Design is all around us, and we often take it for granted. As a parent, I teach my children that:
everything is designed for a specific purpose, and when we use things against their design we run the
risk of damaged property or injured bodies.

For Example: removing a screw from a wall with a hammer = damaged property. Driving a 10 penny
nail into a board with a screwdriver = an injured body. It only makes sense to use the tool designed
for the job to get the job done safely and efficiently.

The Bible tells us that God created mankind and that He designed us uniquely. Genesis 1 gives us the
overview, Genesis 2, specific details.

Genesis 2:7-17, give us details about Man’s creation and initial instructions God gave him. But in
verse 18 we find the following - 18Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I
will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19Out of the ground the LORD 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;…
20
…but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21So the LORD God caused a deep
sleep to fall upon the man,… then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22The
LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the
man. 23The 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.” 24For this reason a man shall leave his father and his
mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Let’s go back to Genesis 1:26 to see the overview - 26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness;… 27God created man in His own image, in the image of God He
created him; male and female He created them. 28God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it;….

We see the design of God in the creation of man. He is unique from all other living things. Among all
other created things there was not found a suitable companion for Man. No animal, no bird, no fish,
no insect, no plant life could provide what he needed.

So God, “The Designer/Creato,” decided to create a companion suitable for him. Notice, He did not
create another man, He created a woman – a female for the male. In every way the female is
designed to complement and fit the male, and likewise the male for the female.

Also note that God gave the male and female a responsibility: procreation, reproducing themselves.
To accomplish this, God designed them accordingly.

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This is an indisputable fact: two females cannot reproduce; two males cannot reproduce. However,
a male and female can, and that’s why we are all here today – it’s the design of God!

Before I leave the design argument, notice that God’s design teaches us more than the fact that
homosexuality goes against His design.

Genesis 2:24 – God said: 24For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined
to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Here we see that the heterosexual relationship is designed to be in the confines of marriage and to be
life-long. In other words, coming together in sexual union prior to marriage violates God’s design,
that is called fornication. And sexual union after marriage with someone other than your marriage
partner violates God’s design, that’s called adultery.

Any serious study of fornication or adultery reveals that there are serious negative consequences
that result from stepping outside of God’s design in those areas, just as there are when stepping out in
the area of homosexuality. Homosexuality is sin, just like fornication and adultery. It violates the
relational and functional design of God for mankind

2. The argument from commandment

In many cases, “design” is enough to help people understand what to do or not do with a specific
item, but not always.

Example: The can of “insect killer” that has the label, “do not spray into eyes.” Sometimes it seems
we need specific language to understand the design.

The following Biblical passages give us clear understanding concerning the issue of homosexuality:

Leviticus 18:22, NASB - 22‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an
abomination.

• Hebrew for “lie” is ‫ שָכַב‬shaw-kab' and has direct meaning to sexual behavior.
• Hebrew for “abomination” is ‫ תֹעֵבַה תועֵבַה‬to-ay-baw', to-ay-baw' and means morally
abhorrent or disgusting.

So we see from God’s perspective that same gender sexual activity is morally abhorrent. Why?
Because it violates His design in the creation of mankind.

Romans 1:18 and following talks about the anger of God against humanity because in several area’s
we stepped outside of God’s design and charted our own course. One of those areas is our sexuality.

Romans 1:24 and following - 24Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,
so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25For they exchanged the truth of God for a
lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,…. 26For this reason God gave
them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is
unnatural, 27and 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. 28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God
any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29being
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filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice;
they are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil,
disobedient to parents, 31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32and although
they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not
only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
I read that whole section so we could see two things: First, homosexuality is considered a sin against
God. Second, it’s not the only sin against God. There is a long list of behaviors that fall outside of
God’s design for us that God counts as sin against Him

3. The argument from consequence.

One thing the Bible makes clear concerning God is that when He gives a command, or sets a design
into motion, there are always negative consequences when we ignore His command or move outside
of His design.

This simple truth explains how the world has come to be in the mess that it’s in today. Adam ignored
God’s command concerning the Tree Of The Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the consequence has
been the infection of the human race with sin.

Consider the consequence of ignoring God design for our sexuality and living in fornication,
adultery (heterosexual sins) or homosexuality.

1 Corinthians 6:9 – 9…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, (those who
purposely blur the God designed gender lines) nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

You ask, Pastor Mike, are you saying that homosexuals cannot go to heaven? What I’m saying is, the
Bible says that unless a fornicator repents of his/her fornication and trusts in Jesus, they will not go
to heaven.

Unless an adulterer, or thief, or alcoholic repents of their sin and trusts in Jesus, the will not go to
heaven. And yes, the Bible says that unless a homosexual repents of his/her homosexuality and trusts
in Jesus, he/she will not go to heaven.

Separation from God for all eternity is the consequence for anyone who chooses to ignore God’s call
to repent of sin and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin.

Summing up the first three points of the message: The Bible teaches us from the point of design,
commandment and consequece that homosexualty is sin.

No matter how unpopular it is to say it, no matter how hard people try to reconcile it, there is no
possible way to reconcile the Bible and homosexuality.

4. The Church and its response.

Stuck in the middle between the Bible and a culture that is relentless in its quest to normalize sexual
behaviors that go against God’s design, is the Church. What is to be our response to the issue of
homosexuality and all it entails?

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1. Thankful humility – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - 9Or 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, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11Such 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.

You’ve heard the saying, but for the grace of God, there go I. We fail to appreciate how true that is.
Too many of us have become like the Pharisee that Jesus spoke of in Luke 18:10

10
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11“The
Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people:
swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all
that I get.’ 13“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his
eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14“I tell you,
this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Too often the Church acts like the Pharisee instead of the tax collector. I pray that God would grant to
First Federated the thankful humility of the tax xollector and remove any vestige of the Pharisee.

2. Biblical truth – We must stand for Biblical truth.

No matter how many or who demands that we back down, water down, or tear down Biblical truth,
we must remain faithful to God, His Word and His design

Standing for Biblical truth will often put us at odds with the world around us. It may cost us friends,
the respect of the community, it may bring upon us the condemnation of man.

But that is the price that must be paid to stand for in the gap for God. Answer this: If the Church of
Jesus Christ will not stand for Biblical Truth, who will?

3. Biblical grace – One of the greatest truths in the Word of God is the truth of the grace of God
made available to all through Jesus, the Son of God.

If you think that standing for Biblical truth is hard as the world comes down on us, wait until you
stand for Biblical grace and our brothers and sisters in Christ come down on us.

Look to Jesus – When He reached out to sinners, not to condone their sin, but to lovingly call them
out of sin, how did the legalistic, religious establishment respond?

Matthew 11:19 – They called Him a glutton, a winebibber, and a friend of tax collectors and sinners –
They even suggested His power for miracles came from Satan!

That same crowd is in the church today. They’re the ones who stand on the street corners with
signs that say “God Hates Queers” or “Fags go to Hell.” Rather than pray for the salvation and
deliverance of the souls of men and women from the ravages of homosexuality, they share crude
jokes and give suspicious looks to anyone who even looks like they might be gripped in that sin.

We can never condone any sin, but we are not God’s agents of condemnation of the sinner either.
Only God has the right to stand in judgment of the person.
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Conclusion

Let there be no confusion – First Federated understands that the Bible identifies homosexuality as
sin, just as it does fornication, adultery, lying, stealing, etc., etc. And we stand with the Bible.

However, let it be understood that Federated values the people of Des Moines, Iowa, the United
States and the world, and has a heart of compassion for all men and women who are held in the grip
of sin.

Let there be no doubt that we will extend love, compassion, basic human respect for all people, and
as God gives us opportunity we will share with all people the message of salvation and deliverance
through Jesus Christ.

Regardless of what the world does, or other churches do, First Federated must walk that line of
truth and grace.

Homosexuality is a sin. But God’s grace can cover that sin and bring those held in its grip in line
with God’s design and set any sinner free to live in the light and love of God.

The First Federated Church copyright, above, is for the sermon itself, not for any items quoted in the sermon, unless
otherwise stated. All quoted items are done so in good faith, and the source is attributed when it is known.

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