According to many people who advocate for same-sex relationships as approved by God, there is an assertion that Jesus never had anything negative to say about persons of the same sex being in a sexual relationship with each other. This assertion is based upon the idea is that if LGBTQ persons were really condemned by God, certainly Jesus would have stated this in the Bible.

You will discover that Jesus had a great deal to say about this subject.

The Important Points In This Article That Describe Same-Sex Relationships And The Bible

1. The New Testament describes Jesus as “The Word of God,” the Logos (John 1:1). This designation for Jesus means that He is the true author of all the text in the Bible.
2. The pre-incarnate Jesus appears many times in the Old Testament, Genesis 16:7, Genesis 22:10-12, Exodus 3:2.
3. The New Testament Koine-Greek is clear that Jesus is Yahweh-God from the Old Testament who created all laws (Luke 2:11).[1]
4. Therefore, all of the Old Testament Laws regarding sexual behavior, Jesus is the author of these laws.
5. Jesus wrote in Leviticus 18:22, a man shall not have sex with another man.
6. Jesus later said that “not one jot or tittle of the law will be done away (Matthew 5:18). The Old Testament laws that prohibit a man from lying with another man are still in effect today.
7. It was the “Lord” Jesus (Yahweh) in Genesis 19:24 who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their sexual sin: “Then the Lord-Yahweh rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah.”
8. Jude 1:7 confirms that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was sex between men, describing their acts as, “filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion.”
9. Jude confirms that it was the pre-incarnate Jesus that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Jude 1:5-7 NLT).
10. Jesus describes the sexual practices of the men in Sodom as “wicked,” in Matthew 11:23.
11. 2 Peter 2:6-10, Peter also confirms that Sodom and Gomorrah are an example of those who indulge in same-sex acts  as “perversion, shameful immorality, and wickedness, resulting in their destruction by the Lord.”
12. In the New Testament all of the laws regarding sexual behavior continue. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and Galatians 5:19-21 describing persons who practice same-sex as not going to heaven.
13. Paul describes same-sex acts in Romans chapter 1:24-29 as “shameful, men with men and women with women, against the natural way to have sex, and resulting in a penalty within themselves.”
14. In Acts 15:28-29, the Apostles determined that all of the sexual laws from the Old Testament are still in effect today.
15. Jesus said that “God created male and female from the beginning,” and the male joins himself to the female (Mark 10:6). These two become one, not two men or two women.
16. Paul confirmed the words of Jesus in Ephesian 5:31-32, stating that one man and one woman are an example of the unity that God intends for His creation. The relationship of two men or two women cannot achieve this union that God intended.
17. Jesus told the woman who was caught in the act of adultery to, “go and sin no more.” Sexual sin must not be continued.
18. Jesus was Himself, without sin. Jesus never committed sexual sin (Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 1:19).
19. Jesus said that unless we all repent from our sins, we will all be lost (Luke 13:3-5).
20. Jesus stated that all the “sexually immoral” are outside the gates of heaven (Revelation 22:16).
21. A person who remains in a same-sex relationship cannot be rightly defined as a “Christian,” because this designation demands repentance from the sin of same-sex relationships before salvation is granted Romans 6:1).

When The New Testament Speaks Of Jesus, It Calls Him “Lord”

If you were a Greek speaking person reading the earlier Greek copies of the New Testament, you would understand that when the translators used the english word, “Lord,” to describe Jesus in the New Testament, they understood that Jesus is Yahweh from the Old Testament.

We see this vividly illustrated in the text of Jude 5-7. Jude describes Jesus as the One who rescued the Children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. When we read this text in the Old Testament we find that it was Yahweh who delivered the Hebrews.

Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘‘The Lord (יְהוָֹה yhwh) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord (יְהוָֹה yhwh) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt;  and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt ~Exodus 3:15-17 (NKJV Strong’s)

The Same “Lord” (יְהוָֹה yhwh), From Exodus 3, Is Described By Jude In The New Testament As Jesus:

So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus (Gr. Ἰησοῦς Iēsous) first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful. And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment. And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment. ~Jude 1:5-7 (NLT)

The NLT version correctly translated the english word “Lord,” as Jesus because this is what the original, κύριος, in Koine Greek demands. It was understood by the translators of Jude that when the author of this letter was describing the children of Israel who were delivered from Egypt but later destroyed for their constant complaining against the Lord, chaining the angels who rebelled, and destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, that this was the pre-incarnate Jesus in the Old Testament.

There Are Several Places In The New Testament Where Jesus Is Called Yahweh

Any student of the Bible who carefully studies the text in the original Koine Greek quickly understands that the New Testament translators intended that the readers of the Greek New Testament would understand that Jesus is Yahweh from the Old Testament.

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ (Messiah) the Lord (Yahweh).~Luke 2:11 [1]

A Jew who read the Greek New Testament account of the angel’s announcement to Mary, that her Son would be the Messiah, would understand that this child will be Yahweh from the Old Testament. This is what the original Greek language demands, as it is written.

“Today, in the city of Bethlehem, the baby who has been born is the Messiah, who is Yahweh Himself.”  This is why the shepherds were so amazed at the angel’s statement.

Why This Is Important Will Be Understood As We Progress Through This Article

The idea that Jesus is Yahweh from the Old Testament is foreign to many who are not students of the Bible because they are not aware of the true nature of Jesus, that He has existed eternally as God before He was born as a human being at Bethlehem. We see numerous appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament before He took the permanent body of a man. Most often He appears as “The Angel of the Lord.”

To Hagar In Genesis 16:7 Now the Angel of the Lord found Hagar by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.

To Abraham In Genesis 22:10-12 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

To Moses In Exodus 3:2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.

We can tell that those who translated the Hebrew into English, understood that this was no mere angel, but the pre-incarnate Jesus as He appears in human or angelic form as “The Angel of the Lord,” in the Old Testament, by their use of Caps for Angel. When the messenger is a normal angel, it is always indicated by lowercase.

We know that this was widely understood during the writing of the New Testament because Jude acknowledges that it was Jesus as Yahweh who led the children of Israel out of Egypt (Jude 1:5-7).

We also see Jesus appearing as Yahweh-God in various other locations throughout the Old Testament. One place that is crucial to our understanding of Jesus’ true identity is found in Genesis chapter 19.

In Genesis 19, after the two angels remove Lot and his family from Sodom and Gomorrah, we see the Lord-Yahweh, who rains down fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah and destroys every man who lives there.

Then the Lord (יְהוָֹה yhwh) rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. ~Genesis 19:24 (NKJV)

This is the Lord Jesus who appears in Genesis 19:24 and calls judgement down upon the men of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroys all the inhabitants of the city. Later, Jude writes the text we read previously in Jude 1:5-7, where he attributes Jesus as the one who brought judgement to the Children of Israel whom were led out of Egypt and later destroyed for their constant complaining against the Lord.

Jude also states that it was Jesus who chained the angels who left heaven and came to earth and held them for judgement in hell until the current world comes to an end. Jude also describes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as a judgement by Jesus in Jude 1:7:

And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment. ~Jude 1:7 (NLT)

Jude describes Jesus’ judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah as caused by “immorality and every kind of sexual perversion.” Finally, Jude states that this judgment came as a “warning” to others who would commit the same error.

One Man, One Woman, Married For Life

When the Pharisees questioned Jesus about whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife as Moses had permitted, Jesus stated something that is extremely important:

Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. ~Matthew 19:4-6 (NKJV)

1. Jesus said that when God created man, He made him for a woman, and a woman for a man. God created two distinct genders and these genders are determined by their birth. Since God is Creator and it is He who places the spirit of a person inside the body that He fashions for each one of us, He knew what we would be and He did not make a mistake in determining whether we would be male of female: “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb…” ~Psalms 139:13
2. The idea that God made a mistake and some people are born into the wrong body, is in conflict with the very nature of God. The Bible describes God as perfect in every way and not capable of error (God—his way is perfect… ~Psalm 18:30, Your heavenly Father is perfect. ~Matthew 5:48). If God could create people in the wrong body, this would make God fallible and therefore disqualify Him as God.
3. Jesus said that a man and a woman are united in marriage because only these two genders have the capacity to become one flesh, a spiritual union between a man and a woman. Later in Ephesians chapter 5, Paul explains that a bond takes place between a man and a woman where they become one flesh: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” ~Ephesians 5:31-32. This spiritual union cannot occur between two men or two women.
4. In saying these things in both the Old and New Testaments, Jesus is clear what His opinion is regarding same-sex relationships: they are not appropriate and are, in fact, sin. Just as adultery and fornication are sin, so also are same-sex relationships. All sin must be ended before a person can be acceptable to God and eternal life given to these persons.

Modern Society And Changing Moral Values

It is important that a Christian has no other opinion about anything, other than what God has already stated in the Bible. One of the purposes of the Bible is to establish the rules for correct human moral behavior. Only God is Creator and retains the exclusive right to determine how his creatures must conduct themselves. Notice in the following two verses, one from the Old Testament where God is described as never changing, and the second, from the New Testament where Jesus is described as never changing. The only way that Jesus can be rightly described as never changing, is if He is also God.

“For I am the Lord, I do not change.” ~Malachi 3:6

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ~Hebrews 13:8 

God does not change and the laws He established at the beginning for human beings, also cannot ever change. Jesus said, concerning men made for women, “From the beginning this was so…” Human society is constantly in a state of change, depending upon the culture and feelings of people. God is unchanging and He never amends His laws regarding how we must live.

The Old Testament Laws And The Requirements For Christians Today

One of the arguments made by critics of the Old Testament laws, which include condemnation for homosexual or lesbian relationships, is that these laws are archaic and outdated and not applicable today.

If we examine the laws of the Old Testament we are struck by their peculiar nature. The question is: are people who receive Jesus as their Savior, bound to the laws of the Old Testament?

• Exodus 31:14.: Death for working on the Sabbath
• Exodus 23:19:  Cook a goat in its mother’s milk
• Exodus 21:17, Deuteronomy 21:20-21: Cursing parents, rebellious teens stoned to death.
• Leviticus 19:27: Cutting hair on the sides of the head.
• Leviticus 19:28: Obtaining a Tattoo
• Leviticus: 19:19: Mixing fabrics
• Numbers 5:11-31: The test of unfaithfulness for a wife.
• Numbers 9:13: Excommunication for not observing Passover

The question is: If we no longer have to keep these strange laws from the Old Testament, then are we also bound to keep the laws which regulate the sexual behavior or persons who believe in Jesus as their Savior?

Christians Today Are No Longer Under All Of The Old Testament Laws

The laws that we read above were given by God, to Moses, for the Children of Israel, not to the whole world, and not to those who believe in Jesus Christ and become a part of His church. These laws are specifically described by God as applicable to the Children of Israel only. With the exception of four of these laws:

When we arrive at the New Testament we read in the text of the New Testament that this very same question came up in the early Christian church as to whether the Old Testament Laws are still applicable to Christians today. In response to this controversy, the Apostles met together in the book of Acts, and determined that believers in Jesus only had to keep four laws that originated from the Old Testament:

“And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should write and tell them 1. to abstain from eating food offered to idols, 2. from sexual immorality, 3. from eating the meat of strangled animals, and 4. from consuming blood.  ~Acts 15:19-20 (NLT)

1. Abstain from eating foods offered to idols (1 Corinthians 14).
2. From sexual morality.
3. Eating meat from strangled animals, not properly bled out.
4. Consuming blood.

These four are the only the laws described in the Old Testament that God still requires all those who will receive salvation from Jesus Christ, to keep. Notice that all of the Old Testament laws regarding sexual relationships are still the same. The exception is capital punishment for improper sexual relationships.

Old Testament Laws Regarding Sex That Are Still Applicable Today:

• Sex with your mother: Leviticus 18:7
• Sex with your fathers’s wife (stepmother): Leviticus 18:8
• Sex with your sister: Leviticus 18:9
• Sex with your granddaughter: Leviticus 18:10
• Sex with your half-sister: Leviticus 18:11
• Sex with your biological aunt: Leviticus 18:12-13
• Sex with your uncle’s wife: Leviticus 18:14
• Sex with your daughter-in-law: Leviticus 18:15
• Sex with your sister-in-law: Leviticus 18:16
• Sex with a woman and her daughter or granddaughter: Leviticus 18:17
• Sex with your wife’s sister: Leviticus 18:18
• Sex with your neighbor’s wife: Leviticus 18:20
• Sex between two men: Leviticus 18:22
• Sex with an animal: Leviticus 18:23

See The Page On Same-Sex Relationships

Why are the laws regarding sexual relationships still in affect, while the others are excluded? When a person comes into a new relationship with Jesus, He comes to live inside that person. Paul wrote that our bodies are now the “Temple of the Holy Spirit.”

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.  ~1 Corinthians 6:18-20

It is extremely important to God that we use our bodies in ways that bring glory to Him because He comes to live in us after we believe in Jesus. Using our body for sexual sin, including situations where two men or two women engage in sex together, defiles the temple of our body. God made a man and woman for each other, not men for men and women for women. This is obvious by the biological function of each sex. Men are clearly not made for sex with another men, nor are women made for sex with another women.

A Person Cannot Receive Christ As Their Savior And Continue To Live In Sexual Sin

In the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul describes those who live in a continuing life of practicing sin. He states that anyone who continues in these sins, will not inherit heaven upon their death. This category includes all sexual sin; adultery, male prostitutes, and homosexuality.

Don’t you realize that those who continue in sin will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. ~1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Notice that Paul states that there were some who had been living in a lifestyle of continuing sin, but they repented, ceased from participating in these sins. They were cleansed, made holy, made right with God, by ending the ongoing practice of these sins and calling on the name of Jesus.

Repentance Is Required For Salvation

A fundamental requirement for salvation is that a person must repent (turn from sin) before God will grant any person the forgiveness of their sins and eternal life. We see an example of this in the New Testament where Jesus forgives the woman caught in adultery but warns her to not continue in adultery any longer.

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” ~John 8:10-11 (NLT)

There is No Salvation, Without Repentance

Recently Franklin Graham came under fire for criticizing Mayor Pete Buttigieg for his open homosexual relationship and marriage to a man, while claiming to be a Christian. Franklin said that this relationship is not something to be boasting about but instead, to have sorrow and repentance for these sins so that God can forgive, and cleanse these sins and grant true salvation.

What Matters In The End Is What God Says, Not What People Say

We live during a time when people take the name of Jesus as their Savior but they do not live under the Lordship of Christ. People make up their own rules for their life, while claiming that they have surrendered their lives to Christ. Jesus spoke about these persons who will not be included in His coming kingdom. Jesus said that many will say to Him, “Lord, Lord…” but Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you…you continued in your sins and did not repent and obey me.”

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ~Matthew 7:21-23

Notice that Jesus states at the end of this text that these person will have claimed to be Christians and call Him “Lord,” but Jesus rejects their claim, citing that they had continued to practice their lawlessness (sins).

The Terms Of Eternal Life

If we will inherit eternal life, it will only be by a willingness to turn from all of our sins and to live righteously for Christ. Christians are not perfect people. They still sin after they are saved. The difference is that those who do sin after they turn from their sins, do not continue in an ongoing practice of their sins and assert to the world that Jesus approves of their behavior. Those who hold this conviction will be shocked at their final judgement to learn the truth of what is declared in this article. Jesus destroyed the men of Sodom and Gomorrah and He stated that sexual relationships must only occur between a married man and woman. All other sexual relationships are sin and must be turned from before salvation is granted by Jesus.

Those who continue in sexual sin and die, will not receive eternal life.

These are the facts of the Bible, not facts that any Christian or church has defined. What we must believe about our sexual relationships and those that God approves, can only be defined by God and not by anyone who writes a book or publishes an article that claims that Jesus did not condemn same-sex relationships, and God approves of two men or two women in a sexual relationship. He does not, and this is the firm statements of God throughout the Bible.

I write these things, not to condemn anyone, but to bring knowledge to people so that they might know the truth and have the opportunity to receive the precious salvation Jesus offers the world.

NOTES:
[1] This title is given α. to God, the ruler of the universe (so the Sept. for אֲדֹנָי, אֱלוהַּ, אֱלֹהִים, יְהוָה, and יָהּ;, from Strong’s 2962, “Kyrios,” and Thayers Greek Lexicon.

Categories: America Abandons God, Do not imitate evil, Following Jesus, Gay marriage, Gay Marriage and Same-Sex, Gender Identity, God is perfect, Living For Jesus, No Compromise, Robert Clifton Robinson, Salvation through Jesus, Same-Sex and Saved, Sexual Immorality, The Authority of God, The Founding Fathers, The Four Gospels, The gay lifestyle, The Queen James Bible, The U.S. Constitution, True Repentance

Tags: "go and sin no more", Franklin Graham, Gay Christians?, How salvation occurs, How sin is removed, Leviticus and Homosexuality, LGBT and the Bible, Pete Buttigieg, Same-Sex Relationships and the Bible