According to the Pew Research Forum in 2017, 70% of Americans believe homosexuality should be accepted. That number jumped 19 percentage points in 11 years. In light of its growing acceptance in society, how should Christians respond to homosexuality?
We must not be afraid to call sin what it is. In Romans 1, Paul describes what happens when people reject God and instead pursue all manner of idols, including the idol of indulging the flesh. Ultimately, all sin is a rejection of God as God. We cannot condone, accept, or encourage anything God calls sin. This includes the practice of homosexuality, but it also includes gossip, pride, and rebellion against our parents. Let’s call all sin what it is – not just the sins that we see in others. Though we must identify sin, if we stop there, we stop short of the Gospel message.
We must believe in the powerful, transformative grace of God. Just as all sin is sin, so also God’s grace is big enough to free all people from whatever sins may ensnare them. The devil (and by proxy, the world) would have us believe some sins are inevitable because of our DNA or our circumstances. While both may play a role in what temptations appeal to us, God’s Word makes it clear that He can free us from the slavery of sin.
In 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, we see that people of all kinds of sinful backgrounds populated the Corinthian congregation. However, Paul says these Christians no longer embraced their past sinful identities because they were “washed…sanctified…[and] justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” We must believe God’s grace can change sinners of all stripes!
We must recognize that the answer to all sexual sin is a fulfilling relationship with God. It may be easy to think that the answer to sexual sin is sexual activity within the confines of a healthy, God approved marriage. Unfortunately, this is not true. Sexual sin is not a physical fulfillment problem; it is a heart problem. The only solution to this problem is a relationship with God that reorders the heart and will according to His will.
Paul offers this very instruction in 1 Corinthians 6:12–20. He teaches that the Christian is a member of Christ’s body, is joined to the Lord, is a temple of the Lord, and has been bought by Christ. These are all in contrast to sexual sin. The answer to the problem of sexual sin is joining oneself to Christ. When a person is joined to Christ, his or her life must become focused on using the body for God’s glory.
Only God can define sin. Only God can transform sinners into saints. Only God can satisfy our deepest needs. May we be people who stand for God’s truth and carry His grace to all people, for His glory.
Clay Leonard
