First off let me say being "gay" is not a sin, no place does the New or Old Testament say it is. This is not an attack on homosexuals nor is it a condemnation of homosexuality as we are all sinners.
Romans 3:10-11 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
According to the Old Testament sodomy is considered a sin or being ritually unclean. According to recent surveys roughly 67% to 80% of male homosexuals practice sodomy.
Leviticus: Lv. 18:223: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It
is an abomination."
20:13: "If a man lies with a male as with a woman,
both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to
death."
Lesbianism or acts of lesbianism is not even mentioned in the Old Testament in any form. Going by the original text and Jewish interpretation it is not even considered fornication or adultery as it involves no penetration by the male phallus.
Everything in the OT covering sexual uncleanliness or sin seems to revolve around penetration by the male phallus and nothing else.
In the New Testament sexual acts involving men with men and women with women are defined clearly. Even when taking into account translation errors from the Greek, it is plain in it's condemnation of said acts. It goes beyond merely the male phallus and calls them "unnatural" etc.
1 Cor 6:9-10: "Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom
of God? Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolators, nor the effeminate,
nor those who lie with males...will inherit the kingdom of God."
Romans 1:26-27: "For this reason God handed them over to dishonorable
passions, and their women exchanged their natural use for the unnatural.
And similaly the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned with
desire for one another, males working impropriety on males, and receiving
in themselves the pay which was proper for their wandering."
1 Tim 1:9-10: "Knowing this,that the law is not there for the righteous
man, but for lawless ones...sexually loose, those who lie with males...."
Jude 7: "Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which
likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an
example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."
Here in lies the debate...
Being gay is not a sin, but according to the OT sodomy is. According to the NT all sexual acts out of wedlock are a sin including homosexuality in or out of wedlock. Jesus himself said even thinking or contemplating an act forbidden is a sin.
Mark 9: 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.
Now Jesus laid down and defined that marriage is about a man and a woman, period. In reference he was talking about divorce, this does not however negate him defining what marriage is supposed to be according to God in the Biblical sense.
Mark 10:9-12But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.' 7 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." 10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."
So how can a Christian church marry two men or woman when it is clearly against the Bibles commands? How can a pastor, priest etc condone it?
I belive gay marraige should be accepted in our secular society as law. Equal treatment under the law is to important.
What I don't understand is how Christian's can ignore entire swaths of the Bible when it is biblically clear on what is and is not permissible.
