Can you be gay and still go to heaven

What Does the Bible Speak About Homosexuality?

What Does The Bible Say About Homosexuality?

Introduction

For the last two decades, Pew Research Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible say about attraction to someone of the same sex?”

Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the term homosexual wasn't even coined until the late 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality.

Before we can jump into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a brief but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible.

What is the Bible?

For Christians to whom the Bible

You Will Go to Hell

Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals1, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians b)

A professing Christian husband and father leaves his wife of thirty years for a young woman the age of his daughter. A Sunday Academy teacher is obsessed with his favourite sports team, going into short term debt to create trips all over the nation to watch his team act . A college student heavily deeply interested with the local collegiate ministry regularly has sexual intercourse with his girlfriend. A young guy attends church regularly but frequents gay bars, looking for gay men, and goes home with them. A seeming loving and well adjusted lesbian couple, who know the Bible well, claim to love Jesus. An elder in a church regularly cheats on his income tax and steals money from his company. A young mother who teaches children&#;s church constantly badgers her husband for a bigger noun, a nicer car, better clothing and runs up huge cred

The Bible and same sex relationships: A review article

Tim Keller, 

Vines, Matthew, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same Sex Relationships, Convergent Books,

Wilson, Ken,A Letter to My Congregation, David Crum Media,

The relationship of homosexuality to Christianity is one of the main topics of discussion in our culture today. In the fall of last year I wrote a review of books by Wesley Hill and Sam Allberry that take the historic Christian view, in Hill’s words: “that homosexuality was not God’s original creative intention for humanity and therefore that homosexual practice goes against God’s convey will for all human beings, especially those who trust in Christ.”

There are a number of other books that get the opposite view, namely that the Bible either allows for or supports same sex relationships. Over the last year or so I (and other pastors at Redeemer) have been regularly asked for responses to their arguments. The two most verb volumes taking this position feel to be those by Matthew Vines and Ken Wilson. The review of these

Is being gay a sin?

Answer



In direct to answer the question “Is being gay a sin?” we need to challenge some assumptions upon which the question is based. Within the past fifty years, the term gay, as applied to homosexuality, has exploded into mainstream culture, and we are told that “being gay” is as much outside one’s control as “being short” or having blonde hair. So the question is worded in a loaded way and impossible to adequately answer in that develop. We need to break this question up and deal with each piece separately. Rather than ask, “Is being gay a sin?” we need to demand, “Is it sinful to hold same-sex attractions?” And, “Is it sinful to engage in homosexual activities because of those attractions?”


Concerning the first question, “Is it sinful to have same-sex attractions?” the answer is complicated. First, we should probably distinguish between (actively) sinning and (passively) being tempted:

Being temptedis not a sin. Jesus was tempted, but He never sinned (Matthew ; Hebrews ). Eve was tempted in the garden, and the forbidden fruit definitely appealed to her,