Homosexuality: Not Gay and Not Biblical

By Rev. Eric Andrae

If we say we have fellowship with [God] while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us...[And] Jesus Christ the righteous...is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 1:6–10; 2:1–2)

The Holy Word of God is abundantly clear on the sinfulness and destructiveness of homosexuality. For example, in Mark 10:6–9, Christ our Lord affirms the sex distinctions He created (Genesis 1:27; 2:24; cf. John 1:1–5) and thus speaks against homosexuality. Christ Himself, of course, became incarnate, became flesh, became human as a male; the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord (January 1) leaves us no doubt about this. The importance of Christ’s maleness is highlighted by St. Paul, for Christ is the bridegroom of the church (Ephesians 5:21–33). The New Testament images of the Church and faith are images of marital faithfulness and fruitfulness.

Homosexuality (sodomy) is sin in thought, word, and deed. Both orientation (lust) and behavior (actual sins) are sinful (Leviticus 18:22, 24; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:24–32; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; 1 Timothy 1:9–10).

But is homosexuality a matter of nature or nurture? Is a person homosexual by birth or by external circumstances? Scientific study has been inconclusive, but it actually does not matter as far as sinfulness, repentance, and transformation are concerned. We are all born sinful; we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Psalm 51; Romans 3). The key is that the Holy Spirit transforms hearts and minds, lives and lifestyles, people (Romans 12). He who created you in mind, spirit, and body also redeems you in mind, spirit, and body. You can, of course, come just as you are (LSB 570), but after God is through with you, you’ll never be the same: that’s the Gospel of transformation. Once you come into contact with God, you’ll never be the same. To the homosexual we proclaim, “Come as you are, and be transformed for a new and wonderful life. Come for an intimacy and completion as you’ve never experienced—an intimacy with and completion in God.”

The former president of the LCMS, the late Dr. A. L. Barry, wrote:

The church recognizes this [issue] as both a significant challenge and, more importantly, as an opportunity to speak the truth in love, reaching out with the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The church’s message to homosexual persons is the same message it proclaims to all people: Repent and believe the Gospel! The church’s most important message to homosexuals is the promise of forgiveness and eternal life through the person and the work of Jesus Christ. God sent His Son into this world to live a perfect life on our behalf, [to keep the commands we have broken,] and to die a perfect death as the payment for all of our sins.

Reprinted in part from the LCMS Web site at www.lcms.org. Used with permission.All rights reserved.

Some sins, of course, are certainly more destructive of society, of the citizenry, and of family than others. Regardless, all sin is sin and separates us from God. Therefore, let us not, God forbid, heap sin upon sin by hating the homosexual. Let us in word and deed care for homosexuals in Christian love, that they may “confess [their] sins...[And God] is faithful and just to forgive [them their] sins and to cleanse [them] from all unrighteousness” (1 John). Thus, the 1–2 percent of the population who are homosexual can be transformed from this false, abnormal, disordered, and often promiscuous so-called gayness to the true blessed happiness of a life lived in the truth: the truth about sin, the truth about God’s judgment, the truth about the Lord’s justice, and the truth about the free and reconciling mercy, love, forgiveness, and holiness found only in Christ crucified and risen.

If you as a member of the Church do not speak up and act out for this loving truth, no one else will. The Church has been targeted as the final barrier for the advancing march of the homosexual agenda. Will you—at home, in school, when you’re hanging out with friends—defend the Church and her faith? Will you defend those—this nation, its families, and children, and marriages, and especially the homosexual—who are harmed, even destroyed, by this agenda?

Yes, you will, knowing ultimately that your truest and deepest identity is not in your sexuality or gender or job or GPA. No, your identity is in Christ!

Pastor Eric Andrae (ERA@FirstTrinity.net) is campus pastor at First Trinity Lutheran Church and Luther House student center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He serves on the Higher Things Christ on Campus team. The rumor that he likes Swedish meatballs...well, that’s actually true.