Christians that are openly gay. What's the deal?

[HappySoul]

Isn't this against God's will? There are some nice people that claim they have attraction to the same sex and can't help it. I always thought it was a choice, but now I wonder. I mean, why would you choose to be that way? When someone says they've never been attracted to the opposite sex even when they've tried to be gets me thinking. Some will say that they knew they were gay as early as 5 years old. Which is weird because that's about the age I started thinking girls were cute. So, if you're naturally gay, then I would think kids as young as that would know...which leads me to think some people actually might be born that way. I don't know. Is there anything in the bible that says it's a choice and not a biological characteristic?

 

[jiggyfly]

So, if you're naturally gay, then I would think kids as young as that would know...which leads me to think some people actually might be born that way.

What could possibly be "natural" about being gay?

 

[Boanerges]

While it certainly is a choice if they claim to be born that way tell them "you can be born again a new way". They certainly can receive a new family, new inheritance (spiritual and mental genetics) and a completely new life.
That being said to be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ and that cannot include a lifestyle of willfully sinning. Jesus would never lead a purposeful life of contradicting the Word of God and serving His flesh.
That does not mean one cannot be struggling to be free an find Jesus. It does however mean one cannot embrace a lifestyle besetting sin such as that and come to Christ unrepentant.

 

[TheDJ]

Yes, homosexuality is a sin and against God's will. Let's go to God's Word.

Genesis 1:28: So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Genesis 2:24: That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Here we can see that a man and wife are to be joined together to be fruitful and multiply.

The Apostle Paul told us that homosexuals will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10: Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

As we can see Homosexuality is a grievous sin towards God and we are not to continue in that sin, but instead look to Jesus Christ and the Cross to give the Holy Spirit latitude in our lives to defeat sin, and in this case homosexuality.

People are not born as homosexuals, as we can see from Scripture God does not create us with those tendencies. Now people can be born with a greater susceptibility to homosexuality or any type of sin (Alcohol, drugs, gambling,) however we are not to take part in these sins, but look to Christ and the Cross.

Remember we all have sinned, we are not to treat homosexuality any different, or look down upon those people, because we all have sinned!

As far as a Christian being openly gay, well again we need to look at what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 1:24-25: Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

We either serve God or we serve Satan, no in-between. If their is a Christian who is openly gay and enjoying the lust of that union, well they are dishonoring their bodies and they have exchanged the truth for a lie. There are some homosexuals who love God with all their heart and do not know how to defeat the sin within them, that is different than a person who says they are a Christian and openly gay who has no remorse for the sin against God.

We have to look at what the Apostle Paul gives us in Romans 6-8, which to defeat sin we must look to what Jesus Christ did at the Cross, then and only then, will we be able to defeat sin, because at the Cross every sin was defeated. Now we will never be perfect and not sin, because the Bible does not teach that, however it does teach a successful Christian life by having faith in what Christ did at the Cross.

 

[swsavedbygrace]

Remember we all have sinned, we are not to treat homosexuality any different, or look down upon those people, because we all have sinned!

Thank you for mentioning this!! It is so important to remember sin is sin in God's eyes.

 

[RJ]

Thank you for mentioning this!! It is so important to remember sin is sin in God's eyes.

I agree unless a ********** openly admits it and say they are not going to change or work at correcting it, much more, where is the Holy Spirit conviction, unless there they are not indwelt to start with.

I know of Church Senates that have voted on allowing Gay Pastors to preach in their churches or not. Excuse me, allowing Gay Pastors to preach as if they are Gay and that's that! Why not, Pedophiles or known Sex Offenders then, what's next is my question, an Abortionist Priest?

It's not a matter of forgiveness and understanding but definitely a matter of the heart and are they a Spirit Filled person!

 

[TheDJ]

I agree unless a ********** openly admits it and say they are not going to change or work at correcting it, much more, where is the Holy Spirit conviction, unless there they are not indwelt to start with.

I know of Church Senates that have voted on allowing Gay Pastors to preach in their churches or not. Excuse me, allowing Gay Pastors to preach as if they are Gay and that's that! Why not, Pedophiles or known Sex Offenders then, what's next is my question, an Abortionist Priest?

It's not a matter of forgiveness and understanding but definitely a matter of the heart and are they a Spirit Filled person!

Yes of course, that is why I quoted Romans, and tried to explain a true Christian who loves God repenting, vs someone who claims to be a Christian and not repenting at all.

Also remember that it is said in the Word that we will have false teachers among us, and those who claim to be Pastors and promote homosexuality are false!

Good comments, thanks.

 

[swsavedbygrace]

I agree unless a ********** openly admits it and say they are not going to change or work at correcting it, much more, where is the Holy Spirit conviction, unless there they are not indwelt to start with.

I know of Church Senates that have voted on allowing Gay Pastors to preach in their churches or not. Excuse me, allowing Gay Pastors to preach as if they are Gay and that's that! Why not, Pedophiles or known Sex Offenders then, what's next is my question, an Abortionist Priest?

It's not a matter of forgiveness and understanding but definitely a matter of the heart and are they a Spirit Filled person!

I agree with you on this too!

 

[jiggyfly]

I agree unless a ********** openly admits it and say they are not going to change or work at correcting it, much more, where is the Holy Spirit conviction, unless there they are not indwelt to start with.

I know of Church Senates that have voted on allowing Gay Pastors to preach in their churches or not. Excuse me, allowing Gay Pastors to preach as if they are Gay and that's that! Why not, Pedophiles or known Sex Offenders then, what's next is my question, an Abortionist Priest?

It's not a matter of forgiveness and understanding but definitely a matter of the heart and are they a Spirit Filled person!

I think it says something of the whole bunch when they want a Gay to lead them. Look at what Paul says.

I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you, something so evil that even the pagans don't do it. I am told that you have a man in your church who is living in sin with his father's wife. And you are so proud of yourselves! Why aren't you mourning in sorrow and shame? And why haven't you removed this man from your fellowship?.......Then you must cast this man out of the church and into Satan's hands, so that his sinful nature will be destroyed [fn] and he himself [fn] will be saved when the Lord returns. 1Cor. 5:1-5

What I meant was that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a Christian [fn] yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Don't even eat with such people. 1Cor. 5:11

Gays ( someone who leads a hom o sexual lifestyle without remorse) shouldn't be allowed within the fellowship let alone be the leader.

 

[The Robster]

I think it says something of the whole bunch when they want a Gay to lead them. Look at what Paul says.

I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you, something so evil that even the pagans don't do it. I am told that you have a man in your church who is living in sin with his father's wife. And you are so proud of yourselves! Why aren't you mourning in sorrow and shame? And why haven't you removed this man from your fellowship?.......Then you must cast this man out of the church and into Satan's hands, so that his sinful nature will be destroyed [fn] and he himself [fn] will be saved when the Lord returns. 1Cor. 5:1-5

What I meant was that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a Christian [fn] yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Don't even eat with such people. 1Cor. 5:11

Gays ( someone who leads a hom o sexual lifestyle without remorse) shouldn't be allowed within the fellowship let alone be the leader.

I can understand the objection to having homosexuals in leadership positions but how do we determine if a homosexual is leading a lifestyle without remorse? We have straight ma;es addicted to pornography, who are committing adultery and all kinds of sinful behavior, yet we don't try to get to the bottom of whether they are remorseful about it. We don't prevent them from fellowship nor are we going around our churches asking people if they are engaging in that sin? So why should we be so harsh on the homosexual community when we don't live under the Law? Many are struggling with that sin like heterosexuals are struggling with theirs. And I don't see that as an acceptable reason for the Church to have shunned homosexuals the way it has. Many homosexuals have been hurt as youngsters and have been sexually abused. Many need to see the love of Christ. Seems today we treat homosexuality as if its a sin in a whole other category. Sin is sin in my book and I'm against all sin but we need to be more embracing of the homosexual community. We need to preach grace, not Law.

 

[evstevemd]

Isn't this against God's will? There are some nice people that claim they have attraction to the same sex and can't help it. I always thought it was a choice, but now I wonder. I mean, why would you choose to be that way? When someone says they've never been attracted to the opposite sex even when they've tried to be gets me thinking. Some will say that they knew they were gay as early as 5 years old. Which is weird because that's about the age I started thinking girls were cute. So, if you're naturally gay, then I would think kids as young as that would know...which leads me to think some people actually might be born that way. I don't know. Is there anything in the bible that says it's a choice and not a biological characteristic?

It is not God's will just like it is not God's will to lie, steal et al.
It is never natural as it goes against natural use God ordained. God made Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve (borrowed this from Ken Ham). It is not biological issue, but heart issue.

If a homosexual repents and trusts Jesus, he/she will be forgiven and made new creature. So they are without excuse just as all other sinners

 

[HappySoul]

thanks for all the replies. It makes sense that some may be more susceptible to being gay than others, just like drug addictions, etc. However, I can see that it's still a sin and a CHOICE not something one is born with...thanks again.

 

[kevinlb63]

Let just get down to it!!! It is not normal for a man or young man to say in his mind i want to get do do on my manly hood!!!! Or for women ! I want to stick my toung in there private place. It was said the right way in a post above if you were born like it !!!!!!! Get born again................ It is just a sin of the flesh !!!! It is simple as that!!!!

 

[Hekuran]

I cannot find any Bible text that says that homosexual tendency is either a choice or a thing that some people are born with.

But if gay/lesbian people say that their sexual preference is something that they have no control over, then we should respect what they say. Otherwise we will always be talking at cross-purposes.

 

[kevinlb63]

men that love dodo and woman that love dodo and blood yea ! that normal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is sin sin sin and more sin.

 

[The Robster]

I cannot find any Bible text that says that homosexual tendency is either a choice or a thing that some people are born with.

But if gay/lesbian people say that their sexual preference is something that they have no control over, then we should respect what they say. Otherwise we will always be talking at cross-purposes.

I can't find any verses either where God says its my will for you to be homosexual or its my will for you to steal your neighbor's wife or for you to steal, kill, destroy, etc. I mean thankfully God says all sin is sin. Many people that have identified themselves as "homosexual" have been sexually abused as children, have grown up in households where there was gender role confusion, etc. Its a vastly complex issue that much of the public knows little about because these kind of facts have been hidden in order to normalize this behavior. I think we should welcome homosexuals into our churches but never forget to remind them that this sin needs to be turned from just like any other sin.

 

[Jaareshiah]

Isn't this against God's will? There are some nice people that claim they have attraction to the same sex and can't help it. I always thought it was a choice, but now I wonder. I mean, why would you choose to be that way? When someone says they've never been attracted to the opposite sex even when they've tried to be gets me thinking. Some will say that they knew they were gay as early as 5 years old. Which is weird because that's about the age I started thinking girls were cute. So, if you're naturally gay, then I would think kids as young as that would know...which leads me to think some people actually might be born that way. I don't know. Is there anything in the bible that says it's a choice and not a biological characteristic?

The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "What! Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes ("nor effeminate"["like a girl or woman", Microsoft Encarta Dictionary], King James Bible) nor men who lie with men ("nor sodomites.” Literally, “nor liers with males.” Greek, ou´te ar·se·no·koi´tai; Latin, ne´que ma·scu·lo´rum con·cu·bi·to´res), nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom."(1 Cor 6:9)

To show that these ones made needed changes in order to please God, Paul now says: "And yet that is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean, but you have been sanctified, but you have been declared righteous in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God."(1 Cor 6:10) Their being "washed clean" is evidence that they gave up their former homosexual or lesbian course of conduct. Thus, for anyone to be accepted into God's clean congregation, this immoral behavior has to be put behind them, for them to be "sanctified.....declared righteous."

In the year 1473 B.C.E., just before the nation of Israel were to enter the land of Canaan, through Moses, God told the Israelites: "None of the daughters of Israel may become a temple prostitute ("*****", King James Bible), neither may anyone of the sons of Israel become a temple prostitute ("Sodomite", King James Bible, “or, ‘a catamite,’ a boy kept for purposes of sexual perversion,”). You must not bring the hire of a harlot (Or, “prostitute.” Greek, por´nes) or the price of a dog (Likely a pederast; one who practices anal intercourse, especially with a boy) into the house of Jehovah your God for any vow, because they are something detestable to Jehovah your God, even both of them."(Deut 23:17, 18)

Jude, in about 65 C.E., wrote: "So too Sod´om and Go·mor´rah and the cities about them, after they in the same manner as the foregoing ones had committed fornication (Greek por·nei´a) excessively and gone out after flesh for unnatural use, are placed before us as a warning example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire."(Jude 7) Porneia (from which comes the English word pornography) is understood to involve the grossly immoral use of the genital organ(s) of at least one human; also there must have been two or more parties (including another consenting human or a beast), whether of the same sex or the opposite sex. (Bauer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (revised by F. W. Gingrich and F. Danker, 1979, p. 693) defines por·nei´a as “prostitution, unchastity, fornication, of every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse.”)

Those unwilling to change their homosexual tendencies, are not acceptable to our Creator. At 2 Corinthians 6:17, the apostle Paul writes, quoting from Isaiah 52:11, that Jehovah God says to "quit touching the unclean thing", "and I will take you in." Therefore, for anyone to be "washed clean...sanctified" in God's eyes, to be ' taken in ', these must fight any homosexual tendencies in order to measure up to his holy standards of conduct. Though not easy for some, Jesus said to "exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door (to everlasting life, whether on earth or in heaven) because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able."(Luke 13:24)

 

[evstevemd]

thanks for all the replies. It makes sense that some may be more susceptible to being gay than others, just like drug addictions, etc. However, I can see that it's still a sin and a CHOICE not something one is born with...thanks again.

Happy you understand it!
May god bless you!