Everybody’s Asking — Episode 1
The culture has made this question unavoidable. The church has too often answered it with either compromise or coldness. Today we let the Word of God speak — plainly, and with grace.
There is perhaps no question in our cultural moment that carries more weight, more emotion, or more pressure than this one. And because of that, it has become one of the questions the church handles most poorly — either softening the biblical position to avoid the label of hatred, or delivering the truth with a harshness that leaves people feeling condemned rather than called.
Neither response is faithful. So today, in this series where we answer the questions everybody is asking, we go to the only authority that actually matters: the Word of God. And we are going to do what the Word does — be firm on what Scripture says, and tender toward every person who is listening.
Before we dive in, one distinction needs to be established clearly: same-sex attraction and homosexual behavior are not the same thing. The struggle is not the sin. The act is. That distinction matters enormously — both theologically and pastorally — and we will come back to it.
Why This Question Matters Beyond the Culture War
It would be easy to frame this as a political or social debate. But at its core, this is a question about the authority of Scripture. How a church answers it tells you a great deal about how it handles the rest of the Bible — whether the Word is the final standard, or whether cultural pressure gets a seat at the table.
That pressure is real and it is enormous. And it is not only coming from outside the church. Entire denominations have reversed their positions. Pastors who once held the biblical line have quietly shifted. The goal today is not to win an argument. It is simply to be faithful to what God has said.
God’s Design: The Positive Case First
Before we get to what God forbids, we need to understand what God designed. The prohibitions in Scripture are not arbitrary rules — they are guardrails around something beautiful. And that something was established at the very beginning of creation.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Genesis 1:27–28
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
Genesis 2:24
God’s design is clear from the very first pages of Scripture — one man, one woman, one flesh. This is not a cultural construct that can be updated with the times. It is embedded in the fabric of creation itself, established before sin ever entered the picture. Every prohibition that follows in Scripture is measured against this design.
What the Bible Actually Says
The biblical witness on this question is not limited to a single verse or a single testament. It spans the Law, the writings of Paul, and the words of Christ Himself. Let’s walk through the key texts.
The Law
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
Leviticus 18:22
“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
Leviticus 20:13
The common objection here is “that’s the Old Testament.” But this distinction matters: there is a difference between the ceremonial law of Israel — dietary restrictions, sacrificial codes, feast days — and the moral law, which reflects the unchanging character of God. The prohibition against homosexual behavior falls in the same category as prohibitions against adultery and incest. It is moral law. And as we will see, the New Testament writers reaffirm it without hesitation.
The death penalty prescribed here belongs to the theocratic context of ancient Israel — that is not the point of application for the church age. But the moral prohibition absolutely carries forward.
Paul’s Clearest Treatment
“Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”
Romans 1:24–27
Paul is writing to Rome — the most cosmopolitan, culturally sophisticated city in the world. He is not speaking to an isolated backwater. He describes homosexual behavior as a departure from natural design and a consequence of suppressing the truth of God. Note that this addresses both male and female same-sex behavior. This is not a relic of a less enlightened age. It is a Spirit-inspired apostolic statement to a cosmopolitan audience.
The Most Important Verse in This Conversation
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Corinthians 6:9–11
Three words in verse 11 change everything: washed, sanctified, justified. Paul is not writing to a congregation that has never encountered this sin. He is writing to people who came out of it. The early church already had former homosexuals in its membership. The gospel has always been able to reach this. We will come back to this passage.
Paul’s Consistent Position
“Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.”
1 Timothy 1:9–10
Across every letter Paul writes — Romans, 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy — his position is identical. This is not an isolated text or a cultural overreaction. It is the consistent apostolic witness.
Answering the Common Objections
“The Bible only condemns exploitative relationships, not loving committed ones.”
This argument requires reading into the text a distinction that is simply not there. Romans 1 and the Leviticus passages address the behavior itself — not the power dynamic, not the level of commitment, not the emotional quality of the relationship. There is no exegetical basis for this distinction. It is eisegesis — reading a preferred meaning into the text rather than drawing the meaning out of it.
“Jesus never mentioned homosexuality.”
Jesus did speak directly to this question — through His affirmation of God’s creation design for marriage:
“And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?”
Matthew 19:4–5
Jesus affirmed the Genesis design: male and female, one flesh. His silence on the specific act is not approval. His affirmation of the design answers the question. And as the second person of the Trinity, the words of Paul and Moses are equally His words.
“People are born this way — how can God condemn something someone can’t help?”
This is perhaps the most emotionally compelling objection, and it deserves a compassionate answer. We are all born with a sin nature (Romans 3:23). Every person on earth has desires — some of them deeply felt, some of them seemingly hardwired — that are contrary to the will of God. The orientation toward a sin does not justify the act. The alcoholic who says he was born with a predisposition toward addiction is not thereby excused to drink. Every person’s desires must be brought under the lordship of Christ. The gospel does not promise the removal of every temptation. It promises the power to walk in holiness in the middle of them.
The Gospel Word
Now I want to speak directly to anyone reading this who is in the middle of this struggle personally. Because everything above, as necessary as it is, is not the end of the conversation. The end of the conversation is this:
“Such were some of you — but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified.”
Paul wrote those words to a real congregation full of real people who had come out of real sin — including this one. The early church was not a museum for perfect people. It was a hospital for broken ones. And the gospel that reached the people of Corinth has not lost one ounce of its power.
The call for every person, in every sin, is the same: repentance, surrender, and a life brought under the authority and grace of Jesus Christ. For some, that will mean a long road of sanctification, of bringing desires into submission, of finding that the grace of God is sufficient even when the struggle doesn’t disappear. Celibacy and holiness are not lesser callings. They are noble ones.
You are not beyond grace. You are not beyond hope. You are not defined by this. The same Christ who said “neither do I condemn thee” also said “go, and sin no more” — and both of those statements matter equally (John 8:11).
The church’s job is not to make people comfortable in their sin. It is to lovingly point them to the Savior who forgives it, transforms the heart, and walks with His people through every struggle.
The world will call this position hateful. It is not. A doctor who tells you the truth about a diagnosis is not your enemy — they are the only one who can actually help you. Truth and love are not opposites. In the hands of Christ, they are the same thing.
Whosoever Will
The same Bible that says what it says about this sin closes with these words:
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
Revelation 22:17
Whosoever will. That invitation has no asterisk. It excludes no sin and no sinner who comes to Christ in repentance and faith. The position of Scripture on homosexual behavior is clear and unchanging. And so is the offer of grace.
We can hold the line on what the Word says and still weep with those who struggle. We can be firm on the sin and tender toward the person. That is not a contradiction. That is the gospel.
Lord, give us the courage to say what Your Word says, and the compassion to say it the way You would. For those reading this who are in the middle of this struggle — meet them where they are. Remind them that Your grace reaches further than any sin. And let the life we live be a genuine, unfeigned faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
unfeigned faith 
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