What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?

In a comprehensive report released by the Barna Group this year, 9 out of 10 pastors see helping Christians develop biblical beliefs about specific issues as a major part of their role.  While homosexuality is the issue pastors feel the most pressure to address, 44% feel limited in their ability to speak out because they are afraid of offending people.  

In his book called, Counter Culture, David Platt writes: “On popular issues like poverty and slavery, where Christians are likely to be applauded for our social action, we are quick to stand up and speak out.  Yet on controversial issues like homosexuality and abortion, where Christians are likely to be criticized for our involvement, we are content to sit down and stay quiet.”  

We’re now in week six of our Glad You Asked series and our topic this weekend is, “What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?”

I want to ask a favor.  While I normally enjoy “Amens” while I’m preaching, please refrain from making any comments during the sermon.  Let’s remember a couple things.

• Someone who struggles with same-sex attraction, or has a family member who does, might be sitting near you.  I received a text this week: “I’m very interested in your topic…I am also extremely nervous since [my daughter] is marrying a woman next year.”
• You struggle with sin, too.  Be careful about casting the first stone.  In five of the passages that address homosexuality, a number of other sins are also listed. 

Pause and Pray

Kevin DeYoung lists six groups that may be listening when we speak about homosexuality.

• If we’re speaking to cultural elites who despise our beliefs, we want to be bold and courageous.
• If we are speaking to strugglers who fight against same-sex attraction, we want to be patient and sympathetic.
• If we are speaking to sufferers who have been mistreated by the church, we want to be winsome and humble.
• If we are speaking to shaky Christians who seem ready to compromise, we want to be persuasive and persistent.
• If we are speaking to those who are living in sin, we want to be straightforward and earnest.
• If we are speaking to belligerent Christians who hate or fear persons who identify as gay or lesbian, we want to be clear and corrective.

That’s my challenge today because all six groups are no doubt present.  

According to a Lifeway survey, 7 in 10 young adults say there is nothing wrong with same-sex adults having sexual relations – up from 16% in 1988.  55% of young adults believe homosexual couples should have the right to marry, jumping more than 50 percentage points in 30 years.

This issue has become front and center in our society.  Here are three recent news items just from the past six weeks.

• Because of its views on traditional marriage, Chick-fil-A was removed from the San Antonio airport and the student government at Trinity University in Texas voted unanimously to ban its food.
• In the season premiere of the PBS show “Arthur,” Mr. Ratburn came out as gay and got married.  Here’s how CNN reported it – listen for their editorializing: “The Arthur premiere gave us all the happy feelings – not just because the PBS animated series is back for its 22nd season, but because Mr. Ratburn finally got the happy ending he deserves…the title character’s third grade teacher marries another male character – leaving us all in happy tears. ‘It’s a brand new world!’ one of the students says during the wedding.  Truly.”
• At a recent fundraiser, a presidential candidate said this about his same-sex “marriage”: “[It] has made me a better man [and]…moved me closer to God…if you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me.  Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”

As we take up our questions with the Creator let’s keep three things in mind.

1. We won’t clobber sinners.  We must always remember the gospel is for sinners.  It’s OK to be incensed about evil but we’re to extend love to those who may sin differently than we do.  
2. We won’t cave on sin.  Our aim is not to be politically correct, but to be biblically correct.  It’s time for churches to speak out…and reach out to those who are ensnared by sexual sin.  As our culture spins out of control we must maintain our call to be salt and light in a decaying and dark world.  
3. Our model is Jesus Christ.  We won’t cave on sin or clobber sinners but will instead follow Christ as our example.  John 1:14 says Jesus is “FULL of grace and truth.”  The word “full” means, “abounding and abundant; complete and perfect.”  When a woman was caught in adultery in John 8:11, Jesus ministered grace to her and told her truth: “Neither do I condemn you [grace]; go and sin no more [truth].”  Likewise, we’re called to minister in truth and with grace or as another pastor puts it, with “bold truth and sweet grace.”  I strive to be convictional and compassionate.

One pastor adds, “Our culture has accepted two huge lies.  The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them.  The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do.  Both are nonsense.  You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

Our society is all about discussing “our rights” but we’re increasingly hesitant to declare, “what is right.”  I would not be able to say I love God or my neighbor if I stay silent.

I know by preaching on this topic some will think I’m a homophobe or a homosexual hater.  I am neither.  Others might think I’m not strong enough.  My aim for us is to think biblically and act graciously. 

Focus on the Family published a helpful document called, “What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?”  I appreciated this insight:

Homosexuality is comprised of many aspects, including these three: attractions, behavior and identity.  We make a distinction between the three and note that only same-sex behavior and lust…is condemned in Scripture.  So, when the Bible uses words like “abomination,” or “detestable,” it is not talking about people, but about behaviors, things people do.  We regret that such words have been used to describe individuals.

Christopher Yuan portrays how people come to their beliefs about sexuality today:

Traditional View of Sexuality Revisionist View of Sexuality

1. Scripture 1.  Experience
2. Reason/Science 2.  Reason/Science
3. Experience 3.  Scripture

There’s a huge shift going on within denominations and among Christians to interpret the Bible through the LGBTQ+ lens.  Instead of following a revisionist hermeneutic, we’re going to allow God’s holy revelation to inform and form us.  

Let’s look at 10 sections of Scripture.

1. Genesis 1-2. 

As our society becomes more sexualized and secularized, Bible-believing Christ followers must hold to God’s design for marriage without apology or anger.  Genesis 1:27-28 says God created humans as males and females: “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them.  And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it…’” 

In Genesis 2:18 we read, “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’”  Adam realized none of the created animals could provide deep companionship as we read in verse 20: “But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.”  Notice the helper he needed was not another man but a woman.  Verse 23 tells how Adam felt after God made woman: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

God’s intention is clearly seen in verse 24: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Kevin DeYoung has some tremendous insight in his book, “What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality?”  Here’s how Chapter 1 begins:

Suppose God wanted to create a world in which marriage required a man and a woman.  How would he arrange this world?  What sort of story would be told?  Perhaps he would first make the man, and then – seeing the man was all alone – make a suitable partner for him.  Maybe, in an expression of their equality and complementarity, God would fashion the second human being out of the first.  Maybe the name of the one (woman, “ishah” in Hebrew) would be derived from her natural complement (man, “ish” in Hebrew).  And in order to show the unique fittedness of the man for the woman, perhaps God would give them a command (to be fruitful and multiply) that could only be fulfilled by the coming together of the two sexes.  Maybe the story would end with the two – one man and one woman – starting a new family together and entering into a covenant relationship, solemnized by an oath and sealed by the sort of physical union capable of perpetuating this family and reflecting their status as image bearers of a divine Creator.  

If God wanted to establish a world in which the normative marital and sexual relationship is that between persons of the opposite sex, Genesis 1-2 fits perfectly…a different marital arrangement requires an entirely different creation account, one with two men or two women, or at least the absence of any hints of gender complementarity and procreation.  It’s hard not to conclude from a straightforward reading of Genesis 1-2 that the divine design for sexual intimacy is not any combination of persons, or even any type of two persons coming together, but one man becoming one flesh with one woman.

DeYoung then gives some reasons why Genesis 1-2 establishes God’s design for marriage.

• • The way in which the woman was created indicates she is the man’s divinely designed complement.  The text speaks of sameness and difference.  Adam delights that the woman is not another animal and not another man.
  • The nature of the one-flesh union presupposes two persons of the opposite sex.  The phrase “one flesh” points to sexual intimacy.  This ish and the ishah can become one flesh because theirs is not just a sexual union but also a reunion, the bringing together of two differentiated beings, with one made from and both made for the other.
  • Only two persons of the opposite sex can fulfill the procreative purposes of marriage.
  • The redemptive-historical significance of marriage as a divine symbol in the Bible only works if the marital couple is a complementary pair.  The mystical union of Christ and the church – each “part” belonging to the other but neither interchangeable – cannot be pictured in marital union without the differentiation of male and female. 

The account of creation is clear – one man united with one woman in the covenant of marriage for life is the created and natural order.  I like how Ray Pritchard puts it: “Homosexuality must be seen as something outside of God’s design for the human race.  It represents a denial of the two-fold nature of man as male and female.  It is a deviation in the truest sense of the word.  The importance of Genesis 1-2 cannot be overemphasized.  It is the foundation upon which the entire Bible rests…to substitute a man with a man or a woman with a woman is to distort God’s original design.”

Actually, the term “gay marriage” is not accurate because biblically defined, marriage is a monogamous covenant between one man and one woman for life.  

2. Genesis 19:5, 7. 

In this horrifying account we read about Sodom and Gomorrah where men surrounded Lot’s house and set forth a demand: “Where are the men who came to you tonight?  Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” The word “know” is a euphemism for sexual behavior.  In verse 7, Lot makes this plea: “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.”  Our word sodomy comes from the type of sin attempted at Sodom, which was eventually destroyed because of sexual immorality, among other sins.  

3. Leviticus 18:22. 

The theme of Leviticus is holiness, with some form of the word used nearly 90 times.  The second half of the book is often called the Holiness Code.  In a list of prohibitions against immoral sexual relationships, this verse categorically and clearly states: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”  The word “abomination” means, “offensive, detestable and repugnant,” signifying something the Lord despises.

4. Leviticus 20:13.

In Chapter 20, a number of capital offenses are listed like adultery, incest and bestiality.  The prohibition against homosexuality is repeated: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination…”

Allow me to link back to last week’s sermon because some people reject the commands in Leviticus since they are part of the Old Testament Law.  As we pointed out, these prohibitions are part of God’s moral law, not Israel’s civil or ceremonial codes.  

5. Judges 19:22-23.

  In an awful account reminiscent of what happened with Lot and the men of Sodom, a gang of wicked men gather outside a house and demand an older man send out his guest so they can satisfy their homosexual desires: “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” The man is repulsed by this and replied: “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing.”  This story does not end well and no one looks good when it’s all over but it is a vivid example of what happens when people reject God’s Law.  

Let’s turn now to the New Testament.

6. Matthew 19:4-5. 

Jesus Himself reinforces the normativity of the Genesis account by quoting Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24 in Matthew 19:4-5: “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” 

7. Romans 1:21-32

is the central passage on homosexuality in the Bible.  In the opening chapters of Romans, Paul establishes that everyone is a sinner in need of the Savior.  He starts with irreligious Gentiles and then moves to moral people and finally in Chapter 3 he takes on the Jewish person.  He concludes this section in 3:10 by stating, “None is righteous, no, not one.”  

The first chapter of Romans paints a picture of what happens in a society that turns its back on God.  In verse 21, their hearts are darkened, in verse 22 they become foolish and in verse 23 they ultimately turn to idolatry.  We see God’s response in triplicate when a society rejects Him in verse 24: “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity.”  In verse 26: “God gave them up to dishonorable passions…” and in verse 28: “God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not be done.”  Let me be quick to say this doesn’t mean God gives up on people but that He simply allows a society to slide into the depths of depravity.

Notice in verse 24 the first result of God giving them up is widespread lust, impurity and dishonorable passions.  A society is then marked by open homosexuality.  Listen carefully to verses 26-27: “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.  For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

I don’t know how God could be any clearer in His condemnation of homosexual acts

Listen again to these strong phrases – “dishonorable passions…contrary to nature…consumed with passion for one another…committing shameless acts…due penalty for their error.”  Paul is saying homosexuality is biologically unnatural.  One theologian writes: “This verse does not speak of natural and unnatural feelings, but natural and unnatural function.”  I don’t know how God could be any clearer in His condemnation of homosexual acts.

Paul then lists some more sins in verse 31 and concludes his argument in verse 32: “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”  The New American Standard puts it like this: “they give hearty approval.”  The New Living translation captures it this way: “Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”  That’s exactly what’s happening in our culture, in our courts and in many of our churches today where sin is now celebrated and even paraded in public.  This reminds me of what Erwin Lutzer says: “What’s unthinkable in one generation is thinkable in the next.”

8. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. 

The church at Corinth had a number of immoral issues going on.  The Apostle Paul called out those who were living in sin and yet thought they were in right standing with God: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”  

One of the questions that came in referenced this passage: “If after you’re saved you start living a gay lifestyle claiming that’s how God made you and 1 Corinthians 6:10 says those who practice homosexual relationships with no desire to stop will not inherit the Kingdom of God, will they go to heaven when they die?”

Here’s my take.  The word “unrighteous” describes those who practice various sins and refers to heathen, or unbelievers.  This does not mean that anybody who has ever committed one of these sins is denied entrance to heaven.  At the same time, the Bible warns those who call themselves Christians and yet perpetually and unrepentantly engage in sin.  If these kinds of sins are practiced on an ongoing basis with no remorse or desire to repent, this individual is likely not a true Christian and thus will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Another possibility is this person is legitimately saved and going through a season of rebellion.

I asked Pastor Tim for his insight and this is what he shared: 

Only God as the creator has the moral authority to declare what behaviors are righteous and unrighteous.  What we say about who we are does not always reflect the truth.  The unrighteous are following a behavioral path that is void of concern for God and his ways.  If a true Christian is going the wrong way, there will be conviction and the pain of discipline.  If this is absent, then there is a false hope of salvation.  We see this in Hebrews 12:5-8: “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.  It is for discipline that you have to endure.  God is treating you as sons.  For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”

There is a difference between being tempted (feeling a same sex attraction) and giving into it.  We are made in the image of God but sin distorts what that looks like to us.  A true Christian will seek to practice what God declares as righteous behavior though he or she might need to grow in one’s ability to be consistently righteous.

The Corinthian Christians were being encouraged by Paul to continue to move away from their previous immoral behavior and replace it with behaviors consistent with how God sees them – washed, sanctified, justified.  To persist in, and practice behavior that God declares worthy of banishment from his kingdom should cause grave, eternal concern.

If you have not yet been declared righteous through the new birth then heaven is not your home.  This is a good reminder because unless we admit we are sinners and repent from the way we’ve been living, we cannot be saved.  Actually, until you know you are a sinner you won’t even want to be saved.

9. 1 Timothy 1:9-10. 

The Apostle Paul believes the Old Testament Law serves a good purpose because it helps us see our sinfulness: “…the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine…”  

God’s moral law hasn’t changed because God hasn’t changed.  Whatever is right has always been right and will always be right.  Whatever is wrong has always been wrong and will always be wrong. 

10. Jude 7. 

We see the phrase “unnatural desire” along with a reference to Sodom and Gomorrah in this verse: “Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”

While some believe homosexuality is outside of one’s control like skin color or height, the Bible teaches that homosexual behavior in any form is contrary to God’s will and is always a sin.  Matt Slick writes: “It undermines God’s created order where He made Adam and Eve, a man and a woman, to carry out the command to fulfill and subdue the earth.  Homosexuality cannot fulfill that mandate.” For those who uphold the Bible there can be no other conclusion, no matter what our culture declares or our courts decide.  

God loves us so much He put up some parameters and moral guardrails so we don’t hurt ourselves or other people

Sometimes you’ll hear people say this isn’t very loving.  Actually, God loves us so much He put up some parameters and moral guardrails so we don’t hurt ourselves or other people.  

While some espouse “sexual orientation” as a “civil rights” issue, others have reinterpreted Scripture to come up with a revisionist gay theology.

I don’t have a lot of time to develop this but you should be aware there’s a growing movement among some pastors and theologians to categorize same-sex relations as “disputable” matters on par with observing holy days and eating meat sacrificed to idols as described in Romans 14:5-6: “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.   The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.  The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”

The trend now is for Christians to “agree to disagree” and not take a clear stance on whether homosexual behavior is a sin or not.  I would say there is no evidence that Paul would have considered same-sex relations to be a “disputable matter,” especially in light of the passages we’ve just looked at.

Here’s a question several people in the congregation have asked: “Would you attend a homosexual ceremony?  When asked why not, what would you say?”

This is becoming an increasingly common question and is filled with deep emotion.  The struggle is the sense we must choose between truth and grace, to go with God’s revelation or with relationship.  I believe you can hold up both truth and grace by not attending.  I offer a few thoughts:

• A “marriage” between same-sex people is not a biblical marriage, even though it is legal in our country.
• To attend a wedding ceremony is to symbolize your support for the “marriage.”  I would therefore not attend because this ceremony celebrates two people who are living a lifestyle that God declares to be immoral and unnatural.
• I would make it clear that while I don’t support their decision, I still love them.

The website gotquestions.org has a very helpful answer to this question.

Hope for the Homosexual

Maybe this message has made you feel like it is impossible to be forgiven for the sin of homosexuality.  To read about how God freed a woman from lesbianism, I encourage you to go to Sermon Extras and order Rosaria Butterfield’s book called Confessions of an Unlikely Convert.  To hear how God saved a gay man, I highly recommend Christopher Yuan’s book, Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son’s Journey to God, A Broken Mother’s Search for Hope.   Forgiveness and a fresh start are available to those who practice homosexuality just as they are to the adulterer, idol worshipper, liar, murderer and thief.

Check out 1 Corinthians 6:11: “And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”  Look at how the past tense is used: “And such were…you were…you were.”  They were defined by their sin but now they have been washed from their sins and sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.  All three members of the Trinity are involved in this life change process!  BTW, we’ll tackle the Trinity in three weeks.

complete forgiveness and deliverance is available through Jesus Christ

I’m not suggesting that it will be easy to stop the sin of homosexuality but what I am saying is this – the only way to change is through Jesus Christ!   The church is not out to clobber people or to cave on the Bible but instead to offer Christ, who is full of truth and grace.  Homosexual behavior is always wrong (that’s the truth) but complete forgiveness and deliverance is available through Jesus Christ (that’s grace).  

How Do We Respond?

In the foreword to Christopher Yuan’s new book, Holy Sexuality and the Gospel, Rosaria Butterfield writes this: “We all must wage holy war against the idols of our hearts.  The idol of our historical epoch is this: your sexual desires define you, determine you, and should always delight you.”  In contrast to that, here are six responses:

1. Embrace God’s vision for sexuality.

  Christopher Yuan writes: 

“God declares that only sex between a husband and a wife in marriage is good.  Every sexual expression outside this context – whether in an opposite-sex relationship or a same-sex relationship – God condemns as sinful…Holy sexuality consists of two paths: chastity in singleness and faithfulness in marriage.  Chastity is more than simply abstention from extramarital sex; it conveys purity and holiness.  Faithfulness is more than merely maintaining chastity and avoiding illicit sex; it conveys covenantal commitment.  Both of these embody the only correct biblical sexual ethic and unambiguously articulate the exact expressions of sexual behavior that God blesses.”

This is similar to what Erwin Lutzer says in his book, The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage: “We are not asking more of single homosexuals than we ask of single heterosexuals when we insist on chastity.” 

2. Let’s watch our words and actions. 

We need to stop with the demeaning jokes and the unkind comments and the malicious names.  Ephesians 5:3-4: “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”  Practicing homosexuals are still made in the image of God.  They are sinners…and so are you.  Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

3. Pray for those caught in the sin of homosexuality.

I’m reminded of the saying: “Sin will always take you further than you planned to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you can pay.”  We all need to be on guard against all kinds of sexual temptation – whether that’s heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual.  Genesis 4:7 paints a vivid picture: “…Sin is crouching at the door.  Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

4. Reach out in love and look for ways to introduce them to Christ.

Let’s move from us vs. them to us for them.  I like what Christopher Yuan says: “God’s unconditional love is not the same as His unconditional approval of our behavior.”  We must welcome sinners without endorsing evil.  And we need to realize some will continue to struggle as Galatians 6:1 says: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.  Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”

5. Talk to someone and ask for help. 

Celebrate Recovery offers a group on Friday nights that deals with life issues, including same-sex attraction.  Pastor Dan refers to Celebrate Recovery as a sanctification program. 

6. All sinners need to be saved. 

Everyone is a sinner and everyone needs to be saved.  God’s judgment was poured out on His Son when He died on the cross.  His justice has been fully satisfied and His anger has been appeased.  The Bible calls this propitiation.  Romans 3:25: “Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

If you have not yet responded to the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life, it’s time to repent and receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and then follow Him as your Lord for the rest of your life.  Listen.  The opposite of homosexuality is not heterosexuality but holiness.  Whether we’re drawn to the same sex or opposite sex, God’s goal is for our purity and His ultimate desire is that we all be saved.

Kevin DeYoung suggests ten commitments Christians should make before God and a watching world.  For the sake of time, I will just mention seven of them.

1. We will tell the truth about all sins, including homosexuality.  That’s why we also speak up for life in the womb and for racial reconciliation.  That’s why we support refugees and reach out to the little, the least and the lost.  We’re called to minister to orphans and widows.
2. We will guard the truth of God’s Word, protect God’s people from error, and confront the world when it tries to press us into its mold.
3. We will call all people to faith in Christ as the only way to the Father and the only way to have eternal life.
4. We will treat all Christians as new creations in Christ, reminding each other that our true identity is not based on sexuality or self-expression but on our union with Christ.
5. We will extend God’s forgiveness to all those who come in brokenhearted repentance, everyone from homosexual sinners to heterosexual sinners, from the proud to the greedy, from the people pleaser to the self-righteous.
6. We will ask for forgiveness when we are rude, thoughtless, or joke inappropriately about homosexuals.
7. We will strive to be a community that welcomes all those who hate their sin and struggle against it, even when that struggle involves failures and setbacks.

Focus on the Family concludes their booklet with this summary statement: “The appropriate response from the Church to homosexuality must include compassionate love, gentle truth, and authentic humility.  All three components are essential, and needed in equal proportion…extending the love of Christ whether or not they ever turn from their sin…speaking the truth, even if it’s met with hostility or indifference…acknowledging, confessing and turning from our own sin; and embracing God’s deep love as expressed on the cross.”

Jesus was known as a friend of sinners and He’s calling us to do the same; not to hate on people, but to love on them.  Are you a friend of sinners?