June 2022, designated “Pride Month” by many, has come and gone.  Consider just some of the things that took place this past month. Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Zulu all have a page to honor Pride Month.  Several clothing manufacturers, including Adidas, American Eagle, and Converse, have a line of clothing celebrating the homosexual lifestyle.  Disney, long touted as family friendly, has gone to great lengths to promote the homosexual lifestyle.  An increasing number of cities promoted gay pride parades, many even encouraging very young children to attend.  The city of Tulsa, OK hosted a “Weekend of Pride.” President Biden’s Department of Food and Nutrition Service, an agency within the USDA, announced it will strip money, especially for lunches, from schools who don’t allow trans students to use the bathroom of their desired gender.  Pizza Hut, as part of its “Book It” reading program, featured a book about drag kids.  ESPN’s Sarah Spain called Tamp Bay Rays players bigots for not wearing a gay pride patch on their uniform.  In Dallas, a gay bar hosted a “Drag the Kids to Pride” event, aimed at little kids, even with babies in attendance.  Drag queens danced in front of the little children while the kids were encouraged to give them money.  Some of the children were invited onstage to dance with the performers.  Michigan’s openly gay Attorney General said “Drag queens make everything better.  Drag queens are fun.”  She went on to say “a drag queen for every school is needed.” New York City shelled out $200,000 to bring drag queen performers to public schools.  And the list goes on and on.

What was once recognized as sin is now considered by many to be an acceptable lifestyle.  Even many of those in the religious world are now recognizing same-sex marriages.  Some even allow homosexuals to serve as “pastors.” What do the scriptures have to say about homosexuality?

It is good to be reminded that only God, man’s creator, can define what is right and what is wrong.  When man attempts to do so he is bound to fail.  “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23)

Homosexuality is condemned in Genesis 19:1-11, the account of Sodom and Gomorrah. While some try to make the men of Sodom guilty of nothing more than inhospitality, the, fair and unbiased reader of the Bible is forced to conclude that God destroyed the men of Sodom on account of their sinful practice of homosexuality.

Consider Leviticus 20:13 “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.”

From the New Testament, homosexuality is condemned in Romans 1:26-32 – “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.  For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”

But friends, there is hope for those who are guilty of homosexuality, just as there is hope for those who are guilty of any sin.  When Christ died on the cross, He died for ALL of mankind.  Anyone who repents of his or her sin and turns to God, seeking to comply with God’s conditions for forgiveness, can be saved from his or her sin.

Notice 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 – “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 homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” We learn from this passage that homosexuals CAN change.  Notice Paul’s words – “And such WERE some of you.  But ye were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God.”

In an effort to justify homosexuality, it is often said that “God made them that way. They were born homosexuals.”  Friends, that’s just not true! Homosexuality is a learned behavior. It is true that someone may have certain dispositions toward homosexual behavior., perhaps as a result of childhood sexual trauma or improper training as a child.  However, that is entirely different from saying someone was born a homosexual. No one is born a homosexual and none of these dispositions change the fact that homosexuality is sinful.

The blood of Christ has the power to cleanse man of any and every sin he has committed.  God will forgive any and all who repent of their sin (Acts 17:30), confess their faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 8:37) and are then baptized for the forgiveness of their sin (Acts 2:38)  But no one can be saved from his sin as long as he persists in his sin and refuses to repent.