The Bible Is Clear

We are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.
—Genesis 19:13

Today we will look at another myth about homosexuality. And that is, the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality is based on a misunderstanding of the text. Now a non-Christian doesn’t care what the Bible says. For him, the Bible has no more authority than Aesop’s fables. But a professing Christian who claims to be homosexual has a big problem. He has to somehow reconcile his homosexual choices with the clear teaching of the Word of God. So when your behavior comes into conflict with the Bible, what do you do? Well, you reinterpret the Bible.

That’s exactly what homosexual theologians are doing. They are saying, “We have misinterpreted the Bible all these years.” For example, Genesis 19 tells of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God sent two angels in the form of men to visit Sodom and Gomorrah and they stayed with Lot, the nephew of Abraham. They were coming to look at the city to judge it before they destroyed it. So they are in Lot’s house when the men of Sodom surrounded the city and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them” (v. 5). Lot met them outside and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly” (v. 7). Then these angelic visitors said to Lot, “We are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it” (v. 13). Now, to reinterpret this text, homosexuals will say, “Well, what God was condemning was not homosexuality, but homosexual rape. Therefore what God really hates is rape, not homosexuality.” The problem with that is when you read verse 4, you find how pervasive homosexuality is. It is among the young and the old. All the people from every quarter came to commit homosexual acts against these two angelic visitors. Furthermore, we know from historical sources that Sodom was known predominantly for homosexuality. Even today, what do we call the homosexual sex act? We call it sodomy. From the city of Sodom. It is a complete fanciful twisting of the text to say that homosexuality was not the primary reason that God destroyed the city.

Other passages that homosexual theologians try to reinterpret include Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, which are the “abomination” passages condemning homosexual behavior. Homosexuals twist these clear words to try to say these verses actually condemn idolatry, not homosexuality. But here’s a good rule for interpreting the Bible: When the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense. God’s Word is plain. Homosexuality is a sin.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Why Gay Is Not Okay” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.