Is Homosexuality a Sin?

Dictionary.com defines sin as “transgression of divine law.” And then it goes on to cite “the sin of Adam” as an example.

WHAT ADAM’S SIN WAS

Many of us know what Adam’s sin was. God had warned Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God did so, not because God was mean or didn’t want Adam to have any fun, but because He wanted to protect Adam from death and the end of his relationship with God (God didn’t want to lose him): “‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.'” (Genesis 2:16-17) Of course, Adam would go on to eat from the forbidden tree and suffer the consequences. His relationship with God ended. (Genesis 3:23-24) And eventually Adam died. (Genesis 5:5)

ALL UNDER SAME PENALTY

And since we are all Adam’s descendants, we are all under the same penalty (our relationship with God is broken and we are subject to death). (Romans 6:23a) You see, human beings are not sinners because they sin. Human beings sin (disobey divine law like Adam did) because they are sinners (like Adam was). (Romans 3:10, 23)

IS HOMOSEXUALITY A SIN?

So the question is, “Is Homosexuality a Sin?” Well, yes (Genesis 13:13; 18:20), but it’s not a worse sin than any other sin. Gossip, telling a lie, slandering your neighbor, unforgiveness, cheating on your taxes, running a red light, entertaining lustful thoughts, etc, they’re all sins, too, that God has told us not to do. Why? Because they’ll bring death to ourselves and death to our relationships with others.

WE CAN BE FORGIVEN

The good news is that we can be forgiven of our sins no matter what they are. (Romans 6:23b) And we can be transformed from sinners into saints (we can go from sinning to not sinning). (Colossians 1:13-14; John 8:11c; 1 John 2:1)

We don’t have to live in sin any more if we don’t want to. (John 3:16)

(God Judging Adam picture above is in the public domain: click here. PD-US)