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| Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights |
Romans 1: 21-27
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Okay, let’s read through this. Because men neither glorified God, nor thanked him, their thinking tended to futility (uselessness), their hearts were darkened, and they became fools.
Their trajectory is set away from God–and so God allows them to continue on the trajectory they have chosen.
He surrenders them to their own lust. And to be surrendered to one’s own lust, without restraint or governance from God, is a very scary thing indeed.
And some men and women experienced lust for one another. “And received in themselves the penalty for their error.” What is this referring to? A prophetic reference to AIDS–a common interpretation? Or to the health risks of gay sex?
Homosexuality is a controversial topic in liberal Christian circles–is it, or is not, sinful– and since it is not a sin, or otherwise, which I am/have been particularly tempted by–and I have plenty of my own temptations–I am not going to blog further about it.
Of course this is Paul’s letter to the Romans, not mine. He is a first century Jew; he may or may not be homophobic; and the words he uses to describe homosexuality, not surprisingly for his era are “unnatural,” and verse 27, “shameful,” which is either a reference to homosexuality, or to particular homosexual practices.
What do you think? How do you read this passage?
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I think it's straight forward when I read it (with an unbiased eye) it says they exchanged 'natural sexual relations' for unnatural ones and then in the next sentence it goes into detail what unnatural means when they say 'in the same way' men abandoned 'natural' relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another…creating shameful acts with other men.
With me not being biased, mean, or one sided… I will say that it seems to me as clear as it can be. God sees homosexuality as shameful and deems it as lust and sin.
But this is my feeling. If you recieved God into your heart, it is said that he now lives in us and begins to open the secrets of his word…and the entrance of His Word brings light. I think if someone is truly saved and truly wants to be right ( and is homosexual ) I believe when they get on their knees and says.."Daddy, I am homosexual, and I can't figure out if your Word is saying it is a sin or not. When I got saved I made a promise to give up my wants for yours, so it is not me thats in charge but you. So if homosexuality is a sin, I ask that you will reveal it clearly to me and if it is a sin then…even thogiving that life up will hurt me, I trust I'm being obedient to your voice, and I'm TRUSTING that whatever you take away from me, you are faithful to replace in me something greater. Accept my sincerity of heart..and as I wait on your word, I pray you help me to accept whatever your answer wil be.
I think what it comes down to is that God will answer when we ask, and we have to be paitient and sensitive to hear his voice on the matter. He is faithful to answer us and drop it in our spirit and also show us in our walk if it is right or not, and to those who at the end of the day "just want to please God and be right" will do what it takes to go to God thru prayer and fasting to get the answer; ecause at the end of the day WE ALL LEAVE THIS EARTH INTO ETERNITY…
and isn't that alone worth not living by assumption and going to God for a clear answer. Sometimes we like to lie to ourselves and act as if we heard/got/ OR know 'the answer' because we're scared that if God really answered us that we might not like what we hear…(Shhhh- cuz he may say that the thing we love to do is wrong!!! Oh no) But isn't that the whole point of Living for God…to be willing to put our pride and our own desires aside and say whatever you say I can keep I will listen I will follow, and whatever you say is to be thrown away, I will listen I will follow.
And that's not just with figuring out homosexuality, it also with
over eating, lying, stealing, coveting, cheating, cowardice, greed, anger and more!
Do we love God enough to ask him, to wait for a clear answer, to accept and sacrifice it need be, and to wait in faith for what he will replace in that void if he should tell us to let it go. Afterall, if we choose to follow God then we have chosen to let him take control over us…if we don't let him take control then we are in fact not His followers, rather just "Good People with our fingers in our ears"