# LGBTQ+ and the Bible > [!summary] Our stance We believe the Bible clearly teaches that sexual relationships outside the marriage of one man and one woman are sin, and that this includes same-sex sexual relationships. We also believe that people in the LGBTQ+ community are exactly the kind of people Jesus loves and died to save, just like every other sinner, including us. ## Starting With God's Design Before Scripture says "no" to anything, it says "yes" to God's good design. - **God created humanity male and female, in His image** (Genesis 1:27). - **God designed marriage as one man and one woman becoming one flesh** (Genesis 2:24). - **Jesus affirmed that design.** "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'?" (Matthew 19:4-5, ESV). - **Paul treats marriage as a picture of Christ and the church** (Ephesians 5:31-32), which gives the male and female union a meaning beyond itself. Every form of sex outside that design falls short of it: adultery, sex before marriage, pornography and lust (Matthew 5:27-28), and same-sex sexual relationships. ## What the Bible Says About Same-Sex Relationships ### Old Testament - **Leviticus 18:22.** "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" (ESV). - **Leviticus 20:13** repeats the prohibition. - **Genesis 19** (Sodom) is also often cited. Its main sins include violence and inhospitality (Ezekiel 16:49-50), but Jude 7 also points to sexual immorality and pursuing "unnatural desire." ### New Testament - **Romans 1:26-27.** Paul describes women who "exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature" and men who "gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another" (ESV). Paul grounds this in creation itself, not just in culture. - **1 Corinthians 6:9-10.** Among those who "will not inherit the kingdom of God," Paul lists the sexually immoral, adulterers, and two Greek terms usually translated as men who practice homosexuality (_malakoi_ and _arsenokoitai_). The second term appears to come straight from the Greek translation of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, which use the words for "male" (_arsēn_) and "bed" (_koitē_). - **1 Timothy 1:9-10** lists _arsenokoitai_ alongside other sins contrary to "sound doctrine." - **Jude 7** connects Sodom and Gomorrah with sexual immorality. The witness is consistent across both Testaments and every genre: the law, the history, Jesus' teaching on marriage, and Paul's letters. ## The Same Gospel for Everyone The passages that name same-sex sin also name greed, drunkenness, slander, and swindling. No one reading 1 Corinthians 6 gets to feel superior. Then comes one of the most hopeful verses in the Bible: > [!quote] 1 Corinthians 6:11 (ESV) 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. - **Everyone has sinned** (Romans 3:23). Sexual sin is not a worse category of sinner. It is one of the many ways all of us fall short. - **Jesus came for sinners.** "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8, ESV). See also Luke 19:10 and 1 Timothy 1:15. - **Jesus welcomed sinners and called them to follow Him** (Luke 5:30-32; Luke 15). He loved people as they were and loved them too much to leave them there. ## Attraction, Identity, and Action - **Temptation is not sin.** Jesus was tempted in every way, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Sin comes when desire is acted on or embraced (James 1:14-15). A person who experiences same-sex attraction and follows Jesus faithfully is walking in obedience, and many believers do exactly that. - **Our deepest identity is in Christ** (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20). No desire, attraction, or struggle defines a believer more than belonging to Jesus. - **God made us male and female** (Genesis 1:27; Mark 10:6). We believe the body God gave is part of His good design, and we walk with compassion alongside those who experience confusion or distress about it. - **Singleness is a good and honorable calling.** Jesus and Paul were both single (1 Corinthians 7:7-8, 32-35). The church must be a family where single people are fully loved and included. ## How We Treat People - **Everyone is welcome here.** Every person bears God's image and deserves dignity and kindness (Genesis 1:27; James 3:9). - **We speak the truth in love** (Ephesians 4:15). We won't hide what the Bible says, and we won't say it without love. - **We call everyone to the same thing:** repent, believe, and follow Jesus (Mark 1:15; Luke 9:23). - **We reject hatred, mockery, and cruelty.** That behavior has no place among followers of Jesus (Colossians 3:8; 1 Peter 3:15-16). ## Other Views Some Christians and churches hold an **affirming** view. They argue that the biblical passages address exploitative practices common in the ancient world, such as pederasty or temple prostitution, rather than committed, loving same-sex relationships, and that the church should welcome such relationships today. Those who hold the historic view, including us, respond that Romans 1 grounds its argument in creation rather than exploitation, describes mutual desire ("for one another"), and includes women, and that the term _arsenokoitai_ draws directly on Leviticus' general prohibition. This has been the church's teaching throughout its history, across Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions. ## What This Means for Us We hold to what the Bible teaches about sex and marriage, and we open our doors to everyone who needs Jesus, which is all of us.