Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 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. (NIV)

Romans 1:26-27

I will not pretend to understand the complexities of gender identity so prevalent in our contemporary culture. It is only with Google’s assistance that I can disentangle such labels as LGBTQIA2S+.

The Bible tells me that God created Man and Woman. I struggle to relate to society’s characterization of the nuances thereof.

But gender identity is different from sexual sin. Sexual sin requires an action. That action, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:28, can simply be lusting for another.

For those of us who treat the Bible as God’s inerrant word, acting on same-sex attraction is a sin. Romans 1:26-27, makes this unambiguous. And while there are many non-Christians who don’t particularly care what the Bible says, there are also Christians who submit that these verses – and those conveying similar sentiments – are anything but unambiguous.

One such person is author Matthew Vines. Vines, openly gay and an evangelical Christian, is the author of God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships. He believes that the conservative Christian community must rethink its attitudes towards homosexuality.

Regarding the Apostle Paul’s teaching in Romans 1:26-27 specifically, Vines says the following:

“Paul is explicit that the same-sex behavior in this passage is motivated by lust. His description is similar to the common ancient idea that people ‘exchange’ opposite-sex for same-sex relations because they are driven by out-of-control desire, not because they have a different sexual orientation.

“Christians should continue to affirm with Paul that we shouldn’t engage in sexual behavior out of self-seeking lustfulness. But that’s very different than same-sex marriages that are based on self-giving love, and we shouldn’t conflate the two in how we interpret this text today.”

Setting aside the Bible’s definition of marriage for the moment – which, I believe, is clearly defined as a union between one man and one woman – Vines seems to argue that gay sex without lust is acceptable to God. And while I disagree with his interpretation of Paul’s instruction, I would simply submit that sex without lust is not even possible. Certainly, the physiological manifestations of sex require some level of lustful instinct whether within a loving, heterosexual marriage or a one-night stand. And without lust, why would sex even be desired?

A more interesting line of deliberation is the question of whether or not those maintaining same-sex attraction are “born that way.” Some will argue that the notion of being born with a same-sex attraction is absurd – and that such desire is ignited by familial or cultural factors. I am not among them.

In fact, I would argue that we are all born that way.

Every one of us is a descendent of Adam and Eve. Every one of us is a sinner with an overpowering propensity to sin. We are all born with a proclivity to act on temptations, desires and attractions that are at odds with God’s instruction. Acting on a same-sex attraction is sinful – but no more sinful than acting on inappropriate heterosexual attraction. We must not sit in judgment of those whose attractions may be different from our own without recognition that all of us will ultimately be judged by our obedience to the Lord.

Sexual sin is but one manifestation of our disobedience. While Paul focused on sexual sin in Romans 1:26-27, the subsequent verses validate that other behaviors will be similarly weighed when we sit before the Bema Seat of Christ:

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Romans 1:28-32

Greed. Jealousy. Lies. Gossip. Pride. All sinful. None declared by the Bible as more condemnable than sexual iniquity. Rather, they share standing with every kind of wickedness and depravity, even murder.

I believe that the Bible is the inerrant, eternal word of God. I did not come to this belief frivolously. The seeds of that conviction were planted during a deliberate, cover-to-cover read early in my walk as a regenerated Christian – and watered by subsequent years of bible study and research. Others, of course, come to different conclusions.

My belief that sexual relations between two people of the same gender is a sin is rooted in my faith. So, too, is my conviction that adultery between a man and a woman is a sin. The Bible is equally clear about that.

I have dear friends and relatives who maintain same-sex attractions, some within the context of a legally-sanctioned marriage. And while such unions may be certified by our culture and laws, I believe the Lord’s sanctioning is withheld. I love them, nonetheless. And while I may judge certain behaviors as disobedient to the Lord, I am a sinner unworthy of passing judgment on their salvation.

The good news is that Christ died for all of us. Those sins explicated by Paul in the first chapter of Romans have been washed away by His blood for all who believe in Him. Grace by faith. That is indeed the Good News.

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

John 8:7