Homosexuality: Dealing with the Text

This is just a small note about the Greek and Hebrew text.  It is perhaps important because there has been so much manipulation of the text by those who would prefer it to say something else.  But remember this:  sin is sin.  The condemnation of homosexuality in the Bible are no different than the condemnations of lying, theft, abuse of power or any other degradation of God’s image in human beings.  

arsenokoitai   Greek “homosexual”

1 Corinthians 6:9 is probably the most cited verse.  The critical word here is arsenokoitai.  In the older English versions, this word was translated as “abusers of themselves with mankind”.  It also appears in 1 Tim. 1:10 where the KJV translate it as “them that defile themselves with mankind”.  Now let’s look at the actual Greek word.  It comes from two Greek words, arsen (a Greek word for “male”) and koite (literally, “to lay down for rest or sleep, but figuratively, the marriage bed or marriage itself”).  You will notice that we derive the English word coitus from this Greek root, so there is little doubt that the figurative use is intended to mean sexual intercourse.  So, the Greek word in combination literally means “a male who has sex with another male”.  This is attested in classic and well as NT Greek.  In fact, the culture of Paul’s time was replete with homosexuality so there is little doubt that this is exactly what he meant.  13 of the 14 Roman Emperors were homosexuals.  The practice was common throughout the Roman and Greek world. 

In these verse, Paul explicitly says that men who practice being arsenokoitai will absolutely not inherit the kingdom of God, that these people are deceived and practice evil, and that these are practices that are left behind when you are sanctified and justified in Christ.  It is pretty hard to argue otherwise.

Furthermore, Romans 1:27-29 repeats the same idea but with slightly different Greek words.

Finally, the OT Levitical law explicitly prohibits such actions, and, of course, Paul was a thoroughly trained OT scholar.  He knew that God condemned homosexual intercourse from the time of Abraham.

The issue is not genetics or inclination or habit.  God really doesn’t care how you got into this situation.  He cares that you get out of it.  Homosexuality is no different than any other sin.  God does not emphasize what got us into our sins.  He places His concern on our decision not to continue practicing those things He does not want in our lives.  For those who argue that it is genetic, we could say the same thing about sin itself.  We have the natural propensity and the social proclivity to practice sin.  But the call to the believer is to stand against this pressure and act according to God’s Word.  In that regard, homosexuality is no different than lying or stealing.  If God says it is wrong, then we are called to stop doing it.  Period!