Let me start by saying, that I myself am a Gay Christian & please don't be offended if something you read here gets you upset. Trust me.. I have been there, and some of this, as it was for me, is a hard pill to swallow. And this is only my viewpoint on the whole thing and what I have learned for myself.
Please also understand, that I am not judging you or condeming you. That would be wrong as I myself am a sinner and have lived this very life. And please know, that I still struggle with this (sexual desire) every day and sometimes I still give in. But where I used to say, I'm going to hell anyhow, so I might as well sex it up, drink, smoke and have fun, my mind is being changed to, I know this is wrong in God's eyes, and I am going to fight it off, and I am extremely unhappy with myself when I give in, where I used to not care at all.
As I my friend, love you and care about you very much, I want you to know that in all of this, there is some very Good News about the Grace and Mercy of an all Loving God whom came down to earth as a man and took all sin upon himself and shed his blood for us. So that we may have eternal life in a heavenly and wonderful place. A place where no more sin, or hatred, or pain, or tears, or death, or anything bad will happen ever again for all time. An Eternity of Joy, Peace and love beyond measure awaits us if we believe and try as best we can with all our hearts to follow him.
When I started going to church and decided to become a follower of Jesus, I would spend countless hours on the web searching this very question with variations using Google, Yahoo, and Bing and got an array of answers. Most of which of course were from those wonderful Radical Christians that we all love so much (insert sarcasm). I quickly learned that not everything you read is true. And not to stay on those pages; that are specifically on the first page of search engines.. I also found a site called, "The Gay Christian Network". I really thought this would help answer all the questions that I had pertaining to Homosexuality as a sin. Is it? Is Gay Marriage against god? Is homosexual sex in a committed relationship okay with God? Well it didn't help and was just more confusing. You see, from what I found, just as Christians have many viewpoints, so to does the Gay community. In the gay community they use the terms Side A & Side B viewpoints.
Side A believes that God blesses monogamous and committed gay relationships and marriage.
Side B believes that God calls Gay Christians to live a life of celibacy.
My viewpoint is mostly on the Side B of things. Although I do have a partner of 14 1/2 years at this writing, we are celibate. We are not legally married, but registered as Domestic Partners back in 2000 when we met. At this point in my life I am not sure about God and Gay Marriage. What I do know is that my partner and I made a committment whether good or bad, that we would stay together. I actually believe that God is okay with that at the moment. There may come a day when he will convict us both that we need to move onto a life without each other, but If it were not for us being together and pushing each other, neither one of us would have committed to joining a church back in October of 2012 in the first place. In fact without him in my life, I am not sure that I would continue to go to home group or church every week. I am quite sure that I would most likely fall back into the world of drinking, smoking, porn, and sex. I don't do life well alone and on my own. And trust me, I really am tired and weary of that life and am really enjoying the church family that I am surrounded by all week long. I still struggle with things, but that's what sin is. A constant struggle. God knows that we all will struggle with it for our entire lives on this earth as it is now, in it's current state. He never promised that following him would be easy.
Is Homosexuality a Sin? Well yes and no. The Bible makes it very clear. The problem here is, that Radical Christians think that the very act of stating you identify yourself as gay man or woman is a sin and therefore you need to become straight to enter the kingdom of God. Let me make it also very clear that identifying yourself as Gay is not the sin. The sin is acting on it. Having promiscous sex or any sex with the same gender is the sin. And let's not also forget.. Heterosexual's having sex outside of marriage is also a sin. And they are both equal. Not one is worse then the other. They are both equally sinful. The radical Christian's will forget to mention that when they condemn us.
Radical Christians also state that you cannot be Gay and Christian. That is is an oxymoron. Really? But it's okay to be in an adulterous affair and be a Christian, its okay to be an alcoholic and a Christian, an unmarried teen who got pregnant from a random boy can be a Christian? The whole reason for Christianity is because Jesus wants and invites all to come to him. Everyone is broken and everyone needs healing of something. All are inviited to eat at his table. In fact, Jesus preferred to eat with the sinners...
Here is what the Bible says about Homosexuality. The Bible consistently tells us that homosexual activity is a sin
(Genesis 19:1-13; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9). Romans 1:26-27 teaches specifically that homosexuality is a result of denying and disobeying God, but the next few verses also tell us that because of sin and disobeying God, people Romans 1:29 become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy When people continue in sin and unbelief, God “gives them over” to even more wicked and depraved sin in order to show them the futility and hopelessness of life apart from God. 1 Corinthians 6:9 proclaims that homosexual “offenders” will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Let me insert here that it's not just acting on homosexual desires that is a sin. What Radical Christians forget to mention, is that all sex whether gay or straight, that is done outside of marriage is a sin and both are equally sinful. Neither one is worse or less sinful then the other... People like Sarah Palin will condemn you all over the place for being homosexual. Yet her daughter who had sex, had a child and didn't marry the father are more then welcome to a life of Christianity and to be forgiven by her and God.
The Bible tells us that people become homosexuals because of sin (Romans 1:24-27) and ultimately because of their own choice. (Personally.. I don't think I made a choice to be Gay). A person may be born with a greater susceptibility to homosexuality, just as some people are born with a tendency to violence and other sins. That does not excuse the person’s choosing to sin by giving in to sinful desires. If a person is born with a greater susceptibility to anger/rage, does that make it right for him to give into those desires? Of course not! The same is true with homosexuality.
If your anything like me, you are tired of people getting caught up in the whole argument of homosexuals were not born that way. It was a choice. I am so tired of hearing the arguments about this. It doesn't really matter if we were born this way or circumstances steered us this way. The fact of the matter is that we are attracted to the same sex, just as they are attracted to the opposite sex.
However, the Bible does not describe homosexuality as a “greater” sin than any other such as our wonderful radical Christians would have you believe (Bless their hearts). All sin is offensive to God. Homosexuality is just one of the many things listed in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that will keep a person from the kingdom of God. According to the Bible, God’s forgiveness is just as available to a homosexual as it is to an adulterer, liar, idol worshipper, murderer, thief, etc. God also promises the strength for victory over sin, including homosexuality, to all those who will believe in Jesus Christ for their salvation (1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 4:13).
The biggest problem with the Radical Christians and those who claim to be Christian, is that they will use a specific scripture to condemn, but they will always leave out the verses that come after that specific scripture that state it is no worse then the others, or that it can be forgiven, just as their judging others can be forgiven. (Which by the way is another sin). Their problem is that they don't know anybody whom is Homosexual, and because they know nothing about it, and can't understand it, they condemn it.
They take the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality and apply/proclaim it in hateful ways. Groups like Westboro Baptist Church make it very difficult for the true Christian message to be heard and understood. Again, what is the true biblical message? Yes, the act of homosexual sex is a sin, as is sex between heterosexulas, but no, identifying yourself as a homosexual is not a sin. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God can and will forgive the sin of homosexual sex, just as He will forgive any other sin. Once a person has received forgiveness and salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, God can and will help a person to overcome the sin of homosexuality. There are thousands of examples of homosexuals finding victory over and freedom from the sin of homosexuality.
Probably the most difficult homosexuality-related question is: if a homosexual receives Jesus Christ as Savior, will he/she be instantly and permanently healed of all homosexual desires? Sometimes the answer is a resounding yes. Other times, homosexual impulses are a lifelong struggle. God does not deliver us from our sinful nature until we leave this world and join Him in heaven. ALL Christians struggle with sin. To say that a Christian can struggle with other sins, but not the sin of homosexuality, is unbiblical. The key word, though, is “struggle.” The Christian life is a struggle against sin, not a life of bondage to sin. Is it possible for a true Christian to give in to homosexual temptations? Yes, it is, just as it is possible for a true Christian to give in to heterosexual temptations.
Again, the biblical message is: (1) homosexuality is a sin, (2) but homosexuality is no greater sin than any other sin, and (3) God’s forgiveness, salvation, and ultimately deliverance is just as available to the homosexual as it is to everyone else. May we all remember the words of Ephesians 4:15, “…speaking the truth in love…”