My wife and I were recently asked by someone we love dearly about whether homosexuality is categorized as a more grievous sin than other sins? They said they had heard that is was a more serious category but wanted clear biblical verses to the question. My answer to them and others is below. This is a important question in our current day because so many Christians will use the answer to either isolate from reaching out to homosexuals or ignore the sin as being nothing different than any other.
First, its important to know that God says homosexuality is sin. It is interesting to note that it is one of the few sins that God actually explains WHY it is wrong and how a person “falls” into it. Not that He needs to justify or explain why any sin as wrong since He is holy and as God He does not owe us an explanation. In Romans 1:18-32, Paul by inspiration of God gives the progression of a person into homosexual behavior. It begins in verses 18 to 23 with the rejection of accepting God’s goodness and plan. It then moves in verses 24 to 25 with the rejection that their bodies were created for the glory of God and good works. (Ephesians 2:10 & Colossians 1:15-17) Finally in verses 26 to 27, God allows their rejection to take them a very dark place - homosexual behavior. This does not mean God made them homosexual, but it means they digressed into that lifestyle by rejecting the goodness of God’s act of creation of gender. It is clear that God says homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle but a sin. God calls it vile affections (Romans 1:26), reprobate (Romans 1:28), and abomination (Leviticus 20:13).
Second, nowhere does the Bible say that homosexual is a unique category of sin. It is true that homosexuality is called abomination, but there are over 50 “abomination sins” in the Bible. These sins include cheating at business (Deuteronomy 25:13-16) and a proud heart (Proverbs 6:16-17), not just homosexuality. This does not mean that homosexuality isn’t a serious sin, but it does mean that it is not a unique category of sin. To be completely honest, I do not believe there are categories of sin anyway. Some sins are described as abomination and wickedness, but that is a descriptive term not a category. All sin is sin and are described by various terms throughout the Bible.
Third, there are really only two types of sins - the forgiven and unforgiven. According to God’s Word all sins can be forgiven except one (blasphemy of the Holy Spirit - Matthew 12:31). If we are going to be concerned about the categorization of sin, shouldn’t that be the sin we are concerned over? Whether they are forgiven or not? God desires to forgive all sins (Acts 17:30 with 1 John 1:9). This means that any category of sin that mankind may develop is useless in the light of eternity.
Last, and more personal opinion about homosexuality - not everyone is going to be sexual in their lifetime and the Bible teaches this fact. Unfortunately sexual things are often pushed upon our young people, both by the world and by some Christian folks. The world system pushes sex as doing what feels good regardless of the Bible’s commands and then the world uses sexual things to promote everything and anything. Some in the Christian “world” unfortunately teach that if you do not have sexual desires for members of the opposite sex then you must be perverted and thus a homosexual in the making. But the Bible clearly teaches that there are people who are born without the usual sexual desire. Jesus Himself taught in Matthew 19:10-12 that there are eunuchs born eunuchs. When you study the word “eunuch” it is clear that they are those who have no sexual desire/ability. Unfortunately many well meaning Christians make these “eunuchs” feel rejected and may even unknowingly be encouraging them into sin by feeling since they do not desire the opposite sex then they must be homosexual.
God created our genders (Genesis 1:27 & 5:2) and those genders were for procreation (Genesis 1:28) which homosexual behavior cannot fulfill. Thus the severity of homosexuality (like all sin) is about the rejection of God’s plan and not due to a God given category of sin.
