Does Romans Chapter 1 Condemn Homosexuals?
All Scripture Quotations are from the New International Version (NIV).
Special note: This is just a touch of what is covered in my book, The Rainbow Kingdom: Christianity & the Homosexual Reconciled.
Someone asked me recently after I came out as a gay man to them, “What do you do with Romans?” Often times, those who challenge me with Scriptures begin with a deadly assumption: “God hates fags.” However, there are refreshing examples of true men and women of God (Like my friend who inspired this article) who dare to cut through the hate and bigotry and ask with a sincere heart, “How did you arrive at your conclusion?” This short article is written to address only one of the six “clobber” verses that are used to “light the faggots under the faggots” as they tie us to a stake: Romans chapter 1, verses 26-28.
So how do we deal with Romans chapter 1? We must embrace it fully within its historical and Biblical context. First, we must remember the historical context. This was written to Roman Jews about Roman Jews. Specifically, it addressed those who were Jews and either became temple prostitutes or participated in rituals with them. Such prostitutes would be “receptacles” to those who would plant their “seed” in a fertility ritual that included both hetero- and homosexual intercourse.
The “unnatural” spoken of here isn’t a condemnation of gay relationships as a whole but is abject rejection of those who would disregard their God. I think it’s appropriate to quote it:
1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Verses 18-23 clearly and plainly establish that Paul is talking about idolatry and pagan worship. The folly in the pagan rituals is explained further:
1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
1:26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Is this an outright condemnation of homosexuality in general? I don’t believe it is. If we take Romans 1:26-28 out of context, it certainly appears that way. This is the passage that preachers across the country use to damn homosexuals to a hopeless hell. It’s also the passage that many preachers use to support their outrageous claim that God sent HIV and AIDS to punish the gay community as “due penalty.”
But when it’s put back in its context, we get a clearer picture of what Paul is doing. He’s talking about the dirtiest, the slimiest, and the most far-from-God so that he might fully illustrate the perfect grace that is in the cross of Christ. And what could possibly be more wicked, or more depraved than a bunch of Jews who rejected their God and became temple prostitutes? And to make matters worse, they must service everyone that comes in, no matter their sex. THAT is depraved. Now Paul makes his point:
1:28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 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, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 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.
So... is someone who’s in a committed relationship (or even single and looking for that special someone), and who has a passionate faith in Jesus Christ as LORD... the person that verses 28-32 is talking about? Not hardly. Does this passage apply to sincere Christians who have come to realize that they are, in fact, physically and emotionally attracted to those of the same sex? Surely not! However, I think it’s interesting that most of what Paul is listing here can easily be applied to those in pews across the country. Finally, does this passage condemn committed gay relationships?
The reality is that this passage does not deal with homosexual relationships at all. The only sexual expression that’s dealt with here (as in Leviticus) is within the context of pagan sex-related or other fertility rituals.
The discussion of how gay Christians might relate to Christianity at large may never end. Yet, it’s important to search the Scriptures and allow them to speak for themselves in their historical and Biblical context. Only then, can we finally put an end to the religious hate and pious bigotry that is preached and encouraged from pulpits across America. This exploration of Romans chapter 1 is just a small example of how popular theology is not necessarily accurate theology.
It’s through sharing the truth in love, that we can proclaim the glorious truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ:
There is no asterisk on John 3:16.
© 2004 David W. Shelton