Salvation Summaries

In this blog entry, I’ll address the highly sensitive question of whether homosexuals go to heaven.

Will homosexuals go to heaven?

Fifty years ago, maybe even twenty, our society rarely talked about homosexuals, and when people did, it was in a negative way. Homosexuals, back then, were perverted; they had a problem – a psychological problem – but one that could likely be corrected with treatment.

Fast forward to today, and homosexuals are viewed as normal; they were born that way, or so we are told. Further, they have become a protected group, and those who speak out against their lifestyle are criticized (and one day will be punished, in my opinion).

But setting aside how society views homosexuals, the question at hand is what the Bible says about them with regard to going to heaven. Will homosexuals go to heaven? According to the book of Jude, and the rest of the Bible, the answer is… no.

Let’s me start with Jude to show you what he says about this, and then I’ll reference a few other verses in the Bible for more support.

In Jude’s discussion of the fate of false teachers, he states that God is not hesitant to punish the wicked and those who don’t believe in Him.  Jude then offers a few examples of these.  The first group includes Israelites who were rescued from Egypt but would not believe in God.  The second is fallen angels.  And the third includes the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, who “indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh.” You can read this in Jude 1:7 below.

Jude 1:7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

What is the fate of each group?  Punishment of eternal fire, or hell.

Now some of you, being influenced by society’s and the media’s portrayal of homosexuals, may strongly disagree with me.  Please realize that I’m not offering a personal opinion here.  I’m simply telling you what the Bible’s answer to this question is.  And the answer is clear.  If you doubt this, I’ve included other verses below – from both the Old Testament and New Testament -about this issue.  Please read them now.

• Genesis 19:4-7 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom– both young and old– surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” 6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.

• Leviticus 20:13 “‘If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

• Leviticus 18:22-23 22 “‘Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable. 23 “‘Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion. 

• Romans 1:27 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.

• Galatians 5:19-21 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

• Ephesians 5:1-5 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person– such a man is an idolater– has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

• 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

• Revelation 21:8 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars– their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Based upon the above verses, how does the Bible, and thus God, view homosexual activity?  As wicked (Gen 19:7), detestable (Lev 18:22, 20:13), lustful (Rom 1:27), and perverted (Rom 1:27). It says that those who do this will receive the penalty due to them (Rom 1:27) and that they (along with idolaters and adulterers and thieves and drunkards, etc.) will not inherit the kingdom of God (or go to heaven). Simply put, the Bible views homosexuality as immoral, and the Bible is clear – in a number of places – that immoral people will not go to heaven.

But that’s not where the story ends.  Or as Paul Harvey used to say, “Now, for the rest of the story.”  There is good news for homosexuals. According to the Bible, homosexuals can change (see 1 Cor 6:9-11), and those that do can go to heaven (as long as they have faith in the Lord and receive the Holy Spirit, just like any other person).  We see this in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

So, how should Christians respond to homosexuals?  Not like how the rest of society does. Society is like a large group of drunk people at a party shouting “drink, drink, drink” to a person who is trying alcohol for the first time.  Our society seeks sinful activities and lifestyles, and wants others to accept and participate in these.  Christians, on the other hand, are not of this world, and are responsible to love others – and that includes homosexuals.  Out of love for homosexuals, Christians are to tell them the truth found in God’s word, and this truth contains good news, and bad news. The bad news is that homosexuals will not go to heaven when they die (and neither will drunkards, idolaters, adulterers and thieves).  The good news is that homosexuals who change (and thus are no longer a homosexual) can go to heaven when they die (if they have faith in the Lord and receive the Holy Spirit).  Showing compassion for a homosexual is not accepting their sinful and wicked (Bible term) lifestyle; it is telling them the truth found in God’s word, praying for them and loving them with the hope that they, too, will become saved.

CONCLUSION

In the short (one chapter) book of Jude, we learned that Christians are slaves – slaves to Jesus Christ.  An appropriate term for this is bond-servant.

We learned that you can know whether another person is a Christian (we learned this from the book of Titus too).

We also learned that homosexuals will not go to heaven, but those who change (and thus are no longer a homosexual) can.