Well, I'm a lesbian and have been with my partner for nearly 2 years. My friend told me that being homosexual goes agaisnt God and it's what satanists do to make God angry. It sounded really dumb when she first told me but then I went and read the part in the bible about it. Now I'm confused.
Does God really hate people for their sexual preference? Even though I love him and belive in him, why would he send me to hell for how I was born?
Hello Bearyme,
Please know that what I say, I don't say out of prejudice or hatred, and what I do say is spoken in love. Though, I myself would be furious to think that someone could have told me the truth to save me, and yet they did not tell me and I perished. You are here looking for truth, and I do not want to hide the truth from someone who is seeking it. I will start with Scripture, and then base my thoughts off of what I show you. I won't arge whether or not homosexuality is condemned by the Bible, because you grasp that already.
1 John 2
3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love[b] is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Salvation is something more than just an assent to the deity of Christ or a belief about him, but it's much deeper than that. You'll find in different places in the Bible, people professed a belief in God, but Christ would not acknowledge their submission to Him. John 2:23-25 says the following:
John 2
23Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.[c] 24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
What you find is that many people saw the signs that Jesus Christ performed, and had their profession of faith in Him, but Christ wouldn't yield to them. Even though they professed outward belief, Jesus knew that the hearts of these people were not to Him. If you look in John 6, the same people who had followed Him around and were fed during the miraculous multiplication of bread had scattered when His teachings became too difficult. Even some very close disciples (not of the core 12) abandoned Him, and no longer followed Him. But when He turned to the disciples and asked them, "Do you wish to leave as well?", Peter replied, "Lord, we have left everything to follow you. Where will we go? You have the words of eternal life." The hearts of the disciples, save for Judas, were sold out to Him, and that is why they stayed.
How does that relate to 1 John 2? There are those who make a profession to love God, but do not have the obedience. These are the ones whom Christ will not acknowledge their profession, and they lie to say they do walk with Him. However, the one who is obedient to God, he is the one who can say he knows God without a tinge of hypocrisy in his words. One way that it is shown, among other things, is the keeping of God's commands. To live as a homosexual, and to claim that you walk with God, is to lie, and the truth is not in you.
I want to bring one other thing to your consideration, which I think will put this issue in a different light than what you have seen before.
Romans 1
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For 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.
21For 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. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In 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. 28Furthermore, 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. 29They 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, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although 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.
If you examine this passage, you will find where exactly homosexual behavior comes from; not from drawing nearer to God, but having
departed from Him. God's wrath against unrighteousness has been revealed, and the light of nature has revealed Him, but when people rejected the light they have been given, God gave them over to their sins. As they wandered away from God, they went to the worship of idols, to sexual immorality, to homosexual behavior, and to many other vile acts. It came to the point that not only did people practice these, but they applauded those who did so. Point being, a homosexual lifestyle is actually rooted in rejection of God, whether an individual or societal one, and not rooted in being close to God, as many would say today.
In a sense, you are born with this sin, but it's not in the sense that people say today. We all have an inherited sinful nature from Adam. From that same inherited sinful nature comes not only homosexual behavior, but also everything else; lust, murder, adultery, thievery, hatred, greed, cowardice, drunkenness, profanity, pride, magic arts, and many other ungodly things. Sins are impossible for us to get rid of on our own strength, which is why I believe many perceive they are born with it, because the desire is so powerful. Other sins such as hatred, greed, drink and other expressions of lust are extremely powerful too. It's not a function of natural genetics though; it's a matter of sin nature that has come along since Adam.
The question though is not, "Does God hate me for this?", but "How do these sins look in the eyes of God?" The fact is that your sins are an offense to a God who is completely holy and righteous. When mention is made of the holiness of God, it is usually chanted three times ("Holy, holy, holy"), something which is never done with any other attribute He possesses, not even His love, mercy or compassion. Not only this, but an infinitely holy God. How could such a holy God look upon sin so detestable?
Going by Scripture, if you don't repent of your sin, you will perish.
But know that God does not leave you without a helper. For those who will diligently seek God, He will answer their prayers. For those who desire to be freed from their sin, God will set them free, and by no means will He fail to deliver their request. He opens His arms openly. I don't have any hesitation to give you that promise, because I have seen the faithfulness of God in my own life, and I know that if you will seek Him, if you will ask Him to drive your sin from you, He absolutely will do it
I say that because I know how long it takes to get long of a sin that has played a major part in your life. The task of getting rid of it seems impossible. But God is powerful as to create a heart in you that will make you to flee from sin.
It's good of you to come and ask for help in this issue. To those who will throw themselves upon Christ, God promises to save them. It will be as though they have never sinned, and the power of sin in your life will be destroyed. Once again, I write this with the greatest love I can. Know that you can be at peace with God, but don't ever be at peace with your sin.
