HOMOSEXUAL SIN: If homosexuality is sin, why isn’t it sin to eat shellfish, shave beards and work on Saturday?
The original question was:
If you claim homosexuality is a sin, then why don’t you refrain from eating seafood, working on Saturdays, shaving your beard, and all the other things found in the Old Testament law?
If you claim homosexuality is a sin, then why don’t you refrain from eating seafood, working on Saturdays, shaving your beard, and all the other things found in the Old Testament law?
Answer by John Mackay
This question is referring to the Law of Moses concerning homosexuality, where it is forbidden in the strongest possible terms. (Leviticus 18:22, 20:11)
The question also refers to many other rules in the Law of Moses, and argues that if you want to ban homosexuality, you must also argue against all things Jews were forbidden to do. Jews were not only forbidden to be homosexuals they were also told to not eat crabs, prawns and other scavenging things, as well as refrain from labouring on their Sabbath (our Saturday). See Exodus – Deuteronomy.
Is this a valid connection? And what happened after Jesus came, died and rose again and why?
Post resurrection we find recorded in the New Testament, that God instructed the converted Jewish Pharisee, the Apostle Paul to tell people they were no longer bound by the food laws of the Jews, so they were free to “eat whatever is put in front of them without asking questions.” (1Corinthians 10:27) We also find the Apostle Peter being told by God that he could now eat food previously considered “unclean”. Peter was then guided by the Holy Spirit to go into a Gentile household to bring them the good news about salvation in Christ. (Acts 10)
As to why such a change would occur, we need to remember the Jews were never instructed to go into all the world and preach the gospel in the same way Christians were (and still are). The Jews were to remain separate from the world and show the world what God was like from their own nation, where worship of God centred around the Temple in Jerusalem. The food and other laws that God gave them definitely made it very difficult for them as a culture to mix with non-Jews, and still do.
However, when the Messiah, Jesus Christ came, he not only came for the Jews first, but also for the Gentiles, (Romans 1:16, 2:10) and worship of God would no longer revolve around the Temple. While He was alive in Israel He kept all the food laws which He as God had given His people the Jews, and which He as God’s perfect servant obeyed the Law, because He was a Jew. But after He rose for the dead, Jesus sent the first Jewish converts out to all cultures to share the Gospel that He had dealt with the problem of sin, and they could join God’s people by putting their faith in Him. Hence, we shouldn’t be surprised that the New Testament teaches that any cultural or food rule barrier that would’ve hindered a converted Jew from reaching a Gentile was removed. As the Apostle Paul states it, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.” (Ephesians 2:14)
The only food rule passed on by the Apostles to the Gentile church was one given to Noah concerning the eating of blood. (Genesis 9:1-6) This rule remains is because it was given to the whole human race, not just Jews.
For the same reason moral laws dealing with sex and marriage, were not put aside, because marriage between one man and one woman for life was designed by God at creation (Matthew 19:1-6). Hence the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6:9-11, ‘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 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.’
Therefore, homosexuality, lesbianism, drunkenness and adultery remain sin, and always will. Never forget that sin separates us first from Christ, and secondly from Christ’s people. That’s why Paul shares there is no such thing as someone who is homosexual/lesbian in the kingdom of God. A serious warning which we all need to heed, no matter how politically correct the GAY agenda presents itself as.
