Upfront (not that it matters), I am not gay.
That being said, I don't know how I feel about whether or not being gay and acting on it is a sin or not...but right now, I'm thinking that it's not. Again: I DON'T KNOW ECACTLY HOW I FEEL.
I know all of the verses that people use to point out that it is wrong and not how God created it.
BUT, I've also heard views on the other side of it. I also study a bit of ancient history in school and know that man-on-man action in the Bible wasn't what it is today. Then, it was talking about rape and that has never been ok. (I also don't have all the facts on this.)
I know Christians who are gay and are ok with God. They feel that it is not a sin (and I know they aren't justifying their sin by saying this--they've actually experienced God's comfort in who they are with this...meaning that they are gay).
So, I was wondering if anyone on here is gay and would like to share how they feel in their relationship with God on this.
Comments from straight people are welcome, too, of course.
I've just been incredibly curious and confused about this for a while.
John 14:15 says...
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth." (NIV)
Jesus gave many commandments but the two greatest are found in Mark 12:30-31: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
Of the two, the first (and most important) is to love God. No matter how one looks at it, the second command is second to the first. This is key because we should fulfill the first above all else. The question then should become, what is "love?" Human perception of love is fundamentally flawed. The only true example of love we can learn from is love from God. So, what is God's greatest and best example of love? The greatest example of love is found in John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
God loved the world. What did he do? Did he have warm and fuzzy feelings? No. He performed an action but not just any action - God performed a self-sacrificing action: God gave up his one and only son (and if we get into the Trinity, then God gave up a part of himself) to not only save us but to please us. As we don't deserve salvation, it really is a gift of pleasing to lowly humans! But it doesn't stop there. God doesn't have any expectations of thankfulness or return on his investment and this is true - many people do not accept the gift and even curse His name!
We now have a clear understanding of Godly love. How then can we apply it to love God? Well, if we are to follow his example, then to love God is for us to perform a self-sacrificing action with no expectations of pats on the back, blessings, or similar. That means giving up the things we want most simply to please him. That means if we finally saved up money to purchase that fancy new car, we may end up giving the money to feed 10,000 people. That means if we want to get that medical career in the largest research facility, we may end up with a humbler position providing healing to people in third-world countries. It means that though we want a stable income to stay in our small but safe home, we may end up moving to a poorer area to minister to people who have nothing. It means that if God has specifically made it abundantly clear that he does not like us doing certain things (i.e. sin), then to love God means to put aside how we feel or what we want simply to obey his commands. That's loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
The first argument you hear most often from Christian homosexuals is that they feel their choice is acceptable in God's eyes because they feel His love. If they are Christian, then yes, the Holy Spirit is with them and they will feel God and Jesus' love no matter what they do. However, it doesn't mean that what they do is right.
The second common argument is we should love one another (the second commandment) and therefore, homosexuality is acceptable. It is true that we should love one another to fulfill the second commandment. However, it is second. The first is to love the Lord your God. God has made it abundantly clear in both the Old and New Testaments that he disapproves of homosexuality. So to love God is to not to sin because a) it pleases Him, b) it is self-sacrificing on our part (try asking a homosexual to leave their life of homosexuality - it's not easy), and c) there's no return, no pat on the back, no expectations of reward from obedience. It is pointless to fulfill the second commandment if you do not fulfill the first.
The third common argument comes from John 8:1-11. This is about the woman who commits an unknown sin (in some translations, adultery is the sin). The argument states that Jesus forgave the woman and therefore we should not "cast stones." However, the argument does not take into account that Jesus also said "Go now and leave your life of sin." He did not condemn her but he also made it clear that her sin was unacceptable.
Now for the Holy Spirit part. Some homosexual Christians claim that they do not feel that the Holy Spirit is convicting their actions. I'm not telepathic so I do not know whether they feel convicted or not. However, I do know that we all deceive ourselves. People always say one thing but their hearts think another. My advice? Don't use the guiltless claim as your guide. Rather, pray about it. Remember, you don't have to answer to anyone else - you answer only to God. If you deceive yourself then only you will face the consequences. I won't have to face the consequences of your actions, your parents won't, your siblings won't, and no one on this board will either. By the way, guilt is not the only sign of conviction. Often, I find myself arguing a decision with God. But after I think about it, the only reason I argue is because I don't want to do what's placed in my heart. That's conviction and by arguing with God, I deceived myself. After all, why argue if I know that what I'm doing is right?
As an aside, if you really truly want to know the history, I recommend you to use a Bible encyclopedia to begin with. A professor teaching ancient history in a post-grad course is generally insufficient. That's why there are graduate and doctorate studies for nearly every topic.