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The seventh commandment
Leviticus 18.22
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
Leviticus 20.13
“If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”
Leviticus 18.23
“And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.”
Exodus 22.19
“Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.”
Leviticus 20.15, 16
“If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”
The Law of God condemns homosexuality and bestiality. The New Testament agrees on the former and, by association, assumes the latter (cf. Rom. 1.26, 27; 1 Cor. 6.9-11). There have always been, and doubtless always will be, homosexuals in any culture. Some homosexual tendencies are the result of imbalances in the physiognomy of a person; others are simply the result of misplaced affections. Either way, homosexuality – and bestiality – is contrary to God’s purposes.
Times change and unbelieving cultures sometimes become more agreeable toward sins of the flesh, as in our day. But people are living a lie who think they can ignore or reject God’s standards and not experience the judgment in their own flesh of their wicked ways (Rom. 1:26ff.). We do not recommend capital punishment for homosexuals. Believers should love them with the love of Jesus; however, we must also call homosexuals to repent and believe the Gospel, and to lay aside this and any other practice that is contrary to the holy and righteous and good Law of God (Rom. 7.12).
This series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.