Few questions are asked of churches more often than this one: Is homosexuality a sin? It gets asked on news panels and in comment sections, and it gets asked quietly by people who are wondering whether there is a place for them in church at all.
The starting point matters, so here it is: the gospel is for all people. Everything else in this article rests on that.
There is also value in being clear. As author and researcher Brené Brown puts it, clear is kind. People deserve to know what a church believes, and they deserve to know whether they are welcome. Those are two different questions, and both deserve a plain answer.
What the Bible Says
Taken at face value, the question has a direct answer. Understood plainly, Scripture presents homosexual behavior as sin.
Christians are sometimes accused of cherry-picking verses on this subject, so it helps to name every passage openly. Homosexuality is addressed directly in six places: Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:9-10, Jude 7 and Romans 1:26-27. Anyone can read all of them in a few minutes.
Romans 1 is especially helpful:
“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another” (Romans 1:26-27).
That passage helps in three ways.
It describes the behavior; it does not hinge on one word. You may have heard that the word “homosexual” did not appear in an English Bible until 1946. That is true. But the word itself only entered the English language in 1892, so its arrival in a translation about fifty years later is unremarkable. More importantly, the passages that carry the weight of this teaching, Leviticus and Romans 1, describe the relationship rather than naming it with a single term. There is no lone word to mistranslate.
It points to God’s created design, not merely an old law. People sometimes dismiss Leviticus by comparing it to laws about mixing fabrics. But the law of Moses was given to protect a people God was forming as they moved from slavery into the promised land, and even the laws that seem strange to us served a purpose in their time. Romans 1 goes further. It presents homosexual behavior not only as a violation of the law but as a departure from God’s created design.
Jesus affirmed the same design. It is often said that Jesus never spoke about homosexuality. Yet when He was asked about marriage, He grounded His answer in creation: “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5). That is the very foundation Paul reasons from in Romans 1. And because “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16), the whole Bible carries the authority of Christ, not only the words printed in red.
What People Are Really Asking
Here is where the conversation usually goes wrong. One word in the question, sin, carries an entire theology. Christians even have a name for the study of it: hamartiology. What is sin? Where does it come from? What are its consequences? What is the remedy?
Two people can use that one word and have two entirely different conversations. When someone asks, “Is homosexuality a sin?” they are often asking something much more personal: ”If I am gay, does God hate me and send me to hell without any further consideration?”
That is a different question, and the Bible’s answer to it is the same answer it gives every one of us. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24).
Sin of every kind, including this one, is dealt with in only one way: by grace, through faith in the finished work and lordship of Jesus Christ. There are not multiple paths. Christ is enough for everyone.
And no one has to fix themselves first. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Every believer came to faith before their behavior was sorted out. That is the only way anyone comes.
Can You Be a Gay Christian?
To answer this, it helps to know three things God does in a person who comes to Him:
- Justification is the moment you place your faith in Christ and are declared right with God. It is instant.
- Sanctification is the lifelong process of growing in holiness and becoming more like Jesus. It is not instant.
- Glorification is when Christ returns and raises His people to perfect life and wholeness. That, too, will be instant.
Between the first and the last is a process that can take a very long time. Abraham was declared righteous in Genesis 15, yet the offering of Isaac in Genesis 22 came decades later. Scripture calls him God’s friend in a passage written long after his lifetime: “Abraham, my friend” (Isaiah 41:8). Sanctification is patient, and it is often slow.
That matters, because people tend to want a long road for themselves and a short one for everyone else. Mercy for me and justice for you never reflects the heart of Christ.
So, can you be a gay Christian? It depends on what the question means. If it means that homosexuality and the Christian life are simply congruent, two things in full agreement, then no. Scripture does not allow that. But if the question is, “Can someone come to Christ, be truly saved, and still be walking through this?” the answer is an emphatic yes.
There are wonderful testimonies of instant change, and every one of them is worth celebrating. But that is the exception, not the rule, for any struggle. The ordinary Christian life is showing up for the Lord over time and letting Him do His work. If someone who is gay comes to faith, they may well walk out of church still working through it. A healthy church walks with them, helps them and stays with them. That is not a failure. It is what the church is for.
Where Citylight Church Stands
On marriage, Citylight Church holds the Assemblies of God definition: the union of one man and one woman. Our facilities are not used for, and our ministers do not officiate, any other marriage.
And just as clearly: LGBT people are welcome here. The Bible says, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13), and that includes you. Come sit under the ministry of the Word, sing the songs, lift your hands and worship the Lord with us.
Our one firm boundary applies to everyone: we will not permit anyone who would endanger a child.
To the church family, the expectation is simple: be loving, caring, considerate, respectful and friendly. The foyer is never the place to correct or confront someone. Concerns go to the pastoral team.
To our guests, we ask the same courtesy we extend to you: come to worship, not to make a spectacle. We will stand against anyone who treats you unkindly or puts a barrier between you and the presence of God. For anyone who would prefer added privacy, single-occupancy restrooms are available.
You do not have to fix yourself before you come. Come as you are, and let Jesus do the work: through His presence, His love, His forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit, not merely a demand to change.
Citylight Church’s full statement on homosexuality, sexuality and marriage is on the church website under Where We Stand.