Is same sex attraction a sin?

[Reformed Covenanter]

Those who say that same-sex attraction is not sinful are not helping Christians who struggle in this area. The first step to mortifying such a sin is to admit that it is a sin. At the same time, those who argue that a person struggling with such sinful desires cannot be a Christian err in the other direction. One heals wounds lightly; the other breaks broken reeds.

Having said that, I agree with Perg that homosexual lust is a much more serious and abnormal issue than natural lust, precisely because it is against nature.

 

[Dachaser]

Those who say that same-sex attraction is not sinful are not helping Christians who struggle in this area. The first step to mortifying such a sin is to admit that it is a sin. At the same time, those who argue that a person struggling with such sinful desires cannot be a Christian err in the other direction. One heals wounds lightly; the other breaks broken reeds.

Having said that, I agree with Perg that homosexual lust is a much more serious and abnormal issue than natural lust, precisely because it is against nature.

It is getting much harder to find churches and pastors who teach what the scriptures say on this issue, as it seems to be either it is the Unpardonable Sin, or else God fully accepts and now condones it, due to the love of Christ.
If I was having real problems in this area, would not find either view a good alternative to helping me in my problem.

 

[Mathias321]

Thank you all, you have all been very helpful. I can say with confidence that I can go in headstrong (with the Holy Spirit) against these temptations and disordered desires and seek help from my session and my church. I will endeavor to mortify this sin, as well as all my other sins, through the means of grace and through accountability.
Thank you all for being charitable, I wasn’t sure I would’ve been treated too kindly for “coming out” with my specific struggles, but I guess we are all tainted with sin. May have looked differently if I posted this in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist forum.
God bless you all, and pray for me.

 

[Ryan&Amber2013]

Thank you all, you have all been very helpful. I can say with confidence that I can go in headstrong (with the Holy Spirit) against these temptations and disordered desires and seek help from my session and my church. I will endeavor to mortify this sin, as well as all my other sins, through the means of grace and through accountability.
Thank you all for being charitable, I wasn’t sure I would’ve been treated too kindly for “coming out” with my specific struggles, but I guess we are all tainted with sin. May have looked differently if I posted this in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist forum.
God bless you all, and pray for me.

Amen brother. We all have the same problem, just manifested differently. May the Lord bless you. Keep up the great work!

 

[Grant]

Thank you all, you have all been very helpful. I can say with confidence that I can go in headstrong (with the Holy Spirit) against these temptations and disordered desires and seek help from my session and my church. I will endeavor to mortify this sin, as well as all my other sins, through the means of grace and through accountability.
Thank you all for being charitable, I wasn’t sure I would’ve been treated too kindly for “coming out” with my specific struggles, but I guess we are all tainted with sin. May have looked differently if I posted this in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist forum.
God bless you all, and pray for me.

2nd Amen. Don't let anyone make you think you are a "worse" sinner. I assure you if there is one thing we should echo on this matter it would be the words of Paul :
1 Timothy 1:15
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

 

[Dachaser]

Thank you all, you have all been very helpful. I can say with confidence that I can go in headstrong (with the Holy Spirit) against these temptations and disordered desires and seek help from my session and my church. I will endeavor to mortify this sin, as well as all my other sins, through the means of grace and through accountability.
Thank you all for being charitable, I wasn’t sure I would’ve been treated too kindly for “coming out” with my specific struggles, but I guess we are all tainted with sin. May have looked differently if I posted this in an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist forum.
God bless you all, and pray for me.

Remember that your idenity would be as a new creation in Christ, and that God sees you based upon your relationship with Him brought by Jesus Christ.
Do not let the enemy be allowed to place in your mind that you are not really saved, should not be experiencing this temptation, etc.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I can recommend two works to read:

The Marrow of Modern Divinity
John Owen on Overcoming Sin and Temptation: https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-T...r=8-3&keywords=john+owen+mortification+of+sin

There has been some excellent advice in this thread.

Owen's book was transformative for me in my struggles with lust. Until I reckoned sin as a constant enemy I was not giving regular battle to tempation and turning to Christ for power over its allure. One of the reasons many Christians fail in temptation is that they are not giving battle to sin and its subtleties.

I recommend the Marrow of Modern Divinty as it lays out so well the nature of the Gospel in the Covenant of Grace and the errors antinominans and neonomians make in failing to understand the difference between being in Adam with respect to the law and being in Christ.

Ed Walsh quoted the WCF on sanctification and you can see the contours of Puritan thinking on the nature of our relationship to Christ in how we battle sin and how he sanctifies us.

In Adam we are guilty of Adam's sin, corrupt in our whole nature (sinner), and slaves to sin and its demands. God is our Judge and we are at enmity with Him.

Under the Covenant of Grace, we are in Christ. We are united to Him. By faith we are united to Christ's death and resurreciton. The guilt and penalty of sin has been atoned for but Christ unites us still as corrupt sinners. Our relationship to God is no longer as under judgment but we are His children. Christ, in His death, not only paid the penalty for sin but defeated sin's power to enslave us. We are united to Christ's indestructible life and are able to resist sin and tempation.

The Puritans had a beautiful analogy of being hooked to a belt.

We were hooked to Adam's belt: Guilty, Corrupt in our whole person, and liable to God's wrath.

Christ, in the Gospel, has unhooked us from the belt of Adam and hooked us to His belt. We are counted righteous in Him and no longer guilty but He books corrupt sinners to His belt. He is not content to let us remain corrupt but makes us holy (sanctifies us) in our person.

Thus, in Christ, we are to reckon ourselves as dead to sin and its power. Its power to enslave us has been broken by the power of Christ's death and resurrection.

In the Pilgrim's Progress, Christian is captured and put in the dungeon of Great Despair. Great Despair beats he and his companion up and threatens him with death. His wife counsels Great Despair that, on the morrow, he will tear them limb from limb and that they ought to take their own life.

Suddenly Christian comes to himself and realizes that, in his bosom, the whole time was the Key of Promise. This key unlocks every prison door and they escape from Great Despair's dungeon and continue on their way.

So long as Christian believed Great Despair he believed he as under the dominion of a power greater than himself. As soon as he remembered his possession he found he had the key of escape on his person the entire time.

Trust in Christ's Promise and your possession of Christ's power more than the power of sin.

SSA arises out of our corruption. It is sin not in the sense that it is the commission of an actual sin but it is sin in the sense that it belongs to the Curse of the Fall. It can and must be starved out and put to death. It is not neutral but, like all lust, needs to be killed.

Christ alone has that power. You are His possession and He has all authority and power. He is a faithful High Priest interceding for us. He is a faithful Prophet bringing the power of the Gospel to our thinking to transform our minds through the reading of the Word and the preaching of the Gospel. He is our King and will defeat every foe standing in the way of making His Bride beautiful.

Trust this Christ more than the allure of your corruption. Outside of Him you are powerless. United to Him you have the power of an indestructible life!

 

[OPC'n]

I love the love that I see in you all here. This is exactly how we are to bear each others burdens. God is glorified in his people!

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

Just crossed my desk:

"How are believers in Christ to resolve the tension of experiencing same-sex attraction, which they never sought or knowingly cultivated, and wondering whether this attraction is innate and connected to identity?"

See the full article:
https://www.theaquilareport.com/gay-christian/

Author:
Tim Geiger is President of Harvest USA.Tim came to Harvest USA himself in 1997 as a Christian who had been struggling with secret same-sex attraction for 20 years. After two years receiving ministry, Tim became a volunteer and then came on staff in 2003. Originally serving as part of the Men’s Ministry Staff, he planted the Pittsburgh office for the organization in 2007, and served as Executive Director of the organization prior to serving as President. He is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary, and lives with his wife and family outside Philadelphia. This article appeared on The Harvest USA site.

 

[Ed Walsh]

"How are believers in Christ to resolve the tension of experiencing same-sex attraction, which they never sought or knowingly cultivated, and wondering whether this attraction is innate and connected to identity?"

I thought this was an excellent article, particularly since it was written by a man who has experienced same-sex attraction. My takeaway, to speak tersely, is that a married man who has struggled with opposite-sex attraction might as well introduce himself as an adulterous Christian if it is proper for a same-sex attracted Christian to call himself a gay Christian.

All Christians are new creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), and the former sinful life is to be considered a thing of the past. In 1 Cor. 6:10 Paul included homosexuality in the list of the sins of the unrighteous in their past life before becoming Christians. But quickly adds verse11 (emphasis mine)

1 Corinthians 6:11
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

To consider your past sins past is to confess the truth. For in your new nature–in your heart of hearts–you do genuinely desire never to sin again. And this is more than wishful thinking. For, even though you "find it to be a law that when [you] want to do right, evil lies close at hand." Nevertheless, it is true that "[you] delight in the law of God, in [your] inner being." (from Rom. 7:21) And that is the real you–your new center of being. The part of you that Paul boldly calls "I" in Rom. 7:20 Meditate on the truth taught in Romans 7, and may the Lord give you understanding.