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Homosexual conduct is declared to be detestable because it is out of harmony
with the purpose for which God created human beings.
The New Testament states:
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever
praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their
women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men
also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one
another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves
the due penalty for their perversion
(Romans 1:25–27). Worshipping the creation
more than the Creator not only alienated human beings from God but also
distorted their heterosexual identity as created by God. Homosexual conduct gives
evidence of the universal human rejection of God’s supreme glory and, like all
forms of sexual behavior that violate God’s original design, it is sin.
The New Testament further states:
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
(1 Corinthians 6:9–10).
The same passage of Scripture strongly affirms the liberating power of the
Christian gospel. Sinful men and women may be freed from all former sinful
patterns of life, including sexual sin, whether heterosexual or homosexual:
And
that is what some of you were. 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
(1 Corinthians 6:11).
Like all other sins, the corruption of sexual sin can be fully forgiven through
repentance and faith in Christ’s atoning work even though physical and
psychological scars caused by sexual sin cannot always be erased in this life. We
grieve with those who suffer hardships caused by sexual immorality, even if it is
caused by their sinful acts. We strive to give aid in ways that do not deny personal
responsibility for sexual behavior and that demonstrate the love of God for all
people, remembering that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans
5:8). We believe Christ set an example of loving ministry to those who suffer from
the results of their own acts of sin (e.g. Christ’s interaction with the Samaritan
woman [John 4:4-26] and with the thief on the cross [Luke 23:39-43]).
FINAL AUTHORITY IN MATTERS OF BELIEF AND CONDUCT STATEMENT
This statement does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the
inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God speaks with final authority concerning
truth, morality, and the proper conduct of human beings. It is the sole and final
source of all that we believe. For purposes of CIU’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy,
and discipline, our Board of Trustees is the final interpretive authority on the Bible’s
meaning and application.
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