Smoodock's Blog

While Jesus ministered to a Jewish audience, who lived under the Mosaic Law, Paul was called to be the Apostle to the gentiles. His ministry took him into the Greco-Roman culture, the heart of the gentile community, preaching the Gospel to both the Diaspora and the gentiles. Probably, the scripture, thought to be most pertinent in condemning homosexuality is Romans 1:23-32. The context, however, reveals something different. There, we are told that mankind was created in God’s image, vis-à-vis male and female (Genesis 1:27). The evil that was committed was one of idolatry, whereby men confused the person of God by erecting images of the bodies of men, animals and even insects, referring to them as God (Romans 1:23). There are consequences for doing this. What consequences? Man confused the Person of God, by erecting images and worshiping them, yet the only image God created of himself was mankind (Genesis 1:27). Therefore, judgment, against what man did, would be leveled against man’s person! God gave mankind up to uncleanness (Romans 1:24), but what is Paul talking about, when he speaks of uncleanness (akatharsia – G167)?

This Greek word us used ten times in the New Covenant text, including our present text (Romans 1:24):

1. 1. Matthew 23:27 –The Pharisees prepared beautiful grave-sites, which “look” good, but they are full of dead men’s bones. It was considered unclean to touch the dead. It wasn’t sinful to come into contact with such grave-sites, but it was considered unclean.

1. 2. Romans 6:19 – before coming to Christ, the Jews of the Diaspora had practiced uncleanness (G167), and in doing so descended into “lawlessness leading to more lawlessness.” They lived among the gentiles, mingling with them in social life and in business, and this made them unclean. However, the uncleanness (G167) wasn’t sin, it is what led to sin.

1. 3. 2Corinthians 12:21 –False teachers had come in among the believers at Corinth, preaching a different Jesus (2Corinthians 11:4, 20-23). So, Paul was concerned that some of the Corinthians were mingling or kept company with these men, which was uncleanness (G167), believing them to be unrepentant of their spiritual “fornication” (idolatry – cp. Romans 1:23). It seems that believers were inordinately attracted to false (charismatic?) teachers, and were willingly seduced, because they intensely desired to hear what they claimed and were not apt to separate themselves from them (uncleanness).

1. 4. Galatians 5:19 – Paul mentions the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21, which we will not fulfill, if we “put on Christ” (Romans 13:14). One of the works mentioned is akatharsia (G167), vis-à-vis uncleanness, which seems to be carelessness in one’s walk with Christ. In other words, it is a lack of devotion to walking with our Savior.

1. 5. Ephesians 4:19 – The context begins in verse-17, where Paul mentions the walk of the gentiles, whose understanding has been darkened (verse-18; cp. Romans 1:21-25). Unbelievers were ignorant of the “life of God” (verse-18), which is experienced by the believer, they are “past feeling” or callous to the Spirit of God and have given themselves over to lasciviousness (G766), a willing seduction to practice the whole spectrum of uncleanness (G167), in a gluttonous (G4124) manner. The sense is that Paul is warning the Ephesians to separate themselves from these unbelieving gentiles. Mingling with them, draws us into the things they practice. We have not so learned Christ (Ephesians 4:20), and to practice the way of the gentiles (verse-17) is to have our hearts darkened by withdrawing from God (Romans 1:21-25).

1. 6. Ephesians 5:3 –Paul encourages believers to be followers of God, vis-à-vis Jesus (Ephesians 5:1-2), and he pleads with the Ephesians not to participate in the practices of the gentiles around them. The sense seems to be the physical sin here rather than the spiritual sins referred to in Ephesians 4:19. Here, Paul warns believers to refrain from adulterous (G4202) practice in every form of unclean (G167) or lustful (G4124) behavior.

1. 7. Colossians 3:5 – Living in our old ways (Colossians 3:7), is living in the old man (Colossians 3:9), Paul warns the Colossians that, because Christ is now our life, (Colossians 3:4), we need to subdue our old earthly nature, concerning sexual depravity (G4202) and morally unclean (G167) passions (G3806) and harmful desires pursued in greed (G4124), which is idolatry. Whether Paul is speaking of being physically unfaithful to Christ or spiritually unfaithful, isn’t the point here. Both are wrong and need to be expunged from our experience, if the “life of Christ” is to grow within us.

1. 8. 1Thessalonians 2:3 – Paul spoke of the manner in which he came to Thessalonica with the Gospel. There was nothing unclean (G167) about his coming to them, vis-à-vis he didn’t seek to stray from orthodoxy through deceit, nor did he use trickery to get them to believe. His Gospel was straightforward and according to their ancient faith.

1. 9. 1Thessalonians 4:7 – Referring to our old manner of life, before coming to Christ, Paul claimed that God has not called us to uncleanness (G167) but to holiness. In other words, we are called to become separate from the world, and not behave as we did prior to coming to Christ.

1. 10. Romans 1:24 – our text – God, who was dishonored by men making images of their perception of what a god should look like (Romans 1:21-23), gave them over to uncleanness (G167) to the end that the lusts (G1939; a longing for the forbidden) of their own hearts would culminate in their dishonoring their own bodies between themselves. In other words, as society that tends toward idolatry dishonors God’s Person, so such a society will also tend toward homosexuality (Romans 1:26-27), which dishonors mankind’s person, vis-à-vis it is unclean, meaning it is not natural.

It seems that homosexuality is not so much forbidden by God, as it is a judgment upon mankind’s dishonoring God through idolatry. The image of God is mankind—male and female (Genesis 1:27); thus, homosexuality doesn’t fulfill the reason for man’s existence. So, as mankind attacks the Person of God (via idolatry), God judges mankind via attacking the very image of God, and bringing mankind, male and female to violate that image, thus, dishonoring themselves. Homosexuality cannot be stomped out or eliminated through law or violence; neither are homosexuals to be blamed, as though they are the cause of society’s ills. It is society, especially Christians, who is at fault, and society’s dishonor is eliminated when that society, especially Christians, return to the rightful worship of God.[1]

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[1] This study represents a complete departure from what my previous study claimed. There is very little here that was in my first study: Paul and Homosexuality.