The biggest mistake Christians make with Paul’s epistle to the church at Rome is in their failure to comprehend Romans 1:7... Paul’s epistle was addressed to first century Rome, not twenty-first century America. Does this mean the epistle doesn’t apply to us? Of course not: it certainly applies to every age and nation. But what verse 7 reminds us is that when we read the epistle, we need to keep in mind that it was written to first century Rome, and applies first and foremost to the situations that were extant then.
So what was going on in Rome? The ancient Greek and Roman concept of what was “normal” and what was moral was quite different from ours. Although such concepts as sexual orientation had not been studied or named, in behavior, both the Greek and Roman empires expected everyone to be bisexual. There were very specific cultural rules regarding how this worked. A woman, for example, had one husband, and was not permitted sexual contact with any other male. But sexual contact with other women was permitted and even expected. For men, the rules permitted him wives, and perhaps concubines, depending on his wealth. But an adult man would also be “attached” to an adolescent male, to whom he would be teacher, mentor and lover. Any man or women who had relations with only one gender would have been thought odd or even abnormal.
The biggest difficulty with such societal expectations is that, by nature, most people are not bisexual. This means that most of the people had to violate their own sexual orientation in order to meet society’s expectations. In the above verses, we can see that Paul spoke of the Roman women “exchanging” the natural use for one that was against nature. Now please understand what Paul meant by nature: He was not speaking of nature as creation. Indeed, homosexuality, as well as bisexuality, exists throughout nature, in virtually every species of animal.[i] What Paul was addressing was the Roman’s own nature, what we today would call their sexual orientation. Their society was expecting them to trade their own orientation, whatever it might have been, for a bisexual orientation. The men were doing the same thing. And what they were doing was indecent and an error, not because of the concept of homosexuality, but because they were violating the way they were created.
Romans chapter one, as a whole, deals with pagan Rome’s attempts to turn the creation into a god, worshipping the things created rather than the One who created them, and their attempt to remake that creation in their own design, by ignoring the inborn sexual orientation of the people, and expecting them to live bisexually. This chapter is not about homosexuality vs. heterosexuality, but rather about the error of trying to change the way we are created. God has created each of us with a sexual orientation, and for us to attempt to change it into another orientation is, in effect, telling God that He created us wrong. But if it was wrong for heterosexuals and homosexuals in the first century to try to be bisexuals, then it is equally wrong, and for the same reasons, for homosexuals in the twenty-first century to try to be heterosexuals, or vice-versa.
There are some who would doubt that heterosexuals in the first century would live a bisexual lifestyle simply to satisfy the misguided expectations of society. To those people I say this: Look around you... all over the world there are homosexual people trying to live a heterosexual lifestyle for exactly the same reason. And the societies and the religions trying to force them to do so are just as misguided. The same God who created homosexuality, heterosexuality and bisexuality throughout the entire animal kingdom, did the same thing in us.
Spiritually speaking; Did Paul really mean to say that its a sin to change your sexual orientation?
Absolutely correct.
Spiritually speaking; Did Paul really mean to say that its a sin to change your sexual orientation?
I can't concentrate, sorry this is too long.
An interesting take.
%26quot;The Bible nowhere directly mentions bisexuality. However, it is clear from the Bible's denunciations of homosexuality that bisexuality would also be considered sinful. Leviticus 18:22 describes a person having sexual relations with the same sex as an abomination. Romans 1:26-27 condemns sexual relations between the same sex as abandoning what is natural. First Corinthians 6:9 states that homosexual offenders will not inherit the kingdom of God. These truths apply equally to bisexuals and to homosexuals.
The Bible tells us that a person becomes bisexual or homosexual because of sin (Romans 1:24-27). This does not necessarily mean sins the person has committed. Rather, it refers to sin itself. Sin warps, twists, and perverts everything in creation. Bisexuality and homosexuality are caused by sin %26quot;damaging%26quot; us spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Sin is the plague, and bisexuality and homosexuality is simply one of the symptoms.
Many Christians mistakenly focus on bisexuality and homosexuality as particularly evil sins. The Bible nowhere describes homosexuality as being any less forgivable than any other sin. A bisexual is the same number of steps away from salvation as the %26quot;moral%26quot; legalist—one. God offers forgiveness to anyone and everyone who will trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. This includes those involved in bisexuality. Once salvation through Christ is received, God will begin the process of destroying the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), including any and all homosexual tendencies, and developing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The promise of a %26quot;new creation%26quot; is available to anyone who will trust in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).%26quot;
If you're a Christian and believe in Jesus Christ, there is always hope. And there is always truth and comfort in His Word. God Bless.
Smells like wishful thinking to justify your homosexual behavior.
we know all fornication is wrong....animals and all living creatures can get possessed of satan..
