What other scriptures reinforce the message found in Romans 1:26? Setting the Context Romans 1:26: “For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.” Old Testament Foundations • Leviticus 18:22 — “You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.” • Leviticus 20:13 — “If a man lies with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination; they must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” • Genesis 1:27 — “So God created man in His own image… male and female He created them.” • Genesis 2:24 — “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Case Study: Sodom and Gomorrah • Genesis 19:5, 13 — “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have relations with them!… We are about to destroy this place, because their outcry against its people is so great that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” • Jude 7 — “Sodom and Gomorrah… indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, [and] are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.” • 2 Peter 2:6 – 7 — God “condemned… Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction… and… rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless.” New Testament Echoes • 1 Corinthians 6:9 – 10 — “Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral… nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts… will inherit the kingdom of God.” • 1 Timothy 1:9 – 11 — The law confronts “the sexually immoral, [and] homosexuals… and anything else that is contrary to sound teaching.” Broader Warnings against Sexual Immorality • Ephesians 5:3 – 5 — “Among you… there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality… for no immoral… person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ.” • Hebrews 13:4 — “Marriage must be honored by all… for God will judge the sexually immoral.” • 1 Thessalonians 4:3 – 5 — “This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” God’s Design Affirmed by Jesus • Matthew 19:4 – 6 — “From the beginning the Creator made them male and female… the two will become one flesh… what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Putting It All Together Scripture consistently: • Presents male–female marriage as God’s design. • Identifies same-sex acts, and all sexual immorality, as departures from that design. • Warns that persistent rebellion invites judgment, yet always holds out grace (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:11). |
    |