What the New Testament Says About Homosexuality

If you want to know what the New Testament actually says about homosexuality, the answer is shorter than most debates suggest. Three passages speak to it directly: Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, and 1 Timothy 1:9-11. Together they treat same-sex sexual acts as outside God’s design for human beings. And all three, in the same breath, hold out forgiveness, cleansing, and new life in Christ to everyone who comes to Him. That is the historic teaching of the church across Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions, and it is what this article will explain from the text itself.

If you are the person this question is about, hear this first: you are welcome to come to Christ exactly as you are. He turns no one away who comes to Him. Nothing in this article is a reason to harm yourself or anyone else.

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What does Romans 1 actually say?

Romans 1 is the fullest New Testament passage on this subject. Paul is describing humanity’s downward spiral away from the knowledge of God, and he names same-sex sexual acts as one visible result.

For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. — Romans 1:26-27 (BSB)

Paul’s language of “natural” and “unnatural” points back to creation. In Genesis, God made humanity male and female and joined them in marriage (Genesis 1:27; 2:24). Jesus quoted those same verses when He taught about marriage in Matthew 19:4-6. So Paul is not inventing a rule; he is describing a departure from a pattern God built into creation.

Two things in the passage are easy to miss. First, Paul lists this sin inside a longer list that includes gossip, envy, and disobedience to parents (Romans 1:29-31). He is not singling out one group as uniquely wicked. Second, the passage is not about a person’s identity or temptations. It is about acts. Being tempted is not sin; Jesus Himself was tempted and did not sin.

Some churches today bless same-sex relationships. Their main argument is that the Bible’s world knew only exploitative or idolatrous forms of same-sex behavior, not the committed relationships we know today, and that faithful Christians should therefore read these passages as addressing something different. This site holds the historic reading instead: the New Testament speaks to the act itself, and God’s design for sexual union is the marriage of one man and one woman. We say that with respect for those who read it differently, and without contempt for anyone.

What do 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy 1 add?

Paul returns to the subject in two letters, and both times the point is the same: such behavior belongs to the old life, not the new one.

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 men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. — 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (BSB)

Then comes the verse that changes everything for the reader who is honest about their sin:

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 (BSB)

Paul is writing to a church full of people who had lived these very lives. He does not tell them to clean themselves up first. He tells them they have already been washed. The list is not a wall to keep people out; it is a mirror that shows everyone why they need Christ, followed by an open door.

First Timothy makes the same move. Paul lists lawbreakers, including those who practice homosexuality, and then immediately writes:

This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. — 1 Timothy 1:15 (BSB)

Paul calls himself the worst of sinners in the same letter where he names this sin. That is the tone of the New Testament. No one stands above anyone else. As Paul says elsewhere, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Does this mean same-sex attraction is itself sin?

This is a question faithful Christians answer differently, and the Bible does not settle it as clearly as the question about acts.

One view holds that the attraction itself is part of the disordered desires we all inherit from a fallen world, and so needs repentance like any other sinful inclination. Another view holds that temptation is not sin, since Jesus was tempted yet without sin, and that only the act is condemned. Many Christians who hold the historic teaching on marriage take the second view. They would say a believer who experiences same-sex attraction and does not act on it is not sinning by having the attraction. Both groups agree on the main point: the New Testament treats same-sex sexual acts as outside God’s design, and every believer is called to holiness in body and mind.

What Scripture promises to every believer is forgiveness, the presence of the Holy Spirit, and real growth in holiness for everyone who follows Christ.

Is there grace for people who have sinned sexually?

Yes. This is the heart of the New Testament, and it is not an afterthought.

But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:8 (BSB)

Notice the order. Christ did not die for people who had already fixed themselves. He died for sinners, and He rose again. When you confess your sin, He is faithful to forgive it and to cleanse you (1 John 1:9). That promise has no exceptions and no second-class categories. The same blood that cleanses a thief cleanses a person who has sinned sexually, and the same Spirit that raised Jesus gives new life to both.

Paul also gives a practical promise for temptation in 1 Corinthians 10:13: God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but will provide a way out so that you can endure it. That way out may look like honest confession to a trusted believer, changing habits, or asking for prayer. It will not look like pretending you have no struggle.

The Bible also warns against the opposite error: treating sin as unimportant. Paul told the Corinthian church not to associate closely with someone who claims to be a believer and keeps living in sexual sin without repentance (1 Corinthians 5:9-11). That instruction is about the church’s life together, and it is meant to lead a person back, not to shame them. It applies to every sin in the list, not just one.

What should you do next?

Read these passages for yourself, slowly, in a translation you trust. Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, and 1 Timothy 1 are short and worth reading whole, not in fragments. Ask God to show you what is true, and ask Him for mercy while you read. He gives it.

Then talk to a pastor or a mature believer in person. This is not a question to carry alone, and it is not a question to settle only online. A local church is where the washing and new life Paul describes becomes visible: people who know their own sin, receive grace, and help each other walk in it. Whatever your story, you are not outside the reach of that grace.

Common questions

How many times does the New Testament mention homosexuality?

Three passages speak to it directly: Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, and 1 Timothy 1:9-11. Jesus did not address it in the Gospels, though He did teach that marriage is the union of one man and one woman in Matthew 19:4-6.

Does 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 mean people who struggle with same-sex attraction cannot be saved?

No. Paul writes the list to show why everyone needs Christ, then immediately says the Corinthian believers were washed, sanctified, and justified. The passage condemns the act and offers full forgiveness and new life to the person who turns to Christ.

What is the difference between temptation and sin in this discussion?

Scripture treats temptation as an enticement to sin, not sin itself, since Jesus was tempted yet without sin. Christians differ on whether same-sex attraction should be repented of, but all agree the New Testament addresses the act, and that every believer is called to holiness.

What does God promise to a believer who struggles with sin?

Scripture promises forgiveness when we confess our sin, the constant presence of the Holy Spirit, and real growth in holiness as we follow Christ. These promises belong to every believer without exception.