What bible verses address same-sex marriage?

Answer 1

The Bible never mentions same gender marriage. (Not even in Leviticus 18:22).
I don't think there are any bible verses that address same gender marriage. All of the verses referred to in the debate appear to oppose homosexuality itself, not homosexual marriage, and there are several of these. So, the bible is clearly opposed to homosexuality and by extension homosexual marriage.

Interestingly, in addition to forbidding homosexuality, the bible in clear words forbids going to fortune tellers, getting tattoos, divorce, wearing gold jewelry and eating shellfish or pork, among several other things. But, you don't hear these brought up much and as far as I know there are no laws proposed to outlaw these practices.

Answer 2

There is no "honest" justification for it to be found in the Bible. But there are plenty of passages when taken by themselves that can seem to.

The bottom line in the overview of the Genesis creation account is that "God created sex" and made them "male and female." Not "two males." Not "two females." Nor did He make them "sexless."

"...male and female created He them." (Gen.1:27 KJV)

And what was God's FIRST COMMANDMENT to them?

"...God BLESSED THEM, and God said unto them, 'BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY..." (verse 28).

God intended for the "first two people" whom He made, to go out and MAKE ALL THE REST OF THE CHILDREN OF HIS FUTURE DIVINE IMMORTAL FAMILY.

[And He always intended for the "loving, faithful, obedient generations of man" to teach their children about Him and His Laws; 'so that all would be well with them' "O that there were such an heart in them, that they would Fear Me, and keep all My Commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children FOR EVER! - Deut.5:29 KJV)]

As we all know by now... things haven't gone well for us, because the first two people chose "another god" to worship and obey; thus "breaking the First Commandment" that God demands that His Children KEEP ALWAYS. And in the breaking of the One Commandment... they broke them all:

"For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10)

But God provided mankind [males and females] with the ability [uniting as one] to "assist Him in the procreation of His Future Family" by letting them make the "clay molds" [the physical bodies made of the dust of the earth; moldable clay pots, if you will], some of which God has been calling out of this perverse, Satan-guided world for His Holy use and purpose; through the SPIRIT that God forms within each person:

"...'This message is from the LORD, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and FORMED THE SPIRIT WITHIN HUMANS.'" (Zech.12:1 NLT New Living Translation)

Two males or two females could not and cannot procreate as God intends and intended for His original creation to do. Such a thought [not to mention the act] is a perversion of what God has made... of creation. It's what God calls "disgusting" [abomination].

This twisted, perverse, Commandment-rejecting, Satan-worshiping world hates the WORD of God [the Truth - John 17:17]... as Jesus Himself reveals to His servants:"

'When the world hates you, remember IT HATED ME BEFORE IT HATED YOU. The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don't. I CHOSE YOU to come out of the world, and SO IT HATES YOU... The PEOPLE OF THE WORLD WILL HATE YOU because YOU BELONG TO ME, for they don't know God who sent Me." (John 15:18-19 NLT)

Paul was inspired to inform God's servants... those who agree and obey God's Laws:

"...they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead... So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies... That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex [which God created in the beginning - emphasis, mine] and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved..." (Rom.1:21-27).

This passage and such like found in the Bible would, obviously, not be used to "justify homosexual behavior." But it does reveal God's impassioned view of it. And only another passage somewhere in the Word of God in which God directly abrogates this specific view, and in which He plainly says something to the effect that "He changed His mind" about it can qualify as "Divine-justification" to go ahead and do whatever you want, sexually, with anyone or any thing you want.

The passage in the Bible, however, that's perhaps the most "used" that people try to "justify" their UN-biblical sexual behavior is this one:

"STOP JUDGING OTHERS, and you will not be Judged." (Matt.7:1 NLT)

On the surface, this verse certainly sounds like "it's okay with God" to do whatever you want to do, sexually, or in any other category... like lying, stealing, Sabbath-breaking, abusing God's name with impunity, idol-worshiping -- in other words, break the Commandments of God with impunity, because "no one has the right to Judge you."

But this verse sets forth the intent to "not CONDEMN anyone" for the things that they do. Because the Bible COMMANDS God's servants TO MAKE CONTINUOUS JUDGMENTS everyday of their lives. We must all make choices and constant Judgments all the time. That's life.

And the Bible reveals that the Judgments that God's servants are to continually make, are to be rendered "in accordance with God's Word." Not according to what someone else thinks or believes... but, does it conform to the Truth of God?

Because Jesus Christ tells His servants that THE OPENED BOOKS OF THE BIBLE will be "THE MEASURING STICK" by which the whole world will be Judged on the Last Great Day of God's plan for man's Salvation:

"If anyone hears Me and doesn't Obey Me, I AM NOT HIS JUDGE - for I have come to Save the world and not to Judge it. But all who reject Me and My [written] Message [the Bible] WILL BE JUDGED AT THE DAY OF JUDGMENT by the TRUTH I have spoken." (John 12:47-48 NLT) [see John 17:17 for God's definition of 'Truth': - '...thy WORD is TRUTH.']

And when God's servant reads the "advance account" [prophecies] of Judgment Day, he sees "the books of the Bible opened up" [a case history overview of the historical works of mankind, pitted against the Commandments of man's Creator] to Judge the life's works of EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER LIVED AND DIED THROUGHOUT THE GENERATIONS OF MANKIND.

"I saw the dead... standing before God's throne. And THE BOOKS WERE OPENED, including the Book of Life. And the dead were Judged ACCORDING TO THE THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOKS, according to WHAT THEY HAD DONE... They were all Judged according to their deeds." (Rev.20:12-13 NLT)

We are not allowed by God to CONDEMN ONE ANOTHER!Because no one is perfect in the eyes of God. We're all in the same "mortal, flesh and blood" boat, that can so easily sink beneath all of us. But we are COMMANDED to make Judgments throughout ours lives, so that we might make our choices as to "what path we should take"... what decision we should make... to know if we're on the "right path"... all in accordance with the Truth of God -- so that things might be well with us.

Speaking to the servants of God [God's church; not to those who reject the Truth of God's Word] Paul says:

"When you have something against another Christian, why do you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter, instead of taking it to other Christians [to the Bible-believing, Bible-obeying Body of Christ] to decide who is right? Don't you know that someday we Christians are going to Judge the world?..." (I Cor.6:1-2).

"If you have legal disputes about such matters, why do you go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? I am saying this to shame you. Isn't there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these arguments? ...To have such lawsuits at all IS A REAL DEFEAT FOR YOU. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated?" (verses 4-7)

Why doesn't the church "let this perverse, Satan-ruled world do whatever it's going to do?" Because THE CHURCH ISN'T GOING TO STOP IT... until Jesus Christ returns to SAVE IT.

God reveals what is "good" and what is "evil" in His Word. He DOES NOT ASK OUR OPINION about what we think about it. He doesn't tell us to "make up our own mind" about right and wrong -- SATAN DOES THAT! [see Gen.3:5]. All God does is TELL US WHAT'S RIGHT AND WRONG... and man's choice is and has always been to OBEY GOD... or DISOBEY HIM.

All of mankind falls short of the Glory of God. And no man has the right to "condemn" another. For we are all to be Judged. But any man can know right from wrong through the study of God's Divinely-revealed Word to His servants -- those who accept His Word at face value... and who believe, trust and obey it.

As for homosexuality, there is no "justification" for it found in the Bible in my opinion.

The Bible commands all men to "repent" of their sins and to "conform" to the Truth of God's Word... and be saved from the "Second Death" on the Day of Judgment [see Rev.20:14]. The Bible commands all men to STOP SINNING: stop breaking God's Commandments [I John 3:4].

But if you don't care what the Bible says -- fine. Justice and Justification will be meted out on the Day of Judgment; when the books of the Bible; God's TRUTH [and our Faithful acceptance of it, or faithless rejection of it] will be all that stands between us and our Creator's Grace, Mercy and Salvation. The LORD Jesus Christ says:

"Let the one who is doing wrong continue to do wrong; the one who is vile, continue to be vile; the one who is good, continue to do good; and the one who is holy, continue in holiness. See, I AM coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to repay all according to their deeds." (Rev.22:11-12)

You can't get more "justice" and "fairness" from the Bible than that. God has told us what's right and what's evil. We know. Whether we admit it or just choose to fool ourselves... we know. And in spite of all the TRUTH revealed in His Word -- He's allowing us our "choices" to obey or disobey Him.

God is going to Judge us in accordance with HIS TRUTH. It's never been our place to Judge Him.

Jesus Christ's sacrifice holds out "justification" for anyone who chooses to "REPENT" of their transgressions against God's Laws. That's the message of the Bible: If you're a sinner, sin no more.

Homosexuality is a sin... according to the Bible. It's a perversion against what God has made, and His intended purpose for sex. And the Bible reveals no justification for it or any other breaking of God's Laws or pollution of creation. There is only the desire to STOP SINNING:

"If you are a thief, STOP STEALING. Begin using your hands for honest work, and then give generously to others in need." (Eph.4:28 NLT)

With a desire and willingness to repent of disobeying God's Laws, a person may find Grace, Mercy, "justification," forgiveness and a New Life in Christ -- whereby one's PAST sins may be remitted and blotted out:

" 'With My Authority, take this message OF REPENTANCE to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: 'THERE IS FORGIVENESS OF SINS for all WHO TURN TO ME.'" (Luke 24:47 NLT)

Justification is found in Christ... but that only comes through one's repentance over one's disobedience to God's laws. This is then followed by one's willingness to Obey Him and His Commands and to learn to conform to the Words He has spoken:

"You are My friends IF YOU OBEY ME... I command you to love one another." (John 15:14-17) I've tried to include some of the verses regarding what God expects of His Children... as well as some things of which God disapproves and otherwise condemns. [God's Word will Judge us all in the end. His acquittal or condemnation will be final]

"Here is My conclusion: FEAR GOD and OBEY HIS COMMANDMENTS, for THIS IS THE DUTY of EVERY PERSON. God will Judge us FOR EVERYTHING WE DO, including every secret thing, whether good of bad." (Eccle.12 13-14 NLT)

Answer 3

No verse explicitly addresses the issue, although there are several verses in both the Old and New Testaments that reject homosexuality as criminal and sinful. There are also several verses that describe marriage as being (presumably exclusively) between a man and a woman.

Answer 4

There is at least one. Genesis 2:18, which says:

וַיֹּאמֶר ה׳ אֱלֹוקים, לֹא-טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ; אֶעֱשֶׂה-לּוֹ עֵזֶר, ×›Ö¼Ö°×?ֶגְדּוֹ׃

And the ETERNAL G-d said: 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper for him.

The Hebrew word for Helper in this verse is ezer (עזר) which is masculine. Now it is true that masculine Hebrew nouns can also be used generically to include the feminine, but if this "helper" was only supposed to be a woman, we would expect the word ozeret (עוזרת). We can conclude that this verse could apply to male helpers or female helpers.

Answer 5

There is nothing that justifies any sexual behavior in the Bible, but there is at least one verse that gives comfort to gay people and seems to understand their need to bond. Genesis 2:18, which says:

וַיֹּאמֶר ה׳ אֱלֹוקים, לֹא-טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ; אֶעֱשֶׂה-לּוֹ עֵזֶר, כְּנֶגְדּוֹ׃

And the ETERNAL G-d said: 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper for him.

The Hebrew word for Helper in this verse is ezer (עזר) which is masculine. Now it is true that masculine Hebrew nouns can also be used generically to include the feminine, but if this "helper" was only supposed to be a woman, we would expect the word ozeret (עוזרת). We can conclude that this verse could apply to male helpers or female helpers.