Practicing Homosexuals Can Go to Heaven
Question
Can a homosexual go to heaven? I know what the Bible seems to say, but is the minute portion of the Bible dedicated to this "activity" enough to, without a doubt, say a practicing homosexual will go to hell?
Answer
The short answer is yes, a practicing homosexual can go to heaven. This is not because homosexuality is not a sin -- it most certainly is. One reason that a practicing homosexual can go to heaven is that the only unforgiveable sin is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (generally understood to be attributing the Holy Spirit's works to demonic powers; Matt. 12:31-32). Lack of repentance of sin is not blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
Now, 1 Corinthians 6:9 does say that homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God, but it does not mean that homosexual people can't be saved, or even that practicing homosexuals can't be saved. Paul's point in this passage is that the Corinthian Christians are behaving just like the unsaved people. Specifically, they are bringing fraudulent lawsuits against one another. In order to make them realize how awful their fraud is, he groups it with a bunch of other blatantly obvious sins, including homosexuality. His purpose is to get them to realize that defrauding other Christians is not an acceptable loophole. Rather, it is a major sin, just like idolatry. But notice that by comparing fraud to homosexuality, Paul is also saying that defrauders won't inherit the kingdom of God. In fact, he ends the list by saying that "swindlers" won't inherit the kingdom of God.
At the same time, Paul also says that that the Corinthians used to be swindlers, and homosexuals, etc., but that they aren't anymore. He is not drawing some imaginary distinction between fraud and swindling in order to reassure the Christians that their fraud doesn't fall into the category of sins that keep people from inheriting the kingdom. Rather, he is saying that because they have been "washed," "sanctified" and "justified," they are no longer indentified as these kinds of sinners (homosexuals, etc.). They still do the same things, but now they stand before God with new identities in Christ, so that whereas before these actions would have gotten them into hell, now they are forgiven even though they continue to sin.
Even so, let's not miss Paul's point -- swindling, robbery, homosexuality, etc., are sins, and Christians ought not to do them. In fact, Paul taught in the prior chapter that if Christians persist in these actions without repenting, they are to be excommunicated (1 Cor. 5:9-13). Still, the point of excommunication is ultimately salvific -- professing Christians are excommunicated in the hopes that they will be saved (1 Cor. 5:5).
It is important at this point to distinguish between two kinds of practicing homosexuals: 1) those who are repentant and sorrowful over their sin, but who can't seem to break out of it; and 2) those who justify their sin as if it were not a sin. The former kind of homosexuals should be embraced by the church, just as anyone else who struggles with any other sin. The latter kind, however, are like the immoral man Paul wrote against in 1 Corinthians 5 -- they are proud of their sin, they justify their sin, they are not repentant, and they have no intention to stop sinning. These "so-called brothers" (1 Cor. 5:11 -- Paul even doubts their salvation) should be excommunicated, along with the unrepentant idolators, greedy people, drunkards, swindlers, slanderers, and other sexually immoral people.
Answer by Ra McLaughlin