On February 5, 2013, the British House of Commons gave a majority vote in support   of same sex marriage.

For Christians in the UK, who believe in the Biblical institution of marriage between a man and a woman, this was a sad event.  It is note worthy however, that some MPs stood up for what they believed and refused to vote in favour of the Bill.

Now that the bill has been passed through the House of Commons, next step is the House of Lords and the Prime Minister seems  positive that the Bill will receive overwhelming vote.



The gay movement is moving swiftly all over the West, putting pressure on governments to legalise same sex marriage and so far, everything is going according to the script. In Africa however, they have gained little or no success because of the cultural values of most African cultures, which frown on same sex relationships. Even when they were threatened with Aid cuts, countries like Nigeria defied the threats and instead, passed a law criminalising same sex marriage.

I have been following the trend and trying to get a Biblical perspective of what is going on.  When I lived in Africa, I could not remember meeting a gay person, talk less of having a conversation with them. Now that I live in the West, I work with them and converse with them on a daily basis. I still wonder what on earth could draw a man to have feelings for another man and claim that he was born that way. I however treat them with the respect they deserve, knowing fully well that God loves them as much as He loves me. If  He didn’t love me enough to save me, where would I be today and how different would I have been from the gay person?

The object of this writing is not to criticise gay people but rather to establish what God’s stand on marriage is and what our attitude should be in the light of the drive by the gay community to seek recognition as legal couples.

God blessed the first marriage in Genesis 1:27, 28. “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it”

If God had in mind, the marriage of the same sex, He would have created Adam the second but no, He created Eve. This establishes the fact that God did not only give a companion to Eve, He also meant for them to procreate and have children, ultimately increasing the human population on earth.

When was the first reference to homosexuality in the Bible and what was God’s response?  In Genesis 19, God had sent two angels to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. They however had a rescue mission to accomplish first. They needed to get Lot and his family out before executing God’s divine wrath. When they arrived at Lot’s house, he insisted on hosting them for the night. No sooner had they settled in that the men of Sodom came knocking. They ordered Lot to release the two men to them for the sole reason of having sexual relations with them.

Lot went out to meet them and appealed earnestly, ‘No my friends, do not do this wicked thing” (Genesis 19:6) He even offered his daughter instead to them. Now, whether that was the right thing to do is not the subject of this writing, but it seems that Lot felt that giving up his daughters to be raped by these men was a lesser evil compared to what they were asking of him.

When the mob became dangerously violent and Lot was on the verge of being harmed, the angels rescued him and inflicted blindness on the men. A few hours later, Sodom, Gomorrah and other cities around them became rubble.

After God emancipated the Israelites from Egypt, He needed to establish laws to guide their conduct. These instructions were given in the books of Exodus through the Deuteronomy.  In Leviticus 18:22, there is a clear warning, ‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable”. There is no way to break this down further. The message is strong and unequivocal. In the New Testament, one of the sins clearly mentioned, that would prevent a person from having a share in the Kingdom of God is homosexuality. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Having established God’s stand, I now come to the Christian attitude. I must say categorically that homosexuality is as much a sin as  lying, stealing and having sexual relations with the opposite sex outside the confines of marriage.

This means therefore that we should not treat homosexuals with disdain or condemn them to hell because of their practice. Rather, we are called to reach out to them with the message of salvation and deliverance. We should treat them like we would treat drunks, thieves and those who practice those sins, which we consider as lesser sins. If we can lovingly lead a prostitute to Christ, then we should do same to homosexuals.

In the light of the spread of agitation for gay marriages in all countries especially in America and Europe, it is time for Christians to pray. We need to pray for the future of our children and teach them the foundations of God’s word.  From information I gather, once gay marriage is legalised, children will be taught in school the options they have when it comes to marriage.

The British Culture Secretary, Maria Miller, while defending the gay marriage bill, said people who voted opposed the controversial bill were ‘on the wrong side of history’.

I conclude with the response to the Culture Secretary’s remark, made by Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury, Rt Rev Mark Davis, ‘As Christians, we must never fear being on the wrong side of any moment of history but we should fear being on the wrong side of eternity’

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the founder of  the Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He lives in Kent, United Kingdom, where he works as an IT Professional. He currently serves in the worship team in his local church and on occasion, speaks at invited events. He is the Moderator/Editor of the  Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address,steve@biblepraise.org