This always seems to be a red-hot topic among christians, and many have their minds so closed to the truth that when it is shown to them, it actually angers them, and they lash out with all forms of condemnation and judgment.
Let me quell any apprehension the reader might have that this, in any way, is a defense of homosexuality. Homosexuality is definitely a sin. There is no situation in which homosexuality can be defended as not being sin. But, the same is true of drunkenness, of adultery, of fornication, of lying, of stealing, and of envy. They are all sins of the flesh.
The sin that condemns people to hell (and, there is only one) has nothing to do with the flesh or its sins. The sin that keeps people from heaven is unbelief—a dead spirit. It is not having the Holy Spirit, which is a singular condition—a sinful state into which all people are born—the condition of unrighteousness. If one is condemned already because he is in that singular state (John 3:18), then there are no sins of the flesh he can commit that will make him “more condemned.” He is condemned already.
So, the unbeliever being condemned already, and sins of the flesh not making him more condemned, it becomes immediately apparent that sins of the flesh are not the determinant of eternal destiny. How someone who has been made righteous by the indwelling Holy Spirit deals with his flesh is what will determine both relationship here, and reward in eternity. Crucifying the flesh and its sins is the basis of reward for those who have been made Yah’s children.
Those who are members of Messiah’s bride are sealed by the Holy Spirit. And, those who have the Holy Spirit cannot be sent to eternal punishment in hell. So, there is no sin of the flesh that someone who has been given the Holy Spirit can commit that will send him to hell, nor is there a sin of flesh that condemns an unbeliever any more than he already is.
Those who claim that any sin of flesh, whether it’s homosexuality, adultery, fornication, murder, lying, stealing, etc., will keep someone from heaven based on 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 simply don’t know what the kingdom of Yah (God) is. They wrongly conflate it with heaven, but the kingdom of Yah is presently on this earth (it was established in Acts 2), and in heaven, it is the sanctuary, which is the dwelling place of the Father. It is the New Jerusalem WITHIN the kingdom of heaven that hovers above the new earth.
Those of the bride (the righteous who are sealed by the Holy Spirit) who work to crucify their flesh, which is to deny its natural sinful desires, and to yield control of the physical man to the Spirit, are given an inheritance for their purposeful journey toward holiness; and, that inheritance is the kingdom of Yah—the New Jerusalem, which is the union of the Lamb and His bride, indwelt by the glory of the Father.
Only those of the bride who crucify their flesh will have access into the sanctuary—the New Jerusalem—to experience the glory of the Father firsthand. That is what 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 speaks of. We are shown the difference between those who are holy (crucified their flesh) and those who are righteous (did not crucify their flesh) in Revelation 22:14-15. That scene takes place in the new heaven, and at that point in John’s vision, the unbelievers have already been put into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15).
Most in heaven will dwell upon the new earth, but the bride, as one flesh with the Bridegroom, is the New Jerusalem; and again, to have access into the sanctuary is determined by one’s holiness on earth, not his righteousness, for everyone who will be in heaven has been made righteous. Holiness is what comes by man’s sacrificing his flesh. Those who work to deny their flesh on the earth will reap the greater reward for it in eternity.
So, yes, homosexuality is a sin. Drunkenness is a sin. Adultery is a sin. Fornication is a sin. On and on and on. But none of those sins has anything to do with who goes to heaven. To base one’s “gospel” message on the need to stop committing sins of the flesh is to preach a false salvation from another gospel. Those who “believe to the saving of their souls” are then called to deny their flesh. Sacrificing the flesh has nothing to do with those who are not even Yah’s children, for they often think they are working toward righteousness, but their works are seen as “dirty rags” by the Father.
Those who have been made righteous have the Light in them, just as John the Baptist did, and those of the Light have no legitimate fellowship with those of the darkness (those who do not have the Holy Spirit). However, it is not possible for those of Messiah’s bride, being indwelt by the Light, ever to be sent to the eternal punishment reserved for those who are not of the Light. But, those of the Light can miss out on access to the New Jerusalem by participating in, or with, darkness and its works.
For more information: Do Sinners Go to Heaven?