It's so easy, when we want to do the thing that seems right to us, but which God forbids, to paint God in our minds as a killjoy, or worse, as someone who hates us.  But God isn't like that.  Christians know God as a loving heavenly Father:

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.  1 John 4:9

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  1 John 4:10

Those are the words of the Apostle John, from the Holy Spirit Himself.  And the Apostle Paul, detested by homosexual activists for his denunciation of homosexuality in his letter to the church in Rome (the book of Romans,) says in the very same letter:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Rom. 5:8

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  Rom. 5:9

Even before he spoke of how homosexual men and women have gone against the purpose of God, Paul wrote:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  Rom. 1:16

One of the loveliest Bible passages is that in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus says that His salvation is available to whosoever believes in Him.  Your sins can be as bad as anyone's could be, and yet He reaches out his saving hands to you:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  John 3:17

The message of God is a message of love, hope and forgiveness.  God's earnest hope is not to condemn people, but to reconcile them to Himself by them having faith in Jesus.  Jesus came that through him the world might be saved.  But the terrible downside of that is that those who turn their backs on Jesus are condemned already, because that same passage of hope goes on:

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  John 3:18

In another place in the New Testament, in the letter to the Hebrews, it is written:

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;  Heb. 2:3

The Bible is a collection of books inspired by God but with human authors written over a period of more than a millennium but with great intellectual cohesion.  It is customary to divide the Old Testament from the New Testament, but other divisions can be made, between: books of the law, history, wisdom, prophets, Gospels (reports of the ministry of Jesus) and letters or epistles to the early churches.  The Bible is an account of God's dealings with men, and how He became man himself at a particular time in human history.  Its culmination is the account of how God in the person of Jesus the Messiah voluntarily suffered death in order that mankind might enjoy fellowship with God.  And rose from the dead, and ascended into glory.

The names of the books of the Bible are commonly abbreviated, and the books themselves are separated into chapters and verses, so it is easier to find our way around.  So Gen. 1:27 means the 27th verse of the 1st chapter of the book of Genesis.  The other abbreviations used below are these:

• Lev.: The book of Leviticus, in the law section,
• Deut.: Deuteronomy, also in the law,
• Judg.: The book of Judges, in the history section,
• 1 Ki.: The first book of Kings, in history,
• 2 Ki.: The second book of Kings,
• 2 Chr.: The Chronicles of the kings of Judah,
• Ps.: The Psalms, from the Bible wisdom section,
• Eze.: Ezekiel, one of the 17 prophetic books,
• Matt.: The Gospel of Matthew,
• Mark: The Gospel of Mark,
• Luke: The Gospel of Luke,
• John: The Gospel of John,
• Rom. : Romans, Paul's letter to the church in Rome ,
• 1 Cor.: Paul's first letter to the Corinthians,
• Gal.: Paul's letter to the church in Galatia ,
• Col. : Paul's letter to the church in Colosse,
• 1 Tim.: Paul's first letter to Timothy his disciple,
• Jude: A general letter from Jude or J'hudah
• Rev.: The Revelation given to the Apostle John.

(All the Bible quotations below are taken from the Authorised or King James Version of the Bible.  Although translated almost 400 years ago, it was an honest attempt by the greatest scholars of their day to produce a timeless, faithful translation, as close to being word for word of the Hebrew and Greek texts as was possible.)

SO WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY?

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  Gen. 1:27

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.  Gen. 1:28

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.   Gen. 2:23

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  Gen. 2:24

(There was always going to be some ceremony involved in the 'leaving' process, so the idea that marriage is a recent social construct is a bit weak, but that is an aside.  God has separated woman from man and our reproduction is going to be sexual.  We aren't going to reproduce like amoeba.

The sexual organs of man and woman bear witness to God's plan.  They are complementary and designed to fit perfectly.  They express at a physical level that men and women are spiritually made for each other.  Sexual intercourse becomes an outward expression of the way a man and a woman can form a life‑long union with each other at an emotional level.  So in sexual intercourse, man and woman come together again totally in the purpose of God, and become 'one flesh' as two homosexuals never can.

Frustrated by their inability to engage in normal sex, homosexuals must either limit themselves to manual or oral manipulation performed to orgasm, purchase artifacts for the same purpose, or press a part of the anatomy designed for extracting water from bodily waste into a service its Maker never intended. All of that might be why God did not say: "A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave either to his wife or to his boyfriend," and why He made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.)

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.  Gen. 13:13

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom : and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;  Gen. 19:1

And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.  Gen. 19:2

And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.  Gen. 19:3

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom , compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:  Gen. 19:4

And they called unto Lot , and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.  Gen. 19:5  And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,  Gen. 19:6

And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.  Gen. 19:7

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot , and came near to break the door.  Gen. 19:9

But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.  Gen. 19:10

And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.  Gen. 19:11

And the men said unto Lot , Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:  Gen. 19:12

For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.  Gen. 19:13

( Sodom is so full of homosexuality than any passing man in considered fair game.  Theologians say that the real sin is one of lack of hospitality.  But Lot has already exercised hospitality, so the sin would be not respecting his authority over his own right to offer hospitality in his own house.  It is all a bit thin, especially when Lot says 'Do not so wickedly' and offers his daughters to the men instead!  Interesting that Lot gets accused in verse 9 of being judgmental, isn't it? Having lost that one, theologians then say that the Hebrew word 'yada', which is euphemistically translated 'know' in verse 5, does not mean 'have sex with' but means 'get to know' or 'establish the credentials of.'  First problem is, in the Bible the word very often obviously refers to sexual relations, as in 'And Adam knew (yada) Eve his wife and she conceived.' (Gen 4:1)

Second problem is that the word is used again in the Sodom passage just three verses later, when Lot offers his daughters who have not known (yada) man.  When the same word is used in the same context in the same passage, it must mean the same.  By the way, it is significant that Lot regards homosexuality as so bad that he is even willing to offer up his own daughters to stop it.  But it makes no difference.  Homosexual sex is all these men want. 

So is the proposed gang rape the issue?  Is homosexuality OK otherwise?  No, because the cry of the sins of Sodom had already come up to God (Gen 18:20‑21) before this final straw, because Leviticus condemns all homosexual acts as an abomination and because the prophet Ezekiel identifies abomination as one of the sins of Sodom .)

Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;  Gen. 19:24

And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.  Gen. 19:25

So what does it say in Leviticus? There is a whole chapter devoted mainly to sexual sin.  It starts with incest and concludes also contains these five verses:

Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her.  Lev. 18:20

And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.  Lev. 18:21

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.  Lev. 18:22

Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:  Lev. 18:24

(The same word translated 'abomination' in verse 22 is previously used in Genesis, where certain people and animals are described as "an abomination" to the Egyptians.  So, yes, it does have religious overtones.  (A totally different word meaning 'filthy' is translated as abomination in Lev 11, by the way.)  The Hebrew word in Lev 18:22 is "to'ebah" which means disgusting, abhorrent, abomination, and by extension, a pagan idol.

Perversely, some theologians insist that because of the association with pagan worship, things regarded by God as an abomination are no longer proscribed.  All that has passed, gone, done and dusted, they say.  But hang on a minute, in Deuteronomy 12:31, sacrificing children, forbidden in Lev 18:21 above, is also said to be an abomination.  So is that alright now as well?  The fact is, if you are going to say homosexuality is OK now, then you must say that bestiality, incest, adultery and child sacrifice are OK, and moving to the next chapter of Leviticus, Ch 19, that stealing, lying, cursing, blaspheming, injustice, gossip, hatred, vengeance, fraud and oppressing the working man by keeping back his wages are also OK.

We don't read God saying, "Oh, by the way, I don't mind if you do child sacrifice, bestiality and homosexuality just so long as they aren't part of pagan worship."  God rather gives the impression He does not want them done at all.  Of course, we can argue, as the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul does later in Romans, that they are always part of pagan worship, because they always put some aspect of creation (ourselves, for instance) above God.  Nor was it just Israel that God did not want doing these things.  God judged the Canaanites and threw them out of the land precisely because they did them.  Go see verse 24 above.)

The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.  Deut. 22:5

(It's not just transvestism, but by implication changing the roles of men and women, which is condemned here as an abomination.  Any dominant lesbian or submissive 'gay' does exactly that.)

There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel , nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel .  Deut. 23:17

Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.  Deut. 23:18

(Pagan worship involved ritual prostitution and homosexuality as well as human sacrifice.  It always has, and it still does.  The people of Israel were called to be better than that.  The Hebrew word translated 'Sodomite' means a sacred (in the pagan sense) male prostitute.  Temple prostitutes of either sex don't get paid much, but they get their keep.  Those working outside are paid, usually, and their earnings are unclean, as we see from verse 18.  'Dog' in verse 18 is slang for homosexual.  So is homosexuality OK if no money changes hands?  No, because Leviticus does not single out payment as what makes homosexual acts an abomination.  Interestingly enough, paying for sex, the idea of casual sexual contacts as 'trade' and younger men being kept and given money by older wealthier men are very much a par of homosexuality today.)

(An account of an incident very much like that of Sodom .  'Sons of Belial' does not mean their dad was called Belial.  It is literally 'sons of worthlessness.')

And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD did cast out before the children of Israel .  1 Ki. 14:24

(The sodomites (see above) are singled out as the worst aspect of the abominations of the land.)

And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.  1 Ki. 15:11

And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.  1 Ki. 15:12

And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he (king Jehoshaphat) took out of the land.  1 Ki. 22:46

And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.  2 Ki. 23:7

And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel , and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.  2 Chr. 34:33

Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem .  2 Chr. 36:14

And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:  2 Chr. 36:15

But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.  2 Chr. 36:16

(Heathen nations, like ours is fast becoming, or has become, always end up doing abominations.  They can't help it.  It's nice to know God does not give us His laws and send out His word because He hates us, but because He has compassion on us.)

Everyone knows the 23rd Psalm ‑ 'The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.'  The Psalms, right there in the middle of the Bible, have been a comfort to so many down the centuries.  They express the enduring truth of God's mercy and lovingkindness towards us.  They also express the enduring truth of God's word and His demand to rule over all the kingdoms of the world for ever:

But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.   Ps. 9:7

And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.   Ps. 9:8

(For those who love righteousness, those verses are an inspiration.  Psalm 9 concludes:)

The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.  Ps. 9:15

The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.  Ps. 9:16

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.  Ps. 9:17

(That's rather worrying for us.)

For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.  Ps. 9:18

Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.  Ps. 9:19

Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.  Ps. 9:20

(Too often men think they are cleverer than God.  God has a habit of putting men in their place.  'As a man sows, so shall he reap.')

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.  Ps. 100:5

(So if God says something is true then it is true for ever.)

O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.  Ps. 117:1

For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.  Ps. 117:2

(So all the nations must praise Him.  That must include our own.)

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.  Ps. 119:160

(So God's law was always true and will never be repealed.)

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.  Ps. 145:13

(God demands to rule over all mankind for ever.  We had best get used to it.)

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom , pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.  Eze. 16:49

 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.  Eze. 16:50

(The prophets spoke the word of God to the people of their day, mainly to Israel and Judah .  Here, Ezekiel likens Judah to Sodom , because they started doing the same pagan abominations as Sodom did.  Proud, rich, lazy, uncaring of injustice, too conceited to listen ‑ rather like Britain and our politicians today.  And we read that the prophet says 'they committed abomination'.  That is the final nail in the coffin of the idea that the sin of Sodom was merely lack of hospitality or gang rape.)

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  Matt. 5:18

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  Matt. 5:19

(It's common today to say that Jesus abolished all the Old Testament law, not just the sacrificial, ceremonial elements.  How reassuring to have it from His own mouth that that is just not the case.)

And thou, Capernaum , which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom , it would have remained until this day.  Matt. 11:23

But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.  Matt. 11:24

(Here is Jesus using the example of Sodom to condemn the unbelief of Capernaum .  That does not mean homosexuality was rife in Capernaum , but it does show that Jesus as God incarnate in person on earth believed the Biblical account of the destruction of Sodom .)

But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.  Mark 10:6

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;  Mark 10:7

And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.  Mark 10:8

What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.  Mark 10:9

(They say: 'Jesus never said anything about homosexuality.'  Well, as He is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, he wrote the whole Bible, including Genesis, Leviticus, Kings and the books of the Prophets like Ezekiel.  So He said quite a lot about homosexuality.  Here, He endorses the creation rule that men marry women and they become united as one flesh for life.)

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot ; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;  Luke 17:28

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.  Luke 17:29

Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.  Luke 17:30

(Odd that.  The men of Sodom were just going about their business.  They didn't know anything was wrong.  They thought they were just fine, in their day and age.  How like ourselves they were.)

For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son. John 5:22

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.  John 7:24

(When we judge righteous judgment, we judge according to the eternal standards of God.  That's what the followers of Jesus are called to do.  Jesus is the righteous judge Himself, on the instructions of Almighty God, so that must make Him judgmental as well!  At least by making judgments about right and wrong we are in good company.)

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,  Rom. 1:22

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.  Rom. 1:23

(Idolatry doesn't always involve a statue of some pagan god or other.  Every time you set something up higher than God, that's idolatry.  If you set yourself up as a higher authority than God, which you do when you either go judgmental against God or His word in the Bible, you are an idolater.  You're worshipping yourself.)

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.  Rom. 1:25

(There you are ‑ you are the creature and you are worshipping yourself instead of the Creator.)

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:  Rom. 1:26

(Since Paul has been talking about creation, it is obvious that the word 'natural' means what God has put in place by His creation ‑ in the sexual context, the union of man and woman.  This appears to be the only reference to lesbianism in the Bible, but it is highly significant because we live in exactly the sort of society Paul is describing ‑ one which has junked God and His laws and worshipped man and invented man‑made laws instead.  And note that Paul does not say 'that which is against their nature, as some theologians try to get away with.  He says 'against nature' and we are back with the created order again.)

And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.  Rom. 1:27

(No‑one can pretend that this verse does not refer to and condemn male homosexuality, and the Apostle was quite familiar with homosexual relationships ‑ he was a Roman citizen.  There is nothing new under the sun.  So the best liberals can do is pick on a word further down the page, 'asunetos' in verse 31, in the midst of a whole list of evils ‑ which are all, incidentally, rife in Britain today.  The word means literally 'unintelligent' and is translated in KJV as 'without understanding'.  Then they say, 'look that's silly.  God wouldn't condemn the stupid, so he won't condemn homosexuals or anyone else in the list of Romans 1:28‑31 either.  Well, they are 'without understanding'!  It is a moral foolishness Paul is referring to, just like he does in verse 22 above.)

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,  1 Cor. 6:9

(This list begins in this verse with the sexual sin of harlotry or fornication, which are synonymous in the mind of God, moves to idolatry, which as we saw from Romans is at the root of rebellion from God, goes on to adultery, which God often links to idolatry, and after that distinguishes two forms of homosexual.  The word 'malakos', literally 'soft to the touch', can mean someone who is sick or someone who is expensively dressed.  Here the context can only allow the third meaning, an effeminate homosexual or catamite.  'Abusers of themselves with mankind' is the Greek word 'arsenekoitai' ‑ literally 'man on couch' ‑ which is used to distinguish the active partner in a homosexual act.)

Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God .  1 Cor. 6:10

And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.  1 Cor. 6:11

(“such were some of you”  So there were even ‘ex-gays’ back then!  It is a great joy to know that the Christians in Corinth had been involved with the same sorts of sins that beset us all, but had been washed, sanctified and justified by the blood of Jesus.  If they can be, so can we.)

(It is impossible to deny that homosexual practice involves uncleanness.)

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  Gal. 5:20

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God .  Gal. 5:21

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Gal. 5:22

Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  Gal. 5:23

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:  Col. 3:5

(There is 'uncleanness' again, and having got fornication out of the way, 'inordinate affection' must refer to homosexual practice.)

For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:  Col. 3:6

In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.  Col. 3:7

But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.  Col. 3:8

Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,  1 Tim. 1:9

For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;  1 Tim. 1:10

('Whoremongers' comes from the Greek 'pornos' which means prostitute, and 'them that defile themselves with mankind' is that word 'arsenekoitai' again ‑ 'man on couch' ‑ the word Paul always uses to mean 'active homosexual man'.)

According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.  1 Tim. 1:11

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;  1 Tim. 1:12

Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.  1 Tim. 1:13

And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.  1 Tim. 1:14

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.  1 Tim. 1:15

Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.  1 Tim. 1:16

(So, if Paul was chief sinner, and did it ignorantly in unbelief, and was saved by the grace of Jesus, there is hope in Jesus for us all.)

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.  Jude 1:7