Q. Will or can a practicing homosexual fulfill the promise of 1 John 5:11-12? (“…God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son, He who has the Son has life.”)

A. We could ask the same question about a practicing gossip, or a slanderer, or a drunkard.

In my judgment, it’s necessary to distinguish between wickedness and weakness. I have known practicing homosexuals and drunks who hated what they did. Many years ago, a drunk whom I chided for his drunkenness told me sadly that if I could show him how to hate his drinking before he drank as much as he did after he drank, he’d be cured. Was he weak or wicked? I think he was weak, not wicked, and I also think he was a Christian. A wicked man loves evil and hates righteousness.

C. Donald Cole, “Question & Answer,” Today in the Word, October 1995, pp. 14-15