Greetings
Matthew 5:27-30 (NKJV)
27 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Lust is a very powerful feeling it is a desire of wanting something, really wanting something, it could be sex, but could also be other things.
The Word of God does describe lusting in the context you state...
Sex was designed by God for a man and a woman, as husband and wife, so that they could together have an intimate relationship and God willing have children.
In the verses above Jesus is saying in effect, you have heard it is a sin to commit adultery, they knew they shouldn't do it, they knew the reason why, the point Jesus was making was, if a man looks at a woman and has lustful thoughts he has already commited the act in his heart
Because scripture is masculine, the same situation applies if a woman looks at a man in such a way.
Because sex was designed for a married couple, a man and a woman in marriage, anything outside this is sin.
Therefore it seems right to me that, if a man masturbates, that is not a sin, but if he masturbates and has sexual lustful thoughts he (or she) has already committed the act in their heart. They have SINNED!
I love to expound The Word, get to the bottom of the message to us in the scripture, but I also feel we have to be realistic.
- Is what we read related to sin, yes, therefore as God is making known to us the damage of sin, how it veils us from the truth, how it cuts us off from the Truth, we have to consider things in that context, not just a couple of verses.
- Although this example was to make a point regarding a way of sinning those listening were not aware of, it was highlighting sin, sexual sin.
- as it is sexual sin that is being discussed, I feel that lust and other forms of sexual sin are related, they all lead to Sin.
This was the point with this young man, 17 years old, his body changing to manhood, he was brave enough to asak for advise, to ask for help. Bless Him Lord.
If we say to our children, don't play football in the garden because you could break a window, and do not say don't play any ball games in the garden, who is to blame when the child says, you said don't play football dad, so we played cricket instead. SMASH!
Jesus was dealing with a situation he came across at that time, it doesn't rule out similar situations we should be aware of.
Shalom
Greetings
Matthew 5:27-30 (NKJV)
27 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Lust is a very powerful feeling it is a desire of wanting something, really wanting something, it could be sex, but could also be other things.
The Word of God does describe lusting in the context you state...
Sex was designed by God for a man and a woman, as husband and wife, so that they could together have an intimate relationship and God willing have children.
In the verses above Jesus is saying in effect, you have heard it is a sin to commit adultery, they knew they shouldn't do it, they knew the reason why, the point Jesus was making was, if a man looks at a woman and has lustful thoughts he has already commited the act in his heart
Because scripture is masculine, the same situation applies if a woman looks at a man in such a way.
Because sex was designed for a married couple, a man and a woman in marriage, anything outside this is sin.
Therefore it seems right to me that, if a man masturbates, that is not a sin, but if he masturbates and has sexual lustful thoughts he (or she) has already committed the act in their heart. They have SINNED!
I love to expound The Word, get to the bottom of the message to us in the scripture, but I also feel we have to be realistic.
- Is what we read related to sin, yes, therefore as God is making known to us the damage of sin, how it veils us from the truth, how it cuts us off from the Truth, we have to consider things in that context, not just a couple of verses.
- Although this example was to make a point regarding a way of sinning those listening were not aware of, it was highlighting sin, sexual sin.
- as it is sexual sin that is being discussed, I feel that lust and other forms of sexual sin are related, they all lead to Sin.
This was the point with this young man, 17 years old, his body changing to manhood, he was brave enough to asak for advise, to ask for help. Bless Him Lord.
If we say to our children, don't play football in the garden because you could break a window, and do not say don't play any ball games in the garden, who is to blame when the child says, you said don't play football dad, so we played cricket instead. SMASH!
Jesus was dealing with a situation he came across at that time, it doesn't rule out similar situations we should be aware of.
Shalom
As I’ve show the context is adultery [moicheuo] not Sexual sin in general [Pornia]. The Greek word gune in context is properly translated in the light of the context of moicheuo as ‘wife’, not ‘woman’. Here’s a Christian expert in the Greek:
‘The word, γυνή, can mean “woman” (Latin: mulier, used in the Vulgate) or “wife” (Latin: uxor). The context here demands “wife” or “married woman”, because “adultery” (μοιχεία), in contrast to the more general term for immorality (πορνεία [porneia]), relates specifically to marriage. The saying assumes the perpetrator is male (thus: hisheart). Adultery is the action of a male with a married (or betrothed) woman.’ [William loader Sexuality and the Jesus Tradition (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2005) p14]
The late Dwight Pryor a godly humble expert in the Hebrew and Greek comments briefly on Matthew 5:27-28: '...doesn't mean just seeing a woman and being attracted to her. That's not the concept here, the concept is where you actually take steps to try and bring about some kind of improper conduct or improper act.' [Paul, The Law And The Church/ Dr Dwight a Pryor/ Disc 1 - Track 6 - 0 minutes 58 seconds/
www.cfi.org.uk] So attraction or fantasy of marriage isn't a sin, it's the actual intention of pursuing an adulterous sexual relationship.
As I showed previously Jesus was reiterating for the 10 commandments about not converting [Chamad] thy neighbours wife. Here’s some quotes from Christian experts in the Greek and Hebrew of ‘covet’ in the 10 commandments:
Chamad is‘... “to desire (brings damage upon the thing or person desired) and to try to obtain”...with the result that a legal maxim has become a rule for governing conduct...’ (Loader, William. The Septuagint, Sexuality, and the New Testament: Case Studies on the Impact of the LXX in Philo and the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004) p 10 footnotes 7)
‘...the choice is indicative of the focus, which, while including passion, is on the acquisition of property.’ (Loader, William. The Septuagint, Sexuality, and the New Testament: Case Studies on the Impact of the LXX in Philo and the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004) p 10)
‘Within the context of the tenth commandment the focus is upon possession of what belongs to another’s household, including a wife. The focus is therefore on the desire to possess, which includes house field, slaves and animals. Attention is being given not primarily to theft not to the act of adultery, but to the response which might lead to both as forms of theft from one’s neighbour.’ (Loader, William. The Septuagint, Sexuality, and the New Testament: Case Studies on the Impact of the LXX in Philo and the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004) p 11)
‘The verb [action] epituméo corresponds to a Hebrew word which implies a temptation to acquire ownership...which lends itself to the notion of acquisition of property.’ (Loader, William. The Septuagint, Sexuality, and the New Testament: Case Studies on the Impact of the LXX in Philo and the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004) p 10 notes)
Chamand is a ‘...emotion of desiring included the act off taking possession...an emotion and a corresponding action’ [Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus(Westminster John Knox Press, Louisvill, Kentucky, 2004) p426]
You can see it’s the active intention to sexually possess, nothing to do with a single person, nothing to do with a single person fantasising about marital sexual intimacy. If fantasising about fornicating, then that is sin. In the same way fantasising about murdering someone you don’t like is a sin.
God defines righteous sex as:
‘For this reason a MAN shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his WIFE; and they shall become ONE FLESH (Genesis 2:24). One plus one equals two!
‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer TWO but ONE FLESH. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate’ (Mark 10:7-9).
...and sinful sex as:
1Cor6:16 ' Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The TWO will BECOME ONE FLESH’
Adultery: Greek moichos (Heb13:4) = ' an adulterer, that is, a MAN who is guilty WITH a married WOMAN'.
http://biblehub.com/greek/3432.htm
Greek moicheuó (Matt5:28) = 'have unlawful intercourse with ANOTHER wife' i.e. between two persons.
Homosexual sex: Rom1:26-27 ' ...Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations WITH women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with OTHERmen, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.' i.e. between two persons (of the same sex).
Incest: Lev18:6 ' No one is to APPROACHany close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord' i.e. between two persons (of the same family).
Bestiality: Lev18:23 ' Do not have sexual relations WITH an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.' Ie between a person and an animal.
Each of those above verses show sex is defined as between two persons and those two become one flesh. One person masturbating is NOT two becoming one flesh, therefore isn’t sex as the Bible defines it, therefore isn’t a sin. Yes, sex is ultimately designed sexual expression between a man and a woman in marriage, that is what those who have a libido should pursue marriage. Although masturbation is pleasurable and relieves sexual tension; it isn’t two becoming one, so it will never be as for filling as marital sexual intimacy can be (not always is sadly). It doesn’t mean that it is a sin, because if it was God would have mentioned it, He isn’t shy in mentioning even the ‘littlest’ of sin.
You analogy about banning a ball game in the garden is flawed because masturbation is not two becoming one flesh like the sexual sins defined above. You are comparing chalk and cheese, they begin with the same two letters ‘ch’ but they are not the same thing. Your analogy would be better used for arguing against a unmarried heterosexual couple who are having oral sex trying to justify it as not being fornication, because they say it’s not sexual intercourse. Where you could rightly point out Romans 1 bans lesbian sex even though they are not capable of sexual intercourse because one lacks the male anatomy, therefore heterosexual oral sex outside of marriage is fornication. We shouldn’t be making up man-made rules and preaching them is if they were from God like the Pharisees did ‘They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions’ (Mark 7:7).
Yes this lovely 17 year old man is brave to ask for some advice, he deserves the truth not man-made rules and misinterpretations of the Bible. ‘His body changing to manhood’ Exactly!!! His body at this age is raging with God given high levels of testosterone that are driving him towards sexual release one way or the other. Falsely telling him masturbation is a sin and giving a false definition of lust causes false guilt, shame and condemnation. Making him think he’s a rubbish (garbage) Christian, crippling his walk with God. Whereas if he knows the truth masturbation and what Matthew 5:27-32 is talking about; it doesn’t become this big issue dominating his life. It can just take a few minutes out of his day, leaving the vast bulk of his time to focus on his studies, reading his Bible, church activities, whatever God has called him to, sports, hobbies, friendships, etc.
Obviously he still has to learn self-control that the Bible speaks about (2 Peter 1:5-8) to keep masturbation to sensible levels (i.e. not 7 days a week or more), avoiding getting sucked into porn, avoid fornication and even avoiding the intention to pursue fornication (the underlying principle of Matthew 5:27-28 for the single, which can lead to an actual act of fornication!!!).
