Results 1 - 6 of 6
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | 2 followups, masturbation and 1Cor7:2-5 | Bible general Archive 1 | Makarios | 46165 | ||
Greetings Parable, You say, "..this verse doesn't help someone if they are in fact looking to the Bible to understand what is the good they ought to do, as is the point of the original question about masturbation." My response: Oh yes it does! You stated, "Remarkably, your question about how I "honestly feel" makes my point for me. We are not to interpret scripture in terms of our feelings, rather we are to interpret our feelings in terms of scripture." My response: That is great! However, I would still direct you to 1 Thess. 4:3-7. You stated, "I'm not saying God blesses acts of masturbation, and I'm not saying he curses them either." My response: Please read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. Your body is not your own to do with as you please! You have been bought with a price. And also, to use 1 Cor. 7 to justify masturbation is a blatant attempt to misapply Scripture to justify a sinful act. Do you worship and idolize your wife in such a way that you misuse your own body parts for her glorification? Or is it simply the indulgment of sinful flesh? Paul never even hints at attempting to justify masturbation in anything that he wrote. I interpret 1 Cor. 7 as saying that sexual relations have their proper expression in marriage, and that the husband and wife should not deprive each other from themselves. Many men who I have known have fallen prey to the sin of masturbation, only to see their marriages falter and their sins multiplied into pornography.. Such disgusting consequences of a "seemingly" harmless or unnoticable sin are brought out into the open when the door to that sin has been crossed and, now, other sins, such as looking at other women besides your wife, now suddenly become much more desirable to you than before. Do you truly see no harm in it? Do you have no inclination or leading to give it up? Can you honestly say that you have experienced great spiritual growth while practicing masturbation? Masturbation is not wholesome, not edifying, not healthy to your marriage, and it is certainly not something that you want on your conscience as not being 'repented of' when you have to give an account of yourself to the Lord. We are called to both purity and holiness! And masturbation cannot serve to support either one of those two virtues. Masturbation is a sin that hinders our spiritual walk with Christ, and it should be repented of if practiced, and avoided if ever brought into question. But you say, "But the Bible doesn't give me a specific verse that says: "Thou shalt not Masturbate!" Does the Bible need to mention every single dirty deed that man can innovate so that we should know whether to abstain from it or not? I do not believe that the Bible should do so, since we already know how we must live, and we will not have any excuses for that which has clearly been given and revealed to us, which is the Holy Spirit! And the Holy Spirit clearly signifies and leads me to believe that masturbation is a sin! I believe that masturbation should have absolutely no part in the life of a Christian, whether they are married or single. I appreciate your comments about my posts and my insights, and I hope that I have not come across as 'argumentative' or condescending. But I have written here about how I honestly perceive the subject of masturbation, and I believe that it will prove very costly to your marriage if not discontinued, my friend and brother in Christ. Just a few weeks ago, the youth pastor of our church got up in front of the entire congregation and confessed to his sin of masturbation, and we have begun an accountability group that consists of myself and several others, to keep this dear friend and brother in the Lord on 'the cutting edge' of his spiritual relationship with God. Also, his wife is very supportive of helping her husband deal with this problem, which is a great blessing! I will close this post by offering you a couple of Scriptures that I believe speak to this very subject: Romans 12:1, Romans 12:2 Blessings to you, Makarios |
||||||
2 | 2 followups, masturbation and 1Cor7:2-5 | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 46182 | ||
I will pray on your answer. For now, though, I must respond to the charge of using scripture in an attempt to justify a sinful act. You gave your interpretation of 1Cor7:2-5a, but you did not address verse 5b "Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." What is Paul's intent with 5b? I look forward to continuing our dialogue. Grace and Peace to you Makarios, Parable |
||||||
3 | 2 followups, masturbation and 1Cor7:2-5 | Bible general Archive 1 | Makarios | 46194 | ||
Greetings again Parable, Here is a little bit of commentary on 1 Corinthians 7:2-5 that gives us the proper context of the verse and serves to offer an explanation for verse 5... "7:5 deprive. Lit. "stop depriving each other!" This command may indicate that this kind of deprivation was going on among believers, perhaps reacting to the gross sexual sins of their past and wanting to leave all that behind. Husbands and wives may abstain temporarily from sexual activity, but only when they mutually agree to do so for intercession, as part of their fasting. come together again. Sexual intercourse is to be soon renewed after the spiritual interruption. so that Satan does not tempt. Cf. 1 Thess. 3:5. After the agreed-upon "time" of abstinence, sexual desires intensify and a spouse becomes more vulnerable to sinful desire.." (1) "..And come together again, etc. Even by mutual consent, the apostle would not have this separation to be perpetual; since it would expose them to many of the evils which the marriage relation was designed to avoid." (2) "I Corinthians 7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, 4 except [it be] with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. (4) He adds an exception: unless the one abstain from the other by mutual consent, that they may the better give themselves to prayer, in which nonetheless he warns them to consider what is expedient, lest by this long breaking off as it were from marriage, they are stirred up to incontinency. (d) Do nothing else." (3) "Continence" is a word that has been long forgotten by today's society. It means total abstinence from sexual activity. And blessed are those who can feel secure in themselves and with the Lord in the practice of continence! In masturbation, you have the ultimate triumph of the sinful flesh and its desires. In continence, you have the very opposite, where the sinful flesh has no mastery over you! And those who can practice this self-restraint in a marriage relationship will reap the spiritual rewards and benefits that can be gained from practicing continence, until they are joined again with their spouse. Blessings to you, Makarios (1) MacArthur Study Bible, 1997, Word Publishing, John MacArthur, Author and General Editor (2) Barnes' Notes on the NT (3) Geneva Bible Translation Notes |
||||||
4 | 2 followups, masturbation and 1Cor7:2-5 | Bible general Archive 1 | Baptistbred | 46218 | ||
I want to say I appreciate your notes on this and agree. I am single and 35, never married, and in full time Christian work. I am so weary of men trying to sanction this action by all kinds of reasons. It is lust of the flesh as you(and God's Word)have stated, and should be resisted by walking in the spirit. I believe when one comes to the point that he thinks this is NOT a sin, he opens a door for increased temptation. It will also "cool off" one's fellowship with God. | ||||||
5 | 2 followups, masturbation and 1Cor7:2-5 | Bible general Archive 1 | Makarios | 46271 | ||
Greetings Baptistbred! I am so glad that there is another Christian here on this Forum who walks in and values a close relationship with God and the Holy Spirit! I am also single and never have been married, and I agree with you that it is wearisome and an indictment on the church that so many do not find these actions of sin as what they are: sinful! Thank you for your encouraging response, and praise the Lord for your stand for purity and holiness! Blessings to you, Makarios |
||||||
6 | 2 followups, masturbation and 1Cor7:2-5 | Bible general Archive 1 | Baptistbred | 46311 | ||
Your welcome Makarios. God forbid that I should ever sear my conscience to the point of masturbating with no guilt. God lets us feel guilt for a reason.Keep living for God! Lam.3:22-23 |
||||||