Subject: 2 followups, masturbation and 1Cor7:2-5 |
Bible Note: Dear Makarios: Masturbation is certainly nothing new. And of course they had a word for it back then. Yes, sexual immorality is considered sin in the Bible. But the immorality is always mentioned between two participants -- homosexuals, man and animal, adultery, whoredom, etc. The Bible never mentions anything about masturbation. I would say that your personal bias lends to your strong point of view on this. But we should all be very careful about adding to God's Word. Which of us have the mind of God that we can fill in the blanks for Him? If He didn't say it -- we can't say that He did. Many false doctrines abound on filling in those blanks and taking scripture out of context. The Bible says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Each of us are on this path. And where God is silent on certain issues we must decide for ourselves if it is pleasing to Him or not -- or if it is a personal matter that God gives us liberty in deciding for ourselves. Paul addressed this when he spoke of eating meats that were sacrificed to idols. For those who believed it was sin -- to him it was sin. For those who exercised liberty -- to him it was permitted. This my friend is one of those issues. If it is sin to you -- indeed it is sin to you. But if our brother who posed the question has liberty in this thing -- then we should not cause him to fall because of our personal feelings. You have offered no scripture that proves God meant or inferred that masturbation is a sin or sexual immorality -- although it is clear that you strongly feel in yourself that it is. You cannot rationally link masturbation to sexual immorality -- it involves no other person. But it basically boils down to what Paul was asked about eating meat sacrificed to idols. This appears to some men to be sin. To others it appears to be no problem at all. So this to is an individual issue. If you are convicted that this is sin then it is sin for you. But to our friend who sees nothing wrong with it -- should we undermine his faith and perhaps cause him to err? I appreciate your answer to my comment. I was hoping that you would answer. And I accept your position as being right for you. But I think too, that the Holy Spirit will guide our brother into the path that he should go. He now has two opinions. I hope that he is edified in what we have shared with him. And I hope to hear from you again. I only check into this forum on Fri, Sat, and Sun. So be patient in hearing from me if you still wish to challenge this position. |