Is It Acceptable For Christians To touch?

Matthew528

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Hi All,

My interpretation of Matthew 5:28 relating to masturbation & please do let me know what you think of this article that I've written.

Thank you.

Cheers,
JK

Is It Acceptable For Christians To touch?

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Why do we touch? All sort of reasons – stress release, pass time, etc. But truth is there are other things we can do to release stress like hitting the gym for a healthy workout, catching up with friends for a drink and we can read a book to increase our knowledge or play a console game to pass time. So with such endless possibilities God has blessed us with why then do we still resort to masturbation?[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Frankly we touch for one purpose which is to gratify our sexual lust and sadly almost always accompanied with inappropriate contentographic materials to heighten the sensation and pleasure.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]While the Bible seems to be silent on the subject matter, is it acceptable then for the Children of God to touch especially when we are called to be holy in everything we do (1 Peter 1:15) and to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1)?[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]FYI God is not completely silent when it comes to masturbation. In Matthew 5:28 Jesus makes it very clear that ‘anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.’[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Stop and meditate on Matthew 5:28 for a moment then try to remember how you feel towards the woman when you are masturbating looking at inappropriate contentographic materials or the mental image conjured in your mind. Take some time to reflect on this and pray about it. Soon enough I believe you will come to realise how startling similar masturbation is as described in Matthew 5:28 that when you are masturbating, you are indeed looking at the woman lustfully in your heart, with or without inappropriate contentographic materials.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Matthew 5:28 makes it clear then that masturbation is not pleasing to God and therefore should deter Christians from indulging in masturbation.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]However our unwillingness to completely let go of the pleasure of masturbation and our inability to discipline our mind to exhibit self-control over our body have us constantly challenging the truth and in doing so we are giving the devil a foothold to come out with all sort of excuses or justification to touch.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One such justification that caught my attention is the ability to touch without lusting over a woman like how young innocent boys first discover masturbation during shower at the tender age of 8 or 9 years old. That maybe the case at that time but with exposure to inappropriate contentography or even past experience of actual sexual relationship, it becomes impossible to touch free from sexual lust completely. If sexual lust is not involved at all during masturbation as claimed there won’t be an urge to touch in the first place.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Meditate on Ephesians 4:27 and heed Paul’s advice – ‘do not give the devil a foothold’ in distorting the truth on Matthew 5:28 and that masturbation is in no way pleasing to God at all.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Unless otherwise noted, all articles written by Peng Jun Kiat. Copyright © 2013 All Rights Reserved. Permission must be specifically granted in writing for use or reprinting.[/FONT]
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CounselorForChrist

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I disagree but won't get into this to deep only because this topic comes up REALLY often.

Masturbation itself is not a sin. But it is a stepping so that leads to temptation. Once you cross that line then its a sin because you will look at women, inappropriate content...etc. However it can also be a sin by itself if you turn it into an idol. As in its all you do all day, you skip church, skip devotion...etc.

Aside from that its not a sin. To call it a sin based on the fact its tempting you to do other stuff makes no sense. If that was the case you shouldn't be online because it can create temptation to do lots of sinful things. We shouldn't watch tv/movies because the temptation to watch bad thing is there. We shouldn't go to work because the temptation to do worldly things is there.

Hence its not a sin unless you give into that temptation. Temptation is more of a line in the sand that your standing on and can choose to walk past or stay on (or behind).

---edit---
The verse you posted is:
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
That doesn't say no masturbation. Your twisting it to fit what you think it means. Its saying exactly what it is saying and that is being lustful is a sin. Masturbating by myself in my room is not lust. Lust would be be me MBing and looking at a picture of someone. See the difference? Some argue you cannot MB without thinking of something you shouldn't but thats not true. For some maybe they need something to think of or see, but for others they don't. Example when a guy wake sup and is "Erect" and MBs because of it does this mean he was lusting? Nope. It means his body woke up that way and hes Mbing. No lust was there.

Which means what your saying is wrong. And with the rest you said, any of that can be said about anything we do as christians. If we are only to do what is holy then you for sure should not be online because even if your coming to this forum you are also supporting the use of the internet which mostly has unchristian stuff on it. Another issue is that of conviction. If you feel MB is something you should not do then it means you were convicted of it. It doesn't mean everyone else should avoid it since we all have different convictions.

If I was convicted to not watch sports would it be fair of me to tell others they should not either? Of course not. Watching sports is not a sin therefor I cannot claim no person should watch it (unless its their idol of course).
 
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Joykins

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From the OP, it sounds like it's acceptable to touch thinking about men. :p

That is... if you are being literal. Unlucky straight men and lesbians. ;)

You have hardly quantified the universe of people who might touch while thinking of women. On the other hand, it is possible to touch while thinking of nothing really except "this feels good" so YMMV.
 
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Paradoxum

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You have hardly quantified the universe of people who might touch while thinking of women. On the other hand, it is possible to touch while thinking of nothing really except "this feels good" so YMMV.

True, but you see my pointless point I was making. :p
 
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Joykins

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True, but you see my pointless point I was making. :p

I do...but I think a more accurate observation would be that the article in the OP was written as if all Christians were straight men. I do think this is problematic, but at the same time completely unsurprising.

This is also problematic:

" If sexual lust is not involved at all during masturbation as claimed there won&#8217;t be an urge to touch in the first place."

Many people begin to touch as young children who don't even know what sex is, and may associate the feeling with having to urinate or other genital sensations rather than anything having to do with someone else. Some people retain this ability right into adulthood.
 
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KitKatMatt

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Since I have a different view of lust than simply "having sexual feelings/attraction to someone", then I have no problem with masturbation as a Christian.

Something I've prayed about for a long time. The answer that kept coming back is that there's nothing wrong with a fantasy as long as it remains a fantasy.
 
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MOD HAT ON
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Thread cleaned and reopened.
MOD HAT OFF
 
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masturbation is a sin no matter how it is painted,no one masturbates without knowing what sex is and without the aim of achieving self satisfaction and this can never be achieved without lusting,and since it gives ground for sin so it should be avoided

That part in bold is absolutely not the case.
 
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TheDag

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Well I disagree that lusting is wrong. A more biblical statement would be what you lust after makes it wrong. Jesus could have just said whoever lusts has committed adultery in his heart. However he didn't. One could argue that it makes no difference. When we look at the original language we see that the word used in Matt 5:28 is the same word used in Luke 22:15 but translated as earnestly desired. So if lusting is automatically wrong then Jesus sinned and therefore could not be the perfect sacrifice for our sins and did not need to die on the cross. Or we could say it is what one lusts after that makes something sinful and we don't have the problem. This also demonstrates that lusting is earnestly desiring something. So if while masturbating you are imagining having sex with a person then that would be sinful. If you aren't then it is not sinful. Likewise if your walking sown the street and you see an attractive woman and think she's hot that is not a sin. If you see the woman and think I'd love to get her into bed then that is a sin. Of course even if it is not a sin it can lead to further thoughts that are then sin so one should be careful and guard their mind.
 
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Ringo84

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I don't know how you can be married and not lust after your wife or husband to some degree. Absolutism is fine in the abstract, but it doesn't always make sense in the real world.
Ringo
 
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