Lust: Is it possible to control all your thoughts?

[Jpark]

1. - How does one "apply" the blood of Christ? This sounds a lot like spiritual hocus-pocus to me.
2. - Why do you feel you need to "resist" sexual desire? God created us with these desires and they are not sinful. Obviously they can be abused, but to simply posess sexual desire is not a sinful thought process.

1. Can't tell, but I know.

2. Simply because man's flesh is corrupted. Before Adam sinned, these sexual desires were appointed by God. But now, they are out of control as a result of the flesh being corrupted.

Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

For I know that nothing good dwells in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

Which is why it is necessary to gain control over the body (Gal. 5:17, Gen. 4:7).

 

[ghendricks63]

1. Can't tell, but I know.

2. Simply because man's flesh is corrupted. Before Adam sinned, these sexual desires were appointed by God. But now, they are out of control as a result of the flesh being corrupted.

Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

For I know that nothing good dwells in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

Which is why it is necessary to gain control over the body (Gal. 5:17, Gen. 4:7).

Your sexual desire may be out of control...mine is just fine...LOL.

Oh and just because we have a sin nature it does not equate that every good gift God gave us has now become sinful. I love the life I live in Christ. I don't wage constant war with myself...I simply embrace Him and His goodness and enjoy my blessings.

 

[Zebra1552]

Please forgive my ignorance, but I don't understand why you "feel bad about yourself"??

Because you look at a half-dressed woman and feel aroused??

We are all imperfect creatures who need God's mercy and forgiveness every day of our lives........

Time out. Why on God's green earth (slowly graying, but whatever) would being aroused be a sin? It's a natural physical response to stimuli. To not have arousal would not be human.

 

[Jpark]

Oh and just because we have a sin nature it does not equate that every good gift God gave us has now become sinful.

So sex is a gift? We can do whatever we want with our bodies as long as it doesn't violate God's commandments?

1 Cor. 6:13 Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

Sex is a privilege which comes with responsibilities. You don't just receive it and do whatever you want with it.

Also,

1 Cor. 7:9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

It's better to marry than have lust. Lust may or may not be a sin, but it's not good.

I love the life I live in Christ.

John 12:25 " He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

Scripture says we should enjoy our life with God (Eccl. 2:24-25), but it doesn't say we should love our life, even if it is in Christ, as it is still in this world.

Phil. 1:23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

Or do you mean the life Christ gave you?

I don't wage constant war with myself

So you don't believe in spiritual warfare?

 

[brightmorningstar]

ghendricks63,

God is not so cruel as to place such strong sexual desires within us simply for the purpose of creating a hell on earth in our minds.

Scriptural source please as I think that is totally wrong. God created male and female to be in union (Genesis 2, Matthew 19, Mark 10, Eph 5 etc) and that was ok until the disobedience and the resulting knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2) which lets sin into the world.

. - How does one "apply" the blood of Christ? This sounds a lot like spiritual hocus-pocus to me.

Really? Have you never heard “Matthew 26:28
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”?

Why do you feel you need to "resist" sexual desire? God created us with these desires and they are not sinful. Obviously they can be abused, but to simply posess sexual desire is not a sinful thought process.

Again. such an argument is used by those wilfully into adultery, homosexuality, paedophilia etc. but as shown it is sin, the sin that the blood of Christ has been shed for. God created male and female to be in faithful union as shown, so one shouldn’t resist that, one should resist the rest.

 

[callmeMurph]

I'm getting really angry when I think about how some women dress especially when it's summer. They walk around with totally tight clothes and sometimes it doesn't even look good or suit them but nevertheless they still have to force themselves into their tight jeans and whatever they wear. This angers me.
I have had days where it was so bad that I didn't know where to look because everywhere there were women in tight clothes tempting me. What if I see them and then simply can't control my thoughts!? Then I'm the one who sinned and they're innocent or what!?

You can't control what they do you can only control what you do. If it is that bad maybe you should go somewhere else.

 

[ghendricks63]

So sex is a gift? We can do whatever we want with our bodies as long as it doesn't violate God's commandments?

...

So you don't believe in spiritual warfare?

Yes I think your first questions are an absolute truth. Seems like that would be self evident.

And I believe in spiritual warfare. I just don't believe existing as God designed us is part of that "spiritual warfare".

 

[ghendricks63]

ghendricks63,
Scriptural source please as I think that is totally wrong. God created male and female to be in union (Genesis 2, Matthew 19, Mark 10, Eph 5 etc) and that was ok until the disobedience and the resulting knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2) which lets sin into the world.

Really? Have you never heard “Matthew 26:28
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”?
Again. such an argument is used by those wilfully into adultery, homosexuality, paedophilia etc. but as shown it is sin, the sin that the blood of Christ has been shed for. God created male and female to be in faithful union as shown, so one shouldn’t resist that, one should resist the rest.

This is me ignoring you.

I guess I can just block seeing you completely...just seems silly to have to take such extreme measures due to your refusal to leave me alone.

 

[brightmorningstar]

I think the scriptural sources provide that God created male and female to be in union (Genesis 2, Matthew 19, Mark 10, Eph 5 etc) and that was ok until the disobedience and the resulting knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2) which lets sin into the world exposes as baseless the claims ghendricks63 has made.

Matthew 26:28 "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
This is what the blood does, the two are interdependent, not being able to recognise one results in not being able to recognise the other.

 

[brightmorningstar]

Let me publically state ghendricks63, I have nothing against you personally, blessings to you, but I challenge your views, I am not harrassing you any more than you are harassing me by posting your views.

 

[brightmorningstar]

ghendricks63,

Your sexual desire may be out of control...mine is just fine...LOL.

In fairness I dont think Jpark is referring to any desire you may have, but rather which desires are right and which are sinful according to the Bible.

Oh and just because we have a sin nature it does not equate that every good gift God gave us has now become sinful. I love the life I live in Christ. I don't wage constant war with myself...I simply embrace Him and His goodness and enjoy my blessings.

but you have not shown how sin is good. The Biblical testimony describes what God created as good and what is sin. you appear to be claiming some of the sin God described isnt sin but what God gave as good. Obviously not.

 

[ghendricks63]

Let me publically state ghendricks63, I have nothing against you personally, blessings to you, but I challenge your views, I am not harrassing you any more than you are harassing me by posting your views.

 

[ghendricks63]

ghendricks63,
In fairness I dont think Jpark is referring to any desire you may have, but rather which desires are right and which are sinful according to the Bible.

but you have not shown how sin is good. The Biblical testimony describes what God created as good and what is sin. you appear to be claiming some of the sin God described isnt sin but what God gave as good. Obviously not.

Enough already. STOP ADDRESSING ME!! I gave you plenty of chances to have repsectful dialogue.

 

[Zebra1552]

ghendricks63,
In fairness I dont think Jpark is referring to any desire you may have, but rather which desires are right and which are sinful according to the Bible.

Then J-man can prove that they are wrong and sinful. I know I've taught him better than this.

but you have not shown how sin is good. The Biblical testimony describes what God created as good and what is sin. you appear to be claiming some of the sin God described isnt sin but what God gave as good. Obviously not.

And you have not shown that what he is referring to is actually sin. Why should he pay attention to you?

 

[Zebra1552]

So sex is a gift? We can do whatever we want with our bodies as long as it doesn't violate God's commandments?

Well, yeah, that's a pretty good summary.

1 Cor. 6:13 Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

Sex is a privilege which comes with responsibilities. You don't just receive it and do whatever you want with it.

Thus the 'as long as it doesn't violate God's commandments'. You just said the same thing you summarized him as saying in different words. Obviously premarital sex is wrong. There's nothing to condemn masturbation except on an individual level.

Also,

1 Cor. 7:9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

It's better to marry than have lust. Lust may or may not be a sin, but it's not good.

This isn't talking about 'oh, she's pretty'. This is talking about 'I need her, I want her, and I'm going to have her'. There's a huge difference. One has intent, the other does not. You may want to do a word study on it. Blue Letter Bible - Home Page

John 12:25 " He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

Scripture says we should enjoy our life with God (Eccl. 2:24-25), but it doesn't say we should love our life, even if it is in Christ, as it is still in this world.

Context. Jesus is talking about the difference in priorities. Our priority should be serving God and others, not serving ourselves. There are drives the body has that must be fed or we are not living right and are of no service to others. Food and sex are about as basic as you get. Sex needs a context of course and so does food. The Bible gives us that context: with restraints on one's thoughts, and within marriage. It doesn't address masturbation.

Phil. 1:23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

Or do you mean the life Christ gave you?

So you don't believe in spiritual warfare?

Believing in spiritual warfare is not the same as seeing it around every corner. The church has seen it in sex far too often than is healthy.

 

[Zebra1552]

But in the bible there are many verses which speak against lust. In Job it says somewhere that he made a promise not to lust after girls or something like that. Or the bible also talks about the lust of the eyes.
In my opinion these verses sound like you better not look at anything because if you do and then are turned on by it then you've lusted but how is this supposed to work?
And if it's sin to be turned on by something then why does this response even exist? Why can't it be turned off somehow?
How would a man have reacted to a woman without the fall of man? What would have happened if he had seen a totally beautiful woman? Would he have looked at her and not felt anything? I really don't know what's normal and what isn't. If it's a sin or carnal when you see something and then you're instantly get a desire then why can't this be turned off? Why does one always have to struggle and fight against something which cannot be defeated?

And when I know that I must not think a certain thing and try not to think it then it can happen that I think exactly what I try not to think.

What is lust?

 

[maizer]

I'm getting really angry when I think about how some women dress especially when it's summer. They walk around with totally tight clothes and sometimes it doesn't even look good or suit them but nevertheless they still have to force themselves into their tight jeans and whatever they wear. This angers me.
I have had days where it was so bad that I didn't know where to look because everywhere there were women in tight clothes tempting me. What if I see them and then simply can't control my thoughts!? Then I'm the one who sinned and they're innocent or what!?

Hey Jim, sexual arousal is NOT a sin. Lust is different from sexual arousal. Lust is actually imagining vivid sexual acts with someone. Don't feel bad about yourself.

 

[Grey Wanderer]

John 12:25 " He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

Scripture says we should enjoy our life with God (Eccl. 2:24-25), but it doesn't say we should love our life, even if it is in Christ, as it is still in this world.

Phil. 1:23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

Or do you mean the life Christ gave you?

So you don't believe in spiritual warfare?

Wow.........is that a context issue or are we really supposed to hate our lives and family and virtually everything? Like, the only reason God gave us this life was just to move on to the next.

 

[Zebra1552]

Hey Jim, sexual arousal is NOT a sin. Lust is different from sexual arousal. Lust is actually imagining vivid sexual acts with someone. Don't feel bad about yourself.

Source?

 

[dayhiker]

Well, lust as people use it today in America is imagining vivid sexual acts with someone. But I don't see the Bible is saying that.