Bible Discussion Thread

Lust. Matthew 5:28

I'd like to seek counsel from other brothers and sisters in Christ on what precisely lust is.

My question is how can we know at what point noticing the beauty of God's creation becomes lust? Is lust imagining a sinful act with a specific person? What if its a daydream fantasy when someone spaces out or a dream while sleeping? Can we be guilty of sin when we're not fully conscious?

Men and women were created to be physically attracted to each other. We were designed to have excitement and I assume those natural functions are not inherently evil within the proper context, but at some point outside of marriage it is. What exactly is that point? And is it possible to lust within marriage after your own spouse? Thank you.

Thank you all for sharing your helpful thoughts on the subject. I seek to be better prepared on how to explain this, if someone ever asks about this. As for the dream question, I noticed no one tried to tackle that one :) My current thought is no, I don't believe we can sin during normal sleep. Day dreaming I'm not as sure. God knows our hearts, but sometimes I don't think we know ourselves.

God does not want to fix our old adamic nature....He wants a completely new Creature to be born in us...Remember the potter saw that the vessel was so marred that he had to make a new vessel... Jeremiah 18:4...Our old adamic nature is of satans seed....It has no integrity to remain righteous and Holy....Thats y Jesus said outta of the hearts of man proceeds all manner of evil....Thats y we have this Horrible propensity to sin...Lust....Our old adamic nature cannot be fixed by the works of the law...If Righteousness came by the law then Christ died in vain...Thats y we must be bornagain of an incorruptible seed...We must birth a completely new innerman which is the H.G. that Child of Promise....Unless you receive the Kingdom of God as a lil Child...( that new born babe desiring the sincere milk of the word the H.G. )....you will in no wise enter there in....

.....Remember that man Legion that had all the demons...Legion cd not be tamed by chains and fetters (laws and commandments) ...He broke all the chains and fetters to pieces....Thats us we brake every law and commandment to pieces...Our old adamic nature has no integrity to remain righteous....Thats y we must be bornagain... to birth a new Creature....Which is that Child of Promise...Only Jesus cd tame Legion with his living word a living being the H.G. had to be born in legion...2 k demons came out of legion....Thats y we cannot groom our old adamic nature with commentaries and much studing...He answers to the Dog that returns to his vomit and the sowe that returns to her mud....We cannot study our selves into the Kingdom of God...Its gotta come via his seed initiating a birth of Christ in us...The N.C. But after that Jesus spoke to Legion he was in his right mind and clothed....Then he wanted to be a disciple and follow Jesus...ty Jesus

Behold i make all things new....Everybody is gonna birth a new Creature....When that book is opened that is sealed...Jeremiah saw all men in travail and birth pains...J 30:6

Adam, just to add to those great thoughts by others; you have confined the matter of lust to that of a sexual nature. But as Jema as pointed out, lust, even as indicated in the Bible, can be conceived & manifested in all types of situations.

When we consider such a pointed passage as found in James 1:12-16:

"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren", we get to understand what lust entails.

According to James, when one allows that lust (I read it as a prolonged, inordinate desire for anything), to draw (or, tempt) him away from a proper perspective & understanding of the thing in view, then that desire is being allowed to conceive in the heart. Is this sin yet? I don't believe so, but a believer should know the hallmarks of temptation when time, energies, & affections are being diverted on unprofitable things. As to anyone given over to uncontrolled sexual desires, or to lust for money, recognition, gluttony, etc., if he doesn't see himself standing on the threshold of sin & control himself speedily, his desires will draw him further away (entice) towards sin. But I see that he still has a chance to avoid sin & turn the other way - but the longer he waits, the more likely will that lust conceive into sin (both in the heart & eventual outward manifestation). To the child of God, there will be many alerts by the Spirit along this dangerous path - we won't have any excuse before God & our testimony before man.

Within the context of marriage, I don't see that lust is evident if real love & honor is given to each other.

Personally I believe that one of the reasons we were given the gift of marriage is to help protect us from lusts that can get us into trouble . Think about Amnon , he lusted after his sister to the point of raping her , she was aware of his lust and so begged him to ask their father David for her hand in marriage . Marriage would have made his desire for her no longer sinful , so no I don't believe that lusting after your spouse is sinful . The desire for sex is natural and as such it must follow that it's God given otherwise how would we have children ? I'm loathed to be so graphic but to prove my point I feel I must , stop reading now if you are a sensitive soul ! There is a part of the female anatomy ( design by God of course ) which is only there to provide sexual pleasure for the woman . It serves no other purpose . We can lust after many things , money power blood , anything . Then the thing that we are lusting after can actually become an idol in our hearts , then we are getting into very big trouble indeed . I guess that it's also possible for ambition to cross over into being a lust , a lust to satisfy our own pride or ego . So for me , lust is a very big blanket that can cover our hearts very easily if we aren't keeping a sharp eye on ourselves . Paul says some thing like : if we judged ourselves properly then we wouldn't ever be judged by others . None of us are perfect in this life , I think that we must recognise that lust comes in many forms and often teams up with those other undesirables , pride , ego , aggression , greed and even the desire to dominate or belittle others is a form of lust , the lust to elivate ourselves by degrading or belittling others . Yes , I think it's a big blanket ! God has given us many ways , that are acceptable to Him , for us to channel our lusts and keep them from harming ourselves and others . We must learn to trust and obey Him at all times , recognising that He ALWAYS knows better than we do and , what is best for us

Hi Adam.

In Matthew 5:20 Jesus says

"For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Then he gives the contrast of the law and how they sought after righteousness and the righteousness imputed over unto us.

I believe here in Matthew 5:28.

The Lord is letting us know the unconditional and uncontrollable earthly desires in the heart of a worldly man.

He's showing how and where sin generates.

Here the woman is the object of the lust which leads to adultery. Lust is a condition energized by the flesh.

Hate is a condition energized by the flesh and if it's directed towards someone you're guilty of murder.

The Lord is showing how sin is in you and the transgression starts before the act.

James 4:1 explains it this way.

"From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?"

Paul put it like this.

" Romans 7:22-24.For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

These are sensual pleasures and Selfish and sinful desires that dwell in all of us and a woman doesn't have to be the object.

He's pointing out that an exterior restraint or a obedience to a command doesn't keep one from sinning because the sin is in man and he is putting righteousness on a higher plane so no one can boast.

I don't think it's wrong to notice that someone or something is attractive as we see in Genesis 24:16.

God bless you.

Adam, these are some good questions.

For me, I think lust is desiring to have someone sexually, or desiring to see their body in a sexual way, not just noticing someone's beauty. It can be looking upon another in such a way that it arouses one, whereas, if they looked away and walked away sooner, the arousal would not necessarily happen.

Since I am a woman, I cannot speak for men on this matter. I know women who read "romance" novels. I think this is a form of lust. It includes fantasy about the scenarios read n the book. It includes enjoying reading the sexual accounts in the story.

Movies can be another way where lust can raise up because of the way the scenes are filmed and the sinful encounters they depict. If we have become desensitized to the sinfulness of the sexual encounters on film, then we should remove ourselves from taking in this sort of entertainment.

Pretty much anything we view to receive sexual arousal , enjoyment, and an appetite for is lusting.

As for if it is possible to lust in marriage, I think it happens more than we realize. Sexual union in marriage is designed to be unitive, loving, and God-honoring. I think if someone engages in this union with only the satisfaction of sexual desire without being unitive, loving, and God-honoring, then one has engaged in lusting after their spouse, wanting to use their bodies for pleasing one's own desires and not looking after the best interests of one's spouse.

In marriage, we are to give ourselves to one another sexually, desiring for the other to be treated respectfully, lovingly, and with mutual consensus. As a spouse one should recognize that it is oneself who is responsible to satisfy these needs in the other and that the only one to provide this pleasure is oneself for the other. So, we should do all things in love and not out of selfish desire.