pornography

Pornography

The human body is a beautiful creation. All God’s creation is beautiful and can be admired. If I look at a tree and admire it, I am
not sinning. If I look at a naked woman and admire her, I am not sinning. Giving someone a hug is an expression of a feeling.
Having sex is an expression of a feeling. If I watch someone give a person a hug, I am not sinning. If I watch someone have sex, I
am not sinning. Many would argue against this, but they have no biblical support. They simply follow religious views.

People say that in Matthew 5:28, Jesus was condemning men who looked at women to lust after them. But that is just not the
case. The Old Testament had men that lusted after women and it was fine. Solomon even had very explicit sexual fantasies
about women. The Old Testament never says that sexual lust or fantasies are sinful. So why would they suddenly be an issue in
the New Testament?

The only argument people have is Matthew 5:28. I could answer this argument with one word. CONTEXT! However, I will explain
what Jesus was saying.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:28, “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery
with her already in his heart.”

Jesus was not saying it is wrong to look at a woman and have sexual thoughts or fantasies about her. He was talking about
adultery. According to the Greek, Jesus did not use the word, lust, He used the word, covet. To covet meant to have in your mind
that you were going to act upon your thoughts. It was not merely temptation, it was willful desire with full intention to commit the
act.

Jesus was talking to the Pharisees. We know that the Pharisees had unregenerate hearts. They could not desire true
righteousness, but only self-righteousness. Their immoral desires were justified in their eyes because of their works. In other
words, they thought that by restraining themselves from committing the sin that they desired to commit, they would be found
righteous before God. So Jesus was telling them that carnality was not simply the act of sin, but a condition of the heart. This is
why Jesus said that if you look at a woman, (a married woman, by the way) to covet her, you have already committed adultery
with her in your heart. He did not say you commit adultery as you look, but that when you look, you have ALREADY committed
adultery in your heart. Jesus is speaking of the condition of the heart.

Jesus could have used any sin as an example, but because He used adultery, people are able to twist what He was saying and
condemn millions of men and women who are simply exercising their natural sexual feelings. Jesus would have made His point
just as well by saying, “You have heard in the law, thou shalt not steal. But I tell you, whosoever looks at his neighbor’s
possessions to covet them, he has already committed theft in his heart.” I suppose if Jesus had used that to make His point,
false teachers would then tell people that they are guilty of theft if they admire their neighbors car and would like to have it.
Admiring something or desiring to have something that is not yours is not the same as a willful intention to take something that
is not yours.

If you are a single man and you see a single woman that is attractive and you fantasize about her or lust after her body, you are
not committing adultery in your heart. The only way you can commit adultery in your heart is if you or the woman you are looking at
is married and you are coveting her, meaning that you have it in your mind that you are going to commit adultery with her. It is not
a temptation, it is a willful desire that you fully intend to act upon. Do not listen to false teachers. Listen to what scripture teaches
and keep it in CONTEXT.

If you watch videos of people having sex or look at magazines with nudity, it is not sinful. However, if you constantly view
pornographic material, then you might have an addiction. You must not let anything control you.

1 Corinthians 6:12 “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be
brought under the power of any.”

Viewing pornography that has sexual immorality such as adultery, sodomy, incest, or beastiality would be sinful, because these
are wicked according to scripture. David said in Psalm 101:3 that he will set nothing wicked before his eyes.

With all things, you should go to the Lord in prayer and study His word before you decide what you are going to believe. You must
have faith in the things that you follow or stand for.

Romans 14:22-23 "Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he
alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."