Sexual Sin

This study of the scripture of the Word of God will cover the divided, scattered church of the Roman Christian Tradition, concerning the anti-sex attitude, so pervasive in the church and in society. 

This study is not about Wesley.  It’s not so that I can make it ok for me to be sexually immoral.  Many of you will not look at the Word of God, but turn your eyes upon Wesley, to see what’s wrong with Wesley.  But I just study the Word of God, and share what I find.  My opinion does not count.

If I’m wrong, and someone can help me to see the truth, feel free to rebut boldly.  Just remember: the truth comes from the Word of God, and not from opinions, and long-held traditions of men. 

You can easily check all of this by using e-sword, a powerful Bible study tool that includes the KJV, and Hebrew and Greek Lexicons.  Download it for free at www.e-sword.net

Christians walk around in guilt, shame, and condemnation; because they think you can’t be a true Christian, if you still want sex.

Others avoid Jesus because they think they will have to give up sex.  And they say, “Keep your religion off of my body, and out of my schools”.

We SAY we get our values from God.  Let’s see . . .

SEXUAL THOUGHTS
The first challenge is to the proclamation that it’s sin to think a sexual thought.  It seems the only verse of scripture to fall on is--
Mat 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.

We see that the English definition of “Lust” is sexual desire, STRONG sexual desire, and if the English word, “lust” is what Yahoshua meant, then we certainly need to pluck our eyes out to avoid lust--

Lust
Entry from World dictionary, Oxford
Pronunciation: /lʌst/
noun
[mass noun]
strong sexual desire:he knew that his lust for her had returned
[in singular] a passionate desire for something:a lust for power
(usually lusts) chiefly Theology a sensuous appetite regarded as sinful:lusts of the flesh

Verb
have strong sexual desire for someone:he really lusted after me in those days

have a strong desire for something:pregnant women lusting for pickles and ice cream

Origin:
Old English (also in the sense ‘pleasure, delight’), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch lust and German Lust

Now, let’s look at the word, “lust” in the scripture. There it is--“to lust G1937”--
Mat 5:28  ButG1161 IG1473 sayG3004 unto you,G5213 ThatG3754 whosoeverG3956 lookethG991 on a womanG1135 to lustG1937 after herG846 hath committed adulteryG3431 with herG846 alreadyG2235 inG1722 hisG848 heart.G2588

In the Strong’s Lexicon--
to lustG1937
επιθυμέω
epithumeō
ep-ee-thoo-meh'-o
From G1909 and G2372; to set the heart upon, that is, long for (rightfully or otherwise)

Where, in the descriptive terms of the definition does it say anything about sexual thoughts, or committing adultery?  Go back, and look again.

Here are other contexts for the Greek word, “epithumeō”--

Search in e-sword, KJV+, for “G1937”

Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired (epithumeō) to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Luk 15:16 And he would fain (epithumeō) have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

1Ti 3:1  This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth (epithumeō) a good work.

There it is, the truth.  It’s not what we’ve been taught, is it?

Here is the bad kind of lust. If what you long for is forbidden, it’s epithumia. It’s not even specifically sexual--

G1939
επιθυμία
epithumia
ep-ee-thoo-mee'-ah
From G1937; a longing (especially for what is forbidden)

Search in e-sword, KJV+, for “G1937”

Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust (epithumia—long for the forbidden), except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet (epithumeō--set heart upon (apparently epithumeo that is forbidden, is epithumia)).

What is forbidden? 

Well, “Thou shalt not . . .” tells you what is forbidden.  If it’s not forbidden; then, it’s not epithumia (longing for what is forbidden).

The commandments in the context of this study, are--

Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

“Thou shalt not covet” covers
a house,
wife,
manservant,
maidservant,
ox,
ass,
and everything else that belongs to your neighbor. 

“Thou shalt not covet” is not sexual in specificity.

ADULTERY
Now, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” IS specifically sexual, and it’s more specific than how we’ve been taught by the Roman Christian Tradition.

The traditional Roman Christian teaching is that it’s Adultery when ANYONE cheats on their Spouse, or if anyone has more than one sexual partner at the same time, or looks at pornography, or dresses sexy.  BUT the Scripture of the Word of God defines adultery, according to the Law of Moses.  This is not the Gospel--

Eze 16:32  But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

Lev 20:10  And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Deu 22:22  If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

That is all the Law of Moses has to say about adultery.  There’s not more, other than the figurative—God’s wife, Israel, committed adultery, and so did her sister, Judah.

SEXUAL IMMORALITY
This is the problem with a bible (The ESV) that is supposed to be an essentially literal word-for-word translation.

KJV
1Co 6:18  Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

ESV
18 nFlee from sexual immorality. Every other sin1 a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person osins against his own body.

OK, so what are we supposed to flee from?
Fornication.

OK, so, what is fornication? 
Just look up the English word, and you get an idea.

OXFORD, the mother of all English dictionaries--
fornication(for·ni·ca·tion)
Pronunciation:/ˌfôrniˈkāSHən/
noun
formal or humorous
sexual intercourse between people not married to each other:laws forbidding adultery and fornication

Hmmm, "Sexual intercourse", That’s when the two become one; the male puts his penis into the vagina of the female, they interact to fulfillment; and the female conceives and bears children.
Is that wrong? --or is there esoteric knowledge to be considered?

If we look up the Greek Word for the thing that we are supposed to flee from--
G4202
πορνεία
porneia
por-ni'-ah
From G4203; harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively idolatry

Harlotry is prostitution, not something else, too, other than what the Holy Spirit teaches in the Word of God. 

Here is how Pornia includes adultery and incest.  Paul said there was fornication, in that someone was having his Father’s wife.--
1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.

Lev 18:8  The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.

Harlotry
What would become of a young virgin, who allows herself to be taken by a man?--
Deu 22:28  If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
Deu 22:29  Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

If they are NOT found, and they get married later, she gets away with it.  But later, if she tries to marry another man--
Deu 22:13  If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,

Deu 22:14  And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: . . .
Deu 22:21  Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
--This is how they could bring the adulterous woman to Yahoshua, without the man.

I don’t find the place in scripture where a harlot is put to death.
It looks like it’s better to be a harlot, than stoned.  So, the young woman who is not a virgin has something to hide.

Now, the ESV says to flee from sexual immorality--
According to OXFORD, the mother of all English dictionaries, immorality means committing acts that violate society’s moral norms, not God's Law.--

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
immoral(im·mor·al)
pronounciation:/i(m)ˈmôrəl, -ˈmärəl/
adjective
not conforming to accepted standards of morality:an immoral and unwinnable war

Derivatives
immorally
adverb
Usage
Immoral means‘ failing to adhere to moral standards.’ Amoral is a more neutral, impartial word meaning ‘without, or not concerned with, moral standards .’ An immoral person commits acts that violate society’s moral norms. An amoral person has no understanding of these norms, or no sense of right and wrong. Amoral may also mean ‘not concerned with, or outside the scope of morality’ (following the pattern of apolitical, asexual). Amoral, then , may refer to a judicial ruling that is concerned only with narrow legal or financial issues. Whereas amoral may be simply descriptive, immoral is judgmental
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If that is right, then sexual immorality depends on where you live, and it changes with the times.
--In some parts of the world, and in some Christian sects, FGM is practiced (Female Genital Mutilation is a practice in which the clitoris is painfully cut off of girls, denying her sexual pleasure.).  It is sexually immoral not to cut off your daughter’s clitoris.

--In the US, the law is changing to make homosexual marriage lawful and normal.  It is sexually immoral to deny recognition to homosexual marriage.

So “sexual immorality” is such a broad and all-inclusive term, that it could mean anything, depending on social norms.  Does the Holy Spirit mean for us to watch society to see what the moral norm is?

So, to flee from Fornication, is to avoid harlotry, and the forbidden relationships in Lev 18, Lev 20.  None of these say anything about how many wives, or what you can’t do with your wives, except, maybe the period thing.  And the laws are directed mostly to men.  The relationships not listed here, are ok.

It looks like
“lying with”,
“uncovering the nakedness”,
“going in unto”, and
“marrying”,
are parts of the process of taking a wife, and not particularly interchangeable terms. 

Thou shalt not lie with . . .
a man as with a woman,
a beast,
uncle’s wife,

A woman shall not lie down to a beast.

Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of . . .
near of kin,
father (thy father’s wife is thy father’s nakedness),
mother,
father’s wife,
sister, the daughter of thy father,
sister, daughter of thy mother,
Son’s daughter,
daughter’s daughter,
father’s wife’s daughter,
father’s sister,
mother’s sister,
father’s brother’s wife,
daughter in law,
brother’s wife,
wife’s daughter,
wife’s granddaughter,
wife’s sister (to vex her?),
a woman on her menstrual period,

Heb 13:4 does not say, “Thou shalt keep marriage honorable, according to social norms”.  There’s no reason to twist the words around to make it easier for the Roman Christian to read.
The Holy Spirit tells us what is honorable, and says “marriage IS honorable in ALL”--
Heb 13:4  Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

It’s a good translation.  “Let”, and “should” is not in there--
Heb 13:4  MarriageG1062 is honourableG5093 inG1722 all,G3956 andG2532 theG3588 bedG2845 undefiled:G283 butG1161 whoremongersG4205 andG2532 adulterersG3432 GodG2316 will judge.G2919

marriageG1062
γάμος
gamos
gam'-os
Of uncertain affinity; nuptials

is honorable G5093
τίμιος
timios
tim'-ee-os
Including the comparative τίμιώτερος timiōteros and the superlative τίμιώτατος timiōtatos; from G5092; valuable, that is, (objectively) costly, or (subjectively) honored, esteemed, or (figuratively) beloved

So all the sexual sins have more to do with who your partner is, than what you do with your partner.

To say more than what I’ve cover here, is either to correct me of what I’ve omitted from the Word of God, or to replace it with the teaching of men.

In the name of Yahoshua HaMashiach, and in His Love,
Wesley, nobody but His servant.