Discussion Boards - The Big Issues

Going off topic for a bit, I want to ask a question about glorifying God.

Can we glorify God by
- going to war
- executing a murderer
- drowning unwanted kittens
- refusing to vote
- or to use a Bible account, Saul was commanded to put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys (Amalekites)?

If we can glorify God in the unpleasant things, why not those things that are not unpleasant, ie. masturbating.
I think that the subject of masturbating is surrounded by many taboo connotations and associations with sexual impurity, that it can be confused with what God would see as acceptable.

I accept that many of you guys who have posted on this topic, believe it is sinful. I respect that and if you are committed to that in your walk before the Lord, then live by that.
However, to brand a single man who is attempting to walk holy before the Lord as a sinner because he is masturbating, is something I won't do.
If he believes he is doing the wrong thing, then he is sinning against his conscience.
Sexuality is hard enough to deal with in this sex soaked culture of ours, that I would not load my opinion on a single man's conscience.

Completely agree Michelle. It is what I did mean that God convicts us more than to make us guilty.

Isn't taking something that Saul was commanded to do in the old testiment out of context and something entirely different?

Michael and Dave, you've both hit the nail on the head. great input.

On the day of judgement we will all stand before God and have to answer for all our sins. But one thing for sure is that God wont say "okay James those times you masturbated, you sinned because you thought it was wrong. But you Philip, you thought it was okay, so you haven't sinned." God doesn't work like that. If a murderer some how interprets the scriptures to say that murder is okay and honestly believes that, then does that mean he hasn't sinned? Of course it doesn't.

I agree that it's very hard to turn from sexual desires because it's in our face all the time, but that's what satan wants. Don't let him win!! A good way of guaging whether it's okay or not, is to imagine Jesus walking in on you. What would you say to Him? What would He say to you?

Follow Paul's advice to the Corinthian church, if you cant display self-control then it's best to get married. if you're in this boat, pray to God and ask for self-control and then take actions to stop it from happening.

I stopped reading all the posts from halfway down page 3 ... sorry ...

but can everyone please read Leviticus 15: 1 - 17 ...

"Lev 15:2 Talk to - the children of Israel and say unto them, each that will be running semen/discharge from their flesh is unclean: " ....

I do believe this talks of masturbation. Any man/woman who has a "discharge" is considered unclean and he must make his way to the priests for atonement, two turtledoves, or two pigeons are offered and one is offered as a SIN offering ...

In Numbers 5:2 God tells Moses to put everyone who has a discharge out of the camp so they will not defile the camps ... Out of the camps meant that they would never return, they were sent away ...

looks to me like He is not silent on the topic of masturbation, its a sin and any man or woman is unclean who masturbates ....

OK folks. This post is all yours now. I'm done. I don't seem to be getting my point across.
I have nothing more to contribute. Washed up, finished, worn out, kaput, ground down, no value. :)

Hi James, You referred to 1 Corinthians 7 - a person not showing self-control should marry. I agree. The difficulty is that our brains now mature about 15 years after our bodies (dropping from physical/sexual maturity at 22 down to 17 for boys and 16 down to 12 and earlier for girls - with our brains and thus the ability to think well about sexual decisions still maturing at 30). So we are living, sometimes for decades, with peer pressure to have sex, invasive pornography, pressure not to marry, lack of family assistance in finding an appropriate spouse, (40% or more also dealing with the fallout of childhood sexual abuse), and all this when our brains are not geared up to cope with adult decisions. No wonder it is so very difficult to be pure.

Hi Phillip. Thanks for clarifying about the website. I suspected that you didn't mean that site, but I can see how Daniel found it from the search terms he used from your post. I think I understand your basic point as being 'it is better to masturbate than to burn with passion', that it can be a helpful release for a person in this sex-soaked world, that for some it is a prayerfully considered way of remaining pure. The thing is (not claiming to be super-holy) I think masturbation actually builds desire rather than lessens it, and makes the self the source of fulfilment in a way that is inadvertently selfish. I see that the intention is to be pure, but I personally believe that deception has crept in on the point of how best to remain pure.

Pauline. Hang on, Leviticus 15:1-15 is about an 'unusual discharge' - from the context this is from some kind of illness. Verse 16 then goes on to talk about 'an emission of semen' which makes the man 'unclean' (just as a woman's period makes her 'unclean' and sex makes both 'unclean') Semen is not an 'unusual discharge'. For this a man is not required to make a sin offering, just to wash.

Woah, Pauline, I wonder what this person got up to, to be offering Five Golden Rings, Four Calling Birds, Three French Hens,Two Turtle Doves, And a Partridge in a Pear Tree. hehehehe !!

Hey Giselle ... I'm sorry, but how do you come to the conclusion that the "unusual discharge" is some kind of illness?

The original meaning for "running issue" found in Lev 15:2 is zoob meaning to have a sexual flux ... up until vs 15 it speaks directly about this.

So from vs 1 - 15, it is speaking about sexual flux ... i mean we are talking about an abnormal/excessive or large quantities of sexual fluid coming from the body ... sounds like masturbation to me ... and how it is to be atoned o_O

Then vs 16-18 it speaks about the act of sex and how both man and woman are just unclean and need to wash, they do not need to atone ...

If you guys add one more page to this topic, I shall force you all to discuss childbirth!! And maybe even breastfeeding!! :p

I thought you were taking a break, Michelle :)