He has written a 43 page paper that reviews the changes in the Greek made by Erasmus that effect the way Matthew 19:9 has been translated. I reviewed McFall’s paper at Except For Fornication Clause of Matthew 19:9. I would love to hear some feedback on this position.

I also wrote an article on all most popular reasons that people give for Divorce and Remarriage.

Seeking to live proper, with order, and with honesty provides an infrastructure for life, and infrastructure provides a much smaller margin for hell to poke it’s ugly nose out of reality.

Also, quit smoking. You’re only telling God “I want to die”. Share the light!

Lust is, indeed a very selfish thing, and you have aptly pointed out that love isn’t selfish.

I also don’t think it is something that just men have to deal with.

I don’t think lust is something that is just sexual either. One can lust for something other than sex.
Lust perhaps is a pleasure and a dwelling over it.

Either way, you have made a very complete post on the subject, well done.

One day during my holiday over east in a news agency Valentines Day cards caught my attention – by this time it was late January. Almost immediately I had what some would describe as an epiphany. A seemingly genius plan miraculously formulated in my head, I would order some roses for Valentines Day, anonymously, of course. January quickly slipped away and the school year commenced with a buzz in early February. With the help of some friends from outside of school I rang up a florist and ordered a bunch of lovely roses to my school in the hope that they would be delivered on the morning of the 14th of Febuary 2007. English class concluded at school and I happily and excitedly set out for my next class. Who should come around corner? It was as predictable as a teenage soapy. This lovely girl saw me and laid her eyes on mine. The roses that she held in her hand where some of the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen. My wheelchair sped up…I began to rush…she then rushed towards me and said “ Hey James! I got anonymous flowers in class! Look!!” Naturally, I played the game, maintaining a neutral demeanor as much as possible, stating “Oh really?!?! “From who?!? “Who do you think it was?!?!”. She seemed both embarrassed and confused but also happy. Later that week when speaking to her over MSN she told me (not knowing it was me who sent the flowers) that she found the experience a “bit creepy” as it was not her boyfriend that sent them and so on. After examing the context of this comment it appeared to me that she was more frustrated than anything else.
Several months later, I find myself thinking of this girl and experiencing delusional visualizations literally 24/7 even though I know she has had a stable relationship for over 7 months. Yearning for her so much makes me feel guilty, I know there is no chance for her and I, all I ever want is for her to be happy – but equally, if not more overpowering is my drive to make her happy. My want and need for a girlfriend (for this girl in particular) is so severe that I can no longer cope with it. She is happy and healthy, nevertheless I cannot let go of my delusions. These days, as a result of my stupid friends, our conversations rarely span more than two or three sentences, I don’t even see her outside of school (I would love to) and she STILL consumes my thoughts and my life like a fictitious character occupies the mind of a small child when they read their first adventure book. It is truly and UTTERLY ridiculous. I need help desperately, I believe without a shadow of doubt that mental issues combined with sin are leading me through a life of decay and death of the soul.

After reading the above post I suddenly realized how many rules I was breaking and how much damage I could potentially cause to myself and to this girl. Pray for me and pray for her. Something tells me we both need it. Please provide me with some advice of some sort of how to overcome this. Scariest of all is that sooner or later my lust will push me to act again and I need to prevent that from occurring so that no harm comes to her or her boyfriend in any way shape or form. Much thought and reflection has taken place over the past few months and still no answer has arrived. God has simply allowed it and is allowing the consequences of my actions to take place as mentioned above.

“God has two purposes in abandoning the unrighteous to sin: (1) allow sin and its consequences to accelerate as part of his judgment on them (2:2), and (2) to make them realize their need for salvation (2:4).”

PLEASE HELP ME!

In regards to the sin in the Garden, the text seems to say that the sin occurred when the man and woman ate. This would go back to James 1:14,15 – But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
Lust gives birth to sin. Dwelling on the desires brings about the action – the sin.

Without the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, there wouldn’t have been an opportunity to reject God and demonstrate freewill. Without freewill, there isn’t love. I believe I went into depth on this topic in another posting. So, you are correct, that without the tree there wouldn’t have been lusting after it, but then again there could never be love, freewill, rejection, etc.

I hope that we have established a distinction between desiring a woman and dwelling on impure sexual thoughts/fantasies/etc. The desire for sex is God-given and good, given proper boundaries.

So, what’s the difference. The difference are the consequences. Lusting is a sin and so is acting it out. Continuing to sin is a sin. So, once you have sinned, it is not OK to continue. Therefore it’s not OK to commit sexual sin after the mental sin. But even still, the lusting hurts you, your relationships, your future, everything. But following through with sexual immorality imparts consequences on others. So, the severity of the consequences is much greater, even though both are sins.

I believe all should be inquisitive, curious, and open to asking and being asked hard questions. Understanding life is important and should never be skirted.

Also – If merely desiring a woman is just as sinful as actually sleeping with her, then would it follow that if you desire a woman you might as well go ahead and sleep with her to satisfy your curiosity rather than go on desiring her, because either way you’re just as guilty? Take an example of three men – Tom, Dick and Harry. All three desire Jane sexually. Tom and Dick are handsome, Harry is ugly. Jane sleeps with Tom. She offers herself to Dick, but he refuses her even though he desires her because he knows that it would be a sin. Jane doesn’t bother offering herself to Harry, but if she had, Harry would have jumped her bones. Are all three equally guilty?

I know I sound like a philosopher, but I am a Christian – just an insatiably curious one…