This is the truth about "looking with lust"

[James Pierce]

I have been thinking about this scripture that Yahshua said in Matthew 5:28,"But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." I was searching for the actual meaning of that, and what I came to is not commonly believed among Christians and Messianics alike. Many will disagree with what I am going to say, and many will find that its common sense.

The previous scripture for verse 28 says,"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery." Notice that Yahshua is expounding on this one commandment here, and He is giving us a more deeper understanding of it. We must always establish the fact that Yahshua's teachings are rooted in the Torah, and will always be.

Many Christians and Messianics alike believe that the simple "looking" at the opposite sex equals committing adultery in one's heart. But, is that what Yahshua really meant? The primary meaning of adultery is to have sex with a married, or bethrothed woman, according to the Torah. Therefore, the following verse that Yahshua stated means to "look at a married or bethrothed woman with lust". These people "belong" to a person, and to lust/desire them, would be sin in your heart.

It is not a sin to simply lust after a single individual. Its not a sin to desire them. Thats the common misconception of the words of Yahshua, and I believe it has caused much sorrow for many in the Church, and in the Synagouge. We are free to lust after a person that we desire, but we are not free to lust after an individual that we know is married or bethrothed. I hope this shed light on the scripture and teaching of lust.

[Steve Davis]

I think you miss the point Moreh. The commandment is "you shall not commit adultry". So, to follow the thought through... You can look with lust and have no effect on the person on whom you have "looked". Adultry of the heart is a "one sided sin" so to speak. It is about the attitude one has towards God's commandments, not about the physical act that sometimes follows. If adultry is only with a married or betrothed woman then from what you stated having sex with a single woman would not be adultry. I can just see you walking up to a woman and ask,

"Are you married or betrothed?"
"No."
"You're single?"
"Yes."
"GREAT!!! Do you mind if I lust after you in my heart?"

Maybe you ought to think a bit more about your statement?

[James Pierce]

Steve,

Thank you for your response. You are missing one of the all most important words in Yahushua's statement... which is "lust". This word literally means "to desire". There is no sin in desiring a woman, namely, a single woman. This is why Yahushua mentioned the commandment in the first place. He did not deviate from that commandment. I do agree with you that its about the attitude(since its in the heart), that one has towards Yahweh's commandments, but its more than that as you saw Yahushua spoke.

Steve, Having relations with a single woman is NOT adultery. Who told you that one? Your church? Thats one big common misconception out there. If you are single, and the lady is single, especially if she was freed legally, in Yah's way, by divorce, then you are free to have relations with her, thus sealing your commitment to her. When you saw her, you lusted(desired) after her. She was neither married, or engaged at the time of your lust, therefore, you have not fallen into sin.

Its absurd to judge how I would approach a woman. Re-read Yahushua's statement concerning that. He keeps it strickly within Yahweh's torah, and no other teaching. To commit adultery is to have relations with a married, and or engaged woman... that is one of the teachings of Yahweh in his torah. Adultery says nothing about single women(less they divorced on grounds other than what Yahushua said). Therefore since Yahushua keeps it within Torah, he kicks it up a notch and showed his people that if you even look at a woman(one who is married, and or engaged) with lust(a desire for her), then you committed adultery in your heart.

Also, notice again Yahushua's words. Do you see another commandment in there? It is the commandment to not covet. What does torah say? It says to not covet your fellow man's possessions, and his wife. Coveting any of those is sin. Do you see the connection here? When you covet(desire, lust) another man's wife, or his possessions, then it is sin. Yahushua keeps this understanding within torah, which is the foundation for ALL teachings of the new testament.

Shalom Aleichem,
Yaakov

[Rev. Eric Culberson Jr.]

If she is single then its fornication and fornication is then sin correct? And if she is single and saved then Christ is her husband and sex outside of the marital covenant is then adultry correct?

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

Brother Moreh Yaakov!

Since it's hard to distinguish married women among those who walk in the street for example,
isn't it prudent not to covet women in general?

Besides, what is the purpose of the one who covets even an unmarried woman?

He who wants to get married should pray and God will reveal in one way or another his wife to him.

It's not conceivable that a believer spends all his time coveting all the women or girls he meets.

Such a desire is even a sin, even if it is directed toward a married woman or not.

Please, search and read my message concerning "Marriage and divorce, remarriage"(on the BPN: Preaching and teaching).

Blessings,

Bro. Germain

www.tagworld.com/srobouay
www.myspace.com/wawesan

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE FOUND THE ONE GOD HAS CHOSEN FOR YOU IN MARRIAGE?

It is the man who makes the first step, not the woman! No! I say no!

Having attained the age of adulthood and having sufficient means to take care of a woman and be possibly in charge of children whom he could procreate, the man starts to pray for his marriage. Not before, marriage should not be the preoccupation of a man who is not ready. He should not worry about it till he gets ready. This one must be converted.

In his request he asks God to grant to him a converted woman as himself. A woman who is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones.

The criterion of choice of his bride must be the beauty of the character of the woman(a worthy woman) and not the physical aspect of this one: A woman of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies (Proverbs 31:10).

Consequently, he must leave to God the time to show him his wife because God knows better than us what is good for us. The man must be patient and attentive, because when we ask for something to God in accordance with His will He indeed answers our requests. We must have judiciousness to understand the answer of God.

The man should neither flirt with the women of his Assembly nor have eyes clinched on all the sisters in Christ to covet one of them and think after having a dream about her that God has just shown him his wife through a dream. No!

The dream can be a sign in the choice of the spouse but it will be necessary that this one is confirmed by other dreams emanating from other persons notably from the woman involved or from other persons to make sure that this dream is true and comes from God.

The man can ask for a sign to God as it was the case of the servant of Abraham.

“ 10 Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim [a] and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.
12 Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a girl, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'-let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."
15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. 16 The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."
18 "Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking." 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka [b] and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. [c] 23 Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?"
24 She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor." 25 And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night."
26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, 27 saying, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives."

Genesis 24:10-27

There is no general and absolute rule to apply in this matter (It must be apprehended on a case-by-case basis). God supremely chooses the manner of revealing the wife of his Son.

Indeed, Adam did not ask for a sign. But At the sight of Eve he knew that she was his wife.

The most known way is the heart, the judiciousness (understanding) of the heart. To know that in my heart I feel a deep love for the converted woman whom I discover, whose characters are good. And I come to the conclusion that without her I cannot live. It is not the physical eyes which make the final choice but these are the eyes of the heart.

The Bible says “…For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Amen!

Matthew 12:34

Yes, for out of the overflow of the heart Adam spoke: "…This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, for she was taken out of man." Genesis 2:23

Adam did have neither a dream nor a vision, but it was by the eyes of his heart that he could identify his wife. It was not about a simple carnal desire founded exclusively on the physical beauty or mean-minded interests, but he had discovered a woman who was similar to Him. They had the same nature. She was his rib, flesh of his flesh, bone of his bones.

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God”

1 John 3:21

Always our heart. If our heart does not condemn us about the choice which we made after having prayed for a long time, then, we are on the good way.

“But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

Romans 14:23

We must make our choice by faith. We must have an interior conviction, an irrevocable conviction coming from the heart. If we doubt or if we fear, or if our heart condemns us, it means that we have not meet yet the spouse who God intended for us. But if the conviction coming from the heart is total then we are on the right way. The spouse may be less wealthy, a lame, a blind man or a disabled person, but these factors cannot make obstacle to a firm and total conviction coming from the heart and inspired by God. Amen!

I’ll soon get married. I’m speaking by experiment. I’ve put my confidence in God. I requested for a long time and He has indicated my wife to me. It was by my heart that I recognized her. My Choice was confirmed by a vision made by a sister in Christ. My future wife is a converted, virtuous young woman. We will marry soon. God listens to our prayers. He answers us and He grants to us what our heart wishes if we make of Him our delights and if we trust him:

“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4

The woman as for her must remain silent and must not worry (bother) about the problem of marriage until a converted man comes to ask her for marriage … She must not make the first step.

She should neither flirt with the men of her Assembly nor have eyes clinched on all the brothers in Christ to covet one of them and think after having a dream about him that God has just shown her husband through a dream. No!

She must not to jump on the first coming because she has been waiting for a long time, but she must submit the vow of the man (candidate for marriage) to request until she is persuaded and feels the same burning love as the man feels for her. The response of God in her heart must precede her approval of the vow (demand for marriage).

The criterion of choice of her husband must be the beauty of the character of the man (Godly man) and not the physical aspect of this one.

In her request she asks God to tell her, to convince her whether the man (candidate for marriage) is really a converted man, rib of whom she is:

“What a man desires is unfailing love better to be poor than a liar”.

Proverbs 19:22


I hope this can help!


“He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Luke 11:28

I do recommend you to visit the following Web site and to order the booklet entitled “The choice of a bride”.

www.inthedaysofthevoice.com


God has already spoken by His Prophet. Please recognize your day and its Message.


"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Revelation 3:22

Blessings,

Bro. Germain

www.tagworld.com/srobouay
www.myspace.com/wawesan

[James Pierce]

Rev,

If she is single then its fornication and fornication is then sin correct?

Fornication, in its primary meaning, is to have unlawful sex with women, namely, when you are married. Fornication is often associated with prostitutes, because they have sex with everyone for money. If you have sex with a single woman, namely, if she is a virgin, then you have not sinned. Fornication is also used figuratively towards Yahweh. When you go after other gods/idols, then you are committing fornication. You would be playing the whore/harlot.


And if she is single and saved then Christ is her husband and sex outside of the marital covenant is then adultry correct?

Adultery, in its primary meaning, is to not only fornication, but more to the actual word of Adultery, its to have sex with another man's wife, or another woman's husband. You cannot be single and saved, and commit Adultery with a single person lol. That does not make sense. What you as a single person can do is committ fornication by having sex with other people, and not staying true(committed) to the first one you had sex with.

If you find a woman who you want to committ to, and she is single, and has not committed any sexual immorality, namely, adultery/fornication, then you are free to have sex with her, thus consumating the commitment to her. The church does not teach this. They have twisted everything about sex, and the bible. The Church has probably made more homosexuals, and sexual immoral people, then the world. Its time to get our teachings right; one of them being sexual relations.

[Rev. Eric Culberson Jr.]

So basically you are saying that it is okay for single people to have sex as long as they stay committed to each other afterwards?

[James Pierce]

Rev,

The scriptures does not "command" any form of ceremony to be considered married. Scriptures shows many times how people simply took their spouses, and then "went into" them, and they became his wife. When you become committed to your helpmeet, then you have sex to consummate that commitment.

[Rev. Eric Culberson Jr.]

Yes but scripture also tells us of many of marriage ceremonies. And just because it skips to the part of them going in unto them does not mean there was no ceremony. Even in the most remote parts of the world were we would consider the people uninhabited they have some form of marriage ceremony. Sex consimates (sp) the marriage but there is a commitment pledge i.e. engagement that preceeds the consimation.

[James Pierce]

Rev,

Its true that there are marriages in the bible, but never does the bible command a ceremony to take place before the consumation. Marriages are only to CELEBRATE the commitment you've made to your spouse.

[Rev. Eric Culberson Jr.]

But biblically did they hold the ceremony before the consumation, or vice verse?

[James Pierce]

Rev,

Some did, and some didnt.