It isn’t that hard. The context in which touching is being discussed is in the realm of sex.<\/p>\n
“Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband<\/em>” (I Corinthians 7:1-3).<\/p>\n“For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, and be embraced in the arms of a seductress?<\/em>” (Proverbs 5:20).<\/p>\n“Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent<\/em>” (Proverbs 6:27-29).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThese verses in context are addressing male-female relationships, but it doesn’t mean that same-gender sexual acts are therefore approved. Homosexuality is primarily wrong because God said it is immoral. “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due<\/em>” (Romans 1:27-27). “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God<\/em>” (I Corinthians 6:9-10). On a secondary level, it is also wrong because it is the arousing lust between people who are not and cannot marry. “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles–when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries<\/em>” (I Peter 4:3). If sexual touching is wrong for an unmarried man and woman to engage in because of the lust that it produces, it remains wrong for same-sex relationships because it too is generating lust.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: I read\u00a0your articles based on I Corinthians 7:1-2. I am left confused. First, how does 1 Corinthians 7:1-2 mean sexual touching? John MacArthur stated that it means actual physical sexual intercourse. I don’t really agree with his interpretation due to the fact that the word touch seems to be sensitive. However, I am still…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[35,156,909,203],"class_list":["post-28982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-homosexuality","tag-lust","tag-mutual-masturbation","tag-sexual-touching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30827,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-it-sinful-to-allow-a-guy-to-touch-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":28982,"position":0},"title":"Was it sinful to allow a guy to touch me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a straight guy (unmarried). When I was traveling on a bus at night, while sleeping, an old man sitting near me touched my genitals. I didn't react to it. I pretended to be asleep. It was pleasurable to me so I didn't react. Did I commit a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26039,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-giving-a-client-a-handjob-as-part-of-a-massage-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":28982,"position":1},"title":"Is giving a client a handjob as part of a massage a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a male massage therapist. I want to know if it is a sin to give a full body massage that includes massaging the penis and masturbating the client for full relaxation. Answer: Is this not just one aspect of homosexuality? But homosexuality is condemned in the Scriptures:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40923,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-we-plan-to-marry-is-sexual-touching-ok\/","url_meta":{"origin":28982,"position":2},"title":"Since we plan to marry, is sexual touching OK?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a ring on my finger and me and my boyfriend plan to marry within the next 5 years. We have not had sex and do not plan to until marriage, but we have done things with our hands. We are not sure whether it was a sin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32363,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-woman-to-relieve-her-fiance-using-masturbation-until-they-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":28982,"position":3},"title":"Is it wrong for a woman to relieve her fiance using masturbation until they get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Praise the Lord. I read your correspondence regarding\u00a0oral sex\u00a0and found it to be very enlightening. Does this reasoning also apply to a woman relieving her fianc\u00e9 using masturbation on him until they marry? Answer: \"Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26107,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-included-in-porneia\/","url_meta":{"origin":28982,"position":4},"title":"What is included in porneia?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi! I have been studying sex and the Bible. What I am really confused about is that the Bible does not mention oral sex or mutual masturbation. It only mentions anal sex and vaginal sex. Thus, how are oral sex and mutual masturbation a sin? How is it sexual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14236,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-a-handjob-a-sin-if-you-love-her-and-it-doesnt-lead-to-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":28982,"position":5},"title":"Is a handjob a sin if you love her and it doesn’t lead to sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is a handjob a sin if you love her and it most definitely does not lead to sex? Answer: A \"hand job\" is slang for mutual masturbation; using the hand to stimulate the genitals. Saying that it does not lead to sex is a misnomer. It would be more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}