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 sin?<\/p>\n\t
What if we changed the genders involved and said that a guy touched a woman’s genitals while she was sleeping. Would that be wrong? “Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman<\/em>” (I Corinthians 7:1). Sexual touching between unmarried people is wrong, regardless of the genders involved.<\/p>\n While you didn’t initiate the contact, you did permit it to continue. In I Corinthians 6:9, in discussing various sins that can keep people out of heaven, Paul used two different terms for homosexuality. “Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals<\/em>” (I Corinthians 6:9). The word “effeminate” translates the Greek word\u00a0malakos<\/em>. It literally means something that is soft and the Greeks used it to refer to a man who allows another man to do homosexual acts with him. The second word, “homosexuals,” translates the Greek word arsenokoites<\/em>. This word literally means man-bedder. The Greeks used “bed” as a euphemism for sexual intercourse. This word refers to a man who commits sexual acts on another man. While the man only touched you, he clearly was stirring up homosexual lust within himself.<\/p>\n How something feels does not determine right or wrong. What the man did was clearly wrong. It was also wrong that you permitted it to continue. In discussing the decay of the Greek society, Paul condemned not only those who committed crimes against God, but also those who approved of those crimes. “And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them<\/em>” (Romans 1:32). The proper response would have been to tell the man “no” firmly and loud enough that everyone on the bus knows that he is acting inappropriately. Then change seats so you are no longer near him.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 sin? Answer: What if we…<\/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":[35,203],"class_list":["post-30827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-homosexuality","tag-sexual-touching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21832,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-let-another-man-touch-me-during-the-night\/","url_meta":{"origin":30827,"position":0},"title":"Is it a sin to let another man touch me during the night?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I let another man touch me in the night time. I do not know what to do. Answer: The question is too vague for me to answer well. By \"touch,\" I'm assuming he touched your genitals in some way, but I don't know if you mean purposely or accidentally.\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":30827,"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":36404,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/while-we-havent-had-sex-weve-been-sexually-involved-with-each-other-how-do-we-stop\/","url_meta":{"origin":30827,"position":2},"title":"While we haven’t had sex, we’ve been sexually involved with each other. How do we stop?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My boyfriend and I are very much in love, but I am afraid to say we have had sexual contact with each other. It is very sad because we both have grown up knowing the love, power, and grace of God. I feel lost. We didn't actually have \"sex\"\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":28982,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-it-be-said-that-homosexuals-and-lesbians-practicing-sexual-touching-such-as-hand-jobs-is-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":30827,"position":3},"title":"How can it be said that homosexuals and lesbians practicing sexual touching such as hand jobs is sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":26674,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-touching-your-girlfriend-wrong-in-gods-eyes\/","url_meta":{"origin":30827,"position":4},"title":"Is touching your girlfriend wrong in God’s eyes?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My\u00a0girlfriend and I have been dating each other for a while now. She's a very serious Christian and she's trying to keep herself as clean as possible, so\u00a0every time I try to touch her she gets mad. I wonder if touching is a wrong thing in God's eyes. Answer:\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":30827,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30827","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=30827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30827\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}