Culpability for Sinful Thoughts/Actions in Dreams

[Matt_Collins]

…but I have a problem with one point in your very fine post above…You say…
2. The desire to do something evil is not the sin. That’s the temptation. The choice to do something evil is the sin.
Could you provide a source for this? The reason I ask is because of what Jesus said in Mt 5:28.

James, you have a good point, and perhaps I could have stated things more clearly. What I mean is that being tempted to commit a sin is not itself sinful. Giving into the temptation and choosing to do it is what is sinful. Being tempted, for example, to look at pornography is not itself a sin. If I entertain the temptation, i.e., consent to it, then that is a sin.

Jesus says that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. To look at a woman with lust implies, I think, consenting to the temptation. Impure thoughts occur and if you just let them pass through the intersection like a traffic cop directing traffic, then there’s no sin. Feeling drawn to sin is likewise not a sin. However, entertaining and consenting to the feeling of being drawn to a sin is a sin.

So when I say that desiring to commit an evil act isn’t a sin, I mean that simply being drawn to an evil act isn’t sinful. It is when we give consent to it that it’s evil. I was simply trying to draw a distinction between the temptation to evil, and the act of evil.

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify. I hope this helps. I’ll try to be clearer in the future.

 

[JRKH]

James, you have a good point, and perhaps I could have stated things more clearly. What I mean is that being tempted to commit a sin is not itself sinful. Giving into the temptation and choosing to do it is what is sinful. Being tempted, for example, to look at pornography is not itself a sin. If I entertain the temptation, i.e., consent to it, then that is a sin.

Jesus says that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. To look at a woman with lust implies, I think, consenting to the temptation. Impure thoughts occur and if you just let them pass through the intersection like a traffic cop directing traffic, then there’s no sin. Feeling drawn to sin is likewise not a sin. However, entertaining and consenting to the feeling of being drawn to a sin is a sin.

So when I say that desiring to commit an evil act isn’t a sin, I mean that simply being drawn to an evil act isn’t sinful. It is when we give consent to it that it’s evil. I was simply trying to draw a distinction between the temptation to evil, and the act of evil.

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify. I hope this helps. I’ll try to be clearer in the future.

Ah - yes - much better…
We cannot control random thoughts…nor can we control random images…we can only control what we consciously do with them…

Peace
James