Last updated on December 5, 2024
Question:
Hello,
I have been thinking about lust a lot lately. Would it be a sin to lust after AI-generated images and porn? I’m assuming Jesus’ principle in Matthew 5:28 would also apply to it because lust isn’t just physical. But at the same time, they are not actual human beings. What do you think it is? Is it a sin?
Answer:
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God” (I Thessalonians 4:3-5).
“Lustful passion” translates two Greek synonyms for lust. It refers to things depicting passionate or erotic things to generate lust in the viewer or reader. Nothing in the definition requires it to be real or directly based on reality. A painting, a photograph or video, decorations on a vase, a cartoon image, or a description in a book can all done for the purpose of causing you to lust.
The reason lust is wrong is because you are accepting a sinful concept. It is the fact that you are imagining putting your penis into someone you are not married to that is wrong because it means you are accepting the concept of fornication. The fact that what you are using to arouse the desire happens to be imaginary doesn’t matter.
When you accept the concept of a sin, such as fornication, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep your body under control. You no longer possess your body, but your body controls your thinking. Without that self-control, you will easily fall prey to physical temptation. In other words, if you have been imagining having sex with an AI-generated image, what do you think will happen if a real woman invites you to have sex with her?
Response:
Wow, I never thought about it that way. Thank you!