Is masturbation a sin?

[The Righterzpen]

I agree that doing nothing but watching movies is something you can't do unto the Lord, but I wouldn't make that out as sinful. It is a gray area in life for pleasure, which is why I don't think masturbation is sinful.

Principally speaking; I agree with you. Just because something can be sin, does not necessarily mean that it is. As well as just because people assume those in a certain situation (married couples) are "safe" does not mean they are utilizing their relationship to the glory of God.

Tis for you and God to work through where your conscience should be on this.

 

[CLN]

That's not what I said. Pleasure is good, but to do things only to gratify your own pleasure is sinful. The first and greatest commandment is to love God without all of our being, show me how you can take pleasure in masturbation while equally obeying this? To begin, you're already distorting the purpose of sexual pleasure, and divorcing it from the sanction of marriage with a married partner in allowing only yourself to enjoy it for mere sensual sake.

Ok, how does masturbation keep me from loving God? I actually see that as glorifying God by using my member the way he designed it to work. Of course sexual intercourse is meant for marriage, but I don't have that option at the moment. So what do you recommend I do? Burn with desire?

 

[this is not my name]

1 Corinthians 7:1-4 1Now for the matters you wrote about: "It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman." 2But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.

 

[CLN]

1 Corinthians 7:1-4 1Now for the matters you wrote about: "It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman." 2But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.

I don't disagree? Again, I can't be married.

 

[Jonaitis]

So what do you recommend I do? Burn with desire?

Well, if we are dealing with a thoughtless passion (as you have suggested), such as your hormones running rampant, then learning to turn from it should be seen no less different than turning from other objects of bodily desire in your daily life. For an example, you can decide to change your diet by turning to healthy alternatives. It may not be an easy route, but it takes effort to accomplish that objective. I've heard (and done) fasts, that encourage controlling bodily desire. If you can control stomach pangs, you can control natural drives elsewhere. It isn't easy, especially with hormones at a young age. I don't know if you have ever been a hardcore gamer, but when I was a teenager I could play for hours, even all night, with hardly eating or moving from one spot. Those bodily desires were subject to a greater one, and for me to break that greater one it took a real mental effort.

If we are talking about a sexual passion, burning with a desire for women, then I recommend mortifying it with your mind (similar to what I said above, but not the same). Scripture actually addresses this: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness' (Romans 6:12-13). If Paul says this, then you are able to actually fight this. It is attainable to put to death your sinful passions, even in your sexual members."For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Romans 8:13).

But, the question continues to rise: how do I put to death the deeds of body by the Spirit? This is a common phrase that Paul uses: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind..." (Romans 12:2). That's what you need to work on, renewing your thinking.

When you came to Christ, assuming that you are truly born again, you changed the way you thought about everything, right? You can say that much of where your thinking was, which was in conformity to the world, was completely changed. Sure, there remains some corruption in the body, but you are a new creation, with a new mind and a new heart. You no longer look at this world the way you did when you were in the world. We call this "repentance," which in the Greek means to turn or change one's mind. You turned from the world and turned toward Christ, placing your faith in him for salvation. Some have wrongly called "repentance" a single act. No, it is one that begins at conversion and ends at death. We are continually being transformed in the renewing of our minds. When Paul said for us to renew our thinking, he is just saying that we should continue in the life-long process of repentance since the time of our conversion. We must "change" the way we think, if we want to see a "change" in the way we act. The more you study God's word, spend time in prayer, etc etc, the more you grow in grace and in faith, the more you mature. These things not only inform you, but draw you closer to God.

If you want to put to death the deeds of the body, you must change the way you think about things. If you learned about the biblical worldview of marriage, of sex, of manhood and womanhood, to give an example, you will look at this issue very differently, and with that your mind will affect how you approach it afterward. The more the Christian learns, the more he is changed. Weak Christians show how weak they are, not just by how they live, but what they know about Christ.

What are some methods to help you change the way you look at this issue, and change the way you should direct your passions? There are many. But, it would take up more space that I have already taken in this one post. There is a book, if you are interested, with some of these helpful methods, that have helped me "renew" my thinking about certain struggles. PM if you are interested.

 

[Jonaitis]

Imagine, if Islam knew even a little about "renewing the mind", in a very carnal sense of the use, they wouldn't have to have women cover to prevent sexual desire. In fact, such a practice only intensifies that curiosity and passion.

 

[HoneyBee]

Hello. I’m not quite sure if I’m posting in the correct area because I’m new to the site and forums in general, but here we go. I’m a 17 year old boy and lately I have been curious about this issue in the church. I would tend to lean more towards it NOT being sinful. However, I’m open to having my mind changed. I’ve researched this quite a bit and gathered various answers from both sides of the debate. Most answers I’ve gathered against masturbation involve scripture twisting or just aren’t logically sound (at least that is how I see them). I’ve asked my parents and pastors with no real answer. Obviously living in the United States, I cannot get married legally unless I have parental consent (I do not). So Paul’s advice in 1 Corinthians 7:9 doesn’t help since our cultures are different. So, that said, what are your thoughts?

Hey there. So, I'm currently going through classes right now in order to become a Catholic Christian, and I'd like to share with you some information from one of the lessons that I've been taught. According to the Catholic Church, masturbation would, indeed, be considered a sin. The reason for this is because it distorts the gift of sexuality. Rather than using it to bond with another and pro-create, masturbation causes a person to focus solely on themselves, thus stripping it away of any meaning beyond self-gratification. Not only that, but it leads to desensitization (aka, you get used to it and it stops feeling as good) and can, thus, lead to a person seeking other ways to get the same good feeling that they felt before when they first started. These other ways include, but are not limited to, pornography and fornication. Furthermore, the feelings that masturbation causes can become incredibly addictive. So yeah, it's just best to avoid it altogether, honestly.

And, speaking as a person who has slipped up in this area herself, it really isn't worth it. While it may give you momentary pleasure, it just leaves you feeling empty, soiled, and like you've done something wrong, at least in my case. Even when I surrounded myself with people who made it seem like masturbation was "no big deal" and "natural", that didn't make me feel any better. I had convinced myself that it wasn't a problem, sure... but even still, whenever I did it, I just felt bad... If you're struggling with this, I'd highly recommend that you tell someone about it. Someone that you trust and that can hold you accountable and maybe help you kick the habit. There are even websites that you can sign up for that will send your website visiting history to someone that you trust to hold you accountable, if you also struggle with looking at pornography. Sins like these grow in secrecy and are incredibly hard to stop alone, that's why I say to tell someone else about it.

And, I'm gonna be honest with you, there may be times that you slip up when it comes to masturbation and that's okay. We all slip up with sins sometimes, and that doesn't make any of us irredeemable. If a slip up should happen, my advice is to just get up, dust yourself off, go to confession (if you do that sort of thing in your Christian denomination), and try to "go and sin no more".

I hope this answered some of your questions!

 

[CLN]

Well, if we are dealing with a thoughtless passion (as you have suggested), such as your hormones running rampant, then learning to turn from it should be seen no less different than turning from other objects of bodily desire in your daily life. For an example, you can decide to change your diet by turning to healthy alternatives. It may not be an easy route, but it takes effort to accomplish that objective. I've heard (and done) fasts, that encourage controlling bodily desire. If you can control stomach pangs, you can control natural drives elsewhere. It isn't easy, especially with hormones at a young age. I don't know if you have ever been a hardcore gamer, but when I was a teenager I could play for hours, even all night, with hardly eating or moving from one spot. Those bodily desires were subject to a greater one, and for me to break that greater one it took a real mental effort.

If we are talking about a sexual passion, burning with a desire for women, then I recommend mortifying it with your mind (similar to what I said above, but not the same). Scripture actually addresses this: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness' (Romans 6:12-13). If Paul says this, then you are able to actually fight this. It is attainable to put to death your sinful passions, even in your sexual members."For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Romans 8:13).

But, the question continues to rise: how do I put to death the deeds of body by the Spirit? This is a common phrase that Paul uses: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind..." (Romans 12:2). That's what you need to work on, renewing your thinking.

When you came to Christ, assuming that you are truly born again, you changed the way you thought about everything, right? You can say that much of where your thinking was, which was in conformity to the world, was completely changed. Sure, there remains some corruption in the body, but you are a new creation, with a new mind and a new heart. You no longer look at this world the way you did when you were in the world. We call this "repentance," which in the Greek means to turn or change one's mind. You turned from the world and turned toward Christ, placing your faith in him for salvation. Some have wrongly called "repentance" a single act. No, it is one that begins at conversion and ends at death. We are continually being transformed in the renewing of our minds. When Paul said for us to renew our thinking, he is just saying that we should continue in the life-long process of repentance since the time of our conversion. We must "change" the way we think, if we want to see a "change" in the way we act. The more you study God's word, spend time in prayer, etc etc, the more you grow in grace and in faith, the more you mature. These things not only inform you, but draw you closer to God.

If you want to put to death the deeds of the body, you must change the way you think about things. If you learned about the biblical worldview of marriage, of sex, of manhood and womanhood, to give an example, you will look at this issue very differently, and with that your mind will affect how you approach it afterward. The more the Christian learns, the more he is changed. Weak Christians show how weak they are, not just by how they live, but what they know about Christ.

What are some methods to help you change the way you look at this issue, and change the way you should direct your passions? There are many. But, it would take up more space that I have already taken in this one post. There is a book, if you are interested, with some of these helpful methods, that have helped me "renew" my thinking about certain struggles. PM if you are interested.

I appreciate the long post. I read it all and I will say this, I'm 17 and I have been raised in church my whole life, officially being born again around 12 when I understood it fully. My thoughts have always been around "What does the Bible say?". I've read it from cover to cover multiple times and studied multiple sins and asked "why is this sinful?". I have always known the truth of the Word. Now, I have had my mind changed over the years on topics such as: alcohol, cannabis, and yes, masturbation (I won't get into those though) from my own study and logical opinion.I'm really happy you brought up video games, as I play quite a lot. I sometimes play for 5 hours or more, but that doesn't make it sinful. Most sins I have studied harm other people or yourself. So who does masturbation harm? Why does this small act affect my personal walk?

 

[Llewelyn Stevenson]

Remembering that The Law is our teacher [not our authority, but that which leads us to Christ] it is always a good thing to look to it for guidance. It is not there to condemn us because God looks on the heart and not at the outward man.

However from it we can glean much that will teach us about those things we often discover within as we desire to serve Christ with our whole heart.

It is a very long time since I was 17 but I was and faced the same issues you face today. It would be dishonest of me to say I did not ever have lustful thoughts and I would wonder at any who may suggest this is possible, but I must accept each one's witness.

Was I a christian? Yes! and I loved the Lord deeply. My whole life was committed to him. In fact I hated what was commonly called wet dreams because of the associated lustful thoughts that accompanied them and I found masturbation curbed these. I found it strangely disturbing that masturbation was viewed as a sin whilst wet dreams [that seemed uncontrollable] were not.

My decision is based on this text.

Lev 15:16 And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
Lev 15:17 And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.

My decision is that, while it defiles, it will not bring you into condemnation. My conclusion is this: it is God who gave the appetite [much like hunger] so that a man will desire his wife and God's will be fulfilled. Just like hunger an uncontrolled appetite will lead us to sin, however you do not stop eating in order not to be a glutton. That would be fatal. God will not judge you for an appetite but he will judge you for misusing it. So I conclude that masturbation in itself is not a sin, however I caution, would you care to be considered unclean before God for just 1 day? That is what The Law [our schoolmaster] teaches.

I will also caution that masturbation can be addictive and has destroyed many marriages because the young husband has found himself trapped in this self-gratification rather than fulfilling the will of God. Marriage does not end the desire. What will you do if your wife says, no? [I do not encourage this by the way, but it happens and can have legitimate reasons.]

My advice is avoid it at all costs if you can but there is no condemnation as I can see. If you are in love with God, will you do anything that might offend him even for just a day? I say, don't do it, not to condemn [for I only condemn myself though it be so many years ago] but for the love of Christ's sake. Not his love for you, but yours for him.

Congratulations to the young man who found victory over it through Jesus Christ. I commend you to the church. Not for pride's sake [for that is the greater sin] but because we each ought to be examples to each other. I rejoice when someone finds victory that brings them closer to Christ.

Love the Lord your God with every thought, passion and desire, and in every act that you do.

My young brother, do not condemn yourself in this. He has shown you what is good. Be honest and kind and willing to be obedient to God. On any day that you plan to serve God, either in ministry to him or mankind, do not touch that you may be seen to honor Him in the sight of heaven. This I have done.

 

[Llewelyn Stevenson]

I just read my post and to briefly clarify, I do not believe that masturbation is a sin but can see that it can very quickly lead to sin and therefore encourage if we can at all find it possible to avoid it.

To ask God to help you not to do it fulfills Jesus' model prayer, "...lead us not into temptation..."

 

[CLN]

Remembering that The Law is our teacher [not our authority, but that which leads us to Christ] it is always a good thing to look to it for guidance. It is not there to condemn us because God looks on the heart and not at the outward man.

However from it we can glean much that will teach us about those things we often discover within as we desire to serve Christ with our whole heart.

It is a very long time since I was 17 but I was and faced the same issues you face today. It would be dishonest of me to say I did not ever have lustful thoughts and I would wonder at any who may suggest this is possible, but I must accept each one's witness.

Was I a christian? Yes! and I loved the Lord deeply. My whole life was committed to him. In fact I hated what was commonly called wet dreams because of the associated lustful thoughts that accompanied them and I found masturbation curbed these. I found it strangely disturbing that masturbation was viewed as a sin whilst wet dreams [that seemed uncontrollable] were not.

My decision is based on this text.

Lev 15:16 And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
Lev 15:17 And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.

My decision is that, while it defiles, it will not bring you into condemnation. My conclusion is this: it is God who gave the appetite [much like hunger] so that a man will desire his wife and God's will be fulfilled. Just like hunger an uncontrolled appetite will lead us to sin, however you do not stop eating in order not to be a glutton. That would be fatal. God will not judge you for an appetite but he will judge you for misusing it. So I conclude that masturbation in itself is not a sin, however I caution, would you care to be considered unclean before God for just 1 day? That is what The Law [our schoolmaster] teaches.

I will also caution that masturbation can be addictive and has destroyed many marriages because the young husband has found himself trapped in this self-gratification rather than fulfilling the will of God. Marriage does not end the desire. What will you do if your wife says, no? [I do not encourage this by the way, but it happens and can have legitimate reasons.]

My advice is avoid it at all costs if you can but there is no condemnation as I can see. If you are in love with God, will you do anything that might offend him even for just a day? I say, don't do it, not to condemn [for I only condemn myself though it be so many years ago] but for the love of Christ's sake. Not his love for you, but yours for him.

Congratulations to the young man who found victory over it through Jesus Christ. I commend you to the church. Not for pride's sake [for that is the greater sin] but because we each ought to be examples to each other. I rejoice when someone finds victory that brings them closer to Christ.

Love the Lord your God with every thought, passion and desire, and in every act that you do.

My young brother, do not condemn yourself in this. He has shown you what is good. Be honest and kind and willing to be obedient to God. On any day that you plan to serve God, either in ministry to him or mankind, do not touch that you may be seen to honor Him in the sight of heaven. This I have done.

I appreciate the response, I always enjoy when Christians bring up The Law as I enjoy studying the law. I agreed with you on most of your statement until you said "masturbation in itself is not a sin" and then said "Don't do it". It would seem then you think it is.

 

[CLN]

I just read my post and to briefly clarify, I do not believe that masturbation is a sin but can see that it can very quickly lead to sin and therefore encourage if we can at all find it possible to avoid it.

To ask God to help you not to do it fulfills Jesus' model prayer, "...lead us not into temptation..."

Oh, ok I appreciate the clarification. I will say this, masturbation is not a requirement that I need to fulfill every day, however I do believe that it is ok to do so once in a while.

 

[Jonaitis]

Most sins I have studied harm other people or yourself. So who does masturbation harm? Why does this small act affect my personal walk?

This is the same question my best friend, who is a moderate Muslim, asked me. "What harm am I doing?" He took it a step further and said that "fornication isn't harming anyone, because both parties are consenting to it." Now, you can see already that his thinking is consistently logical, if we affirm the first question as an okay matter, but you know there is something wrong there. If we think masturbation isn't wrong, because it doesn't harm anyone, then fornication must also be okay, because it "doesn't harm anyone"...or does it?

But, sin isn't defined by how it affects other people, even if most (in practice) do harm others. Sin, by definition, is the transgression of God's law and a lack on our part to conform to its righteous standard. This means that whatever God says, even if we don't see any sort of relational repercussions, it remains sinful. God says that same-sex marriage is sinful, but why (as the world says) if it doesn't hurt anyone? Well, that's because God said it is; and indirectly, that's because God didn't design it that way.

My former Japanese teacher, who was an militant atheist/buddhist, said: "I don't understand why you have to worship one God, when we believe you can worship any and as many as you want. Why tell people they must only worship one?" In her mind, religion is nothing more than a system to build up your self-esteem and whatever else. It mattered to her about how other people feel, rather than what God says about it. She fails to admit that if there is one God, who is real, who did create us, then glorifying and worshiping other objects/deities as if they are "gods" robs God of that credit, honor, and glory. Idolatry is literally spiritual prostitution, giving what properly belongs to God to what isn't God.

Masturbation distorts the function of sex and turns it into a self-gratifying object for one's mere pleasure.

 

[CLN]

This is the same question my best friend, who is a moderate Muslim, asked me. "What harm am I doing?" He took it a step further and said that "fornication isn't harming anyone, because both parties are consenting to it." Now, you can see already that his thinking is consistently logical, if we affirm the first question as an okay matter, but you know there is something wrong there. If we think masturbation isn't wrong, because it doesn't harm anyone, then fornication must also be okay, because it "doesn't harm anyone"...or does it?

But, sin isn't defined by how it affects other people, even if most (in practice) do harm others. Sin, by definition, is the transgression of God's law and a lack on our part to conform to its righteous standard. This means that whatever God says, even if we don't see any sort of relational repercussions, it remains sinful. God says that same-sex marriage is sinful, but why (as the world says) if it doesn't hurt anyone? Well, that's because God said it is; and indirectly, that's because God didn't design it that way.

My former Japanese teacher, who was an militant atheist/buddhist, said: "I don't understand why you have to worship one God, when we believe you can worship any and as many as you want. Why tell people they must only worship one?" In her mind, religion is nothing more than a system to build up your self-esteem and whatever else. It mattered to her about how other people feel, rather than what God says about it. She fails to admit that if there is one God, who is real, who did create us, then glorifying and worshiping other objects/deities as if they are "gods" robs God of that credit, honor, and glory. Idolatry is literally spiritual prostitution, giving what properly belongs to God to what isn't God.

Masturbation distorts the function of sex and turns it into a self-gratifying object for one's mere pleasure.

Fornication IS harmful. It can spread STDs, which harms your body and can cause death in some cases. Pregnancy is also harmful because the parents aren't obliged to stay together thus causing harm to both parties and the baby growing up without a father. Masturbation does not cause physical or mental strain (unless it becomes addicting, which all things are possible to be addicted to)

 

[Jonaitis]

Fornication IS harmful. It can spread STDs, which harms your body and can cause death in some cases. Pregnancy is also harmful because the parents aren't obliged to stay together thus causing harm to both parties and the baby growing up without a father. Masturbation does not cause physical or mental strain (unless it becomes addicting, which all things are possible to be addicted to)

What if you wear rubbers? Is it still sinful?

 

[CLN]

What if you wear rubbers? Is it still sinful?

You can still get STDs even wearing a rubber. The condom can still break. So I say this in the most loving way I can, without mentioning "gratifying the flesh" what argument can you present briefly?

 

[Jonaitis]

You can still get STDs even wearing a rubber. The condom can still break. So I say this in the most loving way I can, without mentioning "gratifying the flesh" what argument can you present briefly?

Go on, justify your behavior. I can see that your mind is set.

 

[Natsumi Lam]

Yes, honey. It's a sin.

Please provide biblical support.

 

[this is not my name]

Imagine, if Islam knew even a little about "renewing the mind", in a very carnal sense of the use, they wouldn't have to have women cover to prevent sexual desire. In fact, such a practice only intensifies that curiosity and passion.

however, I still think that immodesty is a stumbling block, at least for those who are already addicted to such sins. we are meant to cover ourselves, we were given clothes for a reason. it talks about a son looking upon his father's nakedness in the old testament, and I believe the son was cursed because of it. there are dress codes in the Bible. but the most important thing is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. I don't want to cause anyone else to stumble, and I could fight for my rights to do so, however, if it causes someone else to stumble I am no longer walking in love.

Romans 14:14-17 14I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the LORD Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

 

[CLN]

Go on, justify your behavior. I can see that your mind is set.

So is yours though, we seem to be at a stalemate. I don't think "gratifying the flesh" is a good argument because everything you do other than eat, sleep, use the bathroom, and pray can be put under that umbrella of thinking.