Masturbation as a Sin (A Different Approach)

[Anguspure]

Marriage: a covenant.

One flesh - i.e. your body and your spouse's body are theologically the same body. So does it really matter if you touch this part of that marriage body or that other part of the marriage body?

And consider this verse in the sexual context:

Ephesians 5:28
So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,​

The problem as I see it is that masturbation neither nourishes nor cherishes, rather it underlines the deep lonliness of the person practicing it.
Masturbation is like a thirsty man drinking seawater, it may provide some immediate relief but for the longer term it is harmful.
Sex is about procreation but in so far as the man and the woman become one in the act, it is also the expression of the deepest and most holy relationship that we can have (between humans).
Masturbation (as solo sex) is a perversion of that intent.

 

[Dave-W]

What would Jesus do? Did he touch?

And there is the question: Can God make a rock so big that He Himself cannot lift it.

The assumption behind the question is this: We start from the premise that masturbation is sinful. Since it is said in scripture that He never sinned, then He could not have possibly done that.

I challenge the premise. If it is NOT sinful, then it certainly is possible He did that. The truth is, we have no clue one way or the other.

 

[2tim_215]

Song of Songs 5:5 (KJV) I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

Song of Songs 5:2 (KJV) I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
undefiled - Hfrom <H8552> (tamam); complete; usually (moral) pious; specifically gentle, dear :- coupled together, perfect, plain, undefiled, upright.

Maybe she was asleep.

 

[Dave-W]

The problem as I see it is that masturbation neither nourishes nor cherishes, rather it underlines the deep lonliness of the person practicing it.

So does that include the OP's point #2 - a married couple doing the big M together? Or one spouse holding and caressing the other while they take care of business?

 

[Dave-W]

Maybe she was asleep.

Maybe - but it was HER fingers dripping with her wet stuff ....

 

[grandvizier1006]

By mutual masturbation you mean in a marriage, right?

 

[Dave-W]

By mutual masturbation you mean in a marriage, right?

From the way the OP was worded, that was how I took it.

BTW - Hi Grand! Welcome to discussing this outside the safety of the Men's folder.

 

[Tetra]

So does that include the OP's point #2 - a married couple doing the big M together? Or one spouse holding and caressing the other while they take care of business?

In fact, if we are to have a real mature conversation about this. Some people can find it hard to [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse], or maybe have had previous negative circumstances which inhibit the possibility of their spouse helping in this regard. Sometimes what you're describing in the second sentence is a great and loving option.

 

[grasping the after wind]

I'm sorry, but I haven't gleaned that definition of lust from the Bible. Do you have Scripture? However, I would agree that solely being focused on oneself is an issue, I would more place that into being an issue of selfishness, not lust.

Dave-w's definition seems reasonable to me. A STRONG desire. The question then is what one does with that strong desire. If one uses others to satisfy it that IMO is a sin.

 

[Tetra]

By mutual masturbation you mean in a marriage, right?

Yes, the entire context of the post was in reference to masturbation within marriage.

 

[JacksBratt]

No idea. As far as I know He didn't even have sex.

Sorry..... but what do you mean? "As far as I know He didn't even have sex"?

How could Christ have had sex and been sinless? He was never married.... therefore, if He ever had sex.... He would have sinned.

I don't know and the bible never mentions if He masturbated.... I do know that He never sinned. I do know that He never married... So, He never had intercourse....

This leads to "did He have night emissions"? (Wet dreams)?

 

[Dave-W]

. Sometimes what you're describing in the second sentence is a great and loving option.

Indeed.

 

[grandvizier1006]

From the way the OP was worded, that was how I took it.

BTW - Hi Grand! Welcome to discussing this outside the safety of the Men's folder.

I rarely venture out of it for various reasons, lol.

 

[Tetra]

Sorry..... but what do you mean? "As far as I know He didn't even have sex"?

How could Christ have had sex and been sinless? He was never married.... therefore, if He ever had sex.... He would have sinned.

I don't know and the bible never mentions if He masturbated.... I do know that He never sinned. I do know that He never married... So, He never had intercourse....

This leads to "did He have night emissions"? (Wet dreams)?

It was a joke intended to illuminate a problem with the question. lol Obviously he never had sex.

 

[JacksBratt]

Another question:

Say your son, or your daughters boyfriend is sexually charged.... like males get when their seminal vesicle is full,... so... they touch so that they do not fall to temptation when they are with their girlfriend or your daughter... Is it a sin? Or... is it relief from a tension that would lead to sin?

 

[Dave-W]

If one uses others to satisfy it that IMO is a sin.

Agreed. That is where sexual abuse and assault come from. (not including rape which is more about power and domination than sex)

But what we are talking about here is satisfying it by yourself. (not using others)

 

[JacksBratt]

It was a joke intended to illuminate a problem with the question. lol Obviously he never had sex.

Phewf..... lol.

 

[Dave-W]

I rarely venture out of it for various reasons, lol.

Of course.
I am a bit more outspoken on this than most.

 

[rockytopva]

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.
17 And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.
18 The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even. - Leviticus 15

Recognize anything that produces sperm as unclean.

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. - Revelation 16:15

If the Lord would catch you in such activity at the sounding of the trumpet... Would you rise with the saints to meet him in the air?

 

[Tetra]

Phewf..... lol.

I'm sorry, I thought that was obvious.

When people say "what would Jesus do?", it implies whatever Jesus didn't do, we shouldn't do either. This is obviously silly, Jesus never got married... had sex... drove a car... did pilates...