Is Masturbation a Sin?
Someone posted this question on a FB group I'm in, so it got me thinking. Here are those thoughts:
Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus says that anyone who has lusted in his heart has committed adultery. While I can't say what someone thinks about when they masturbate, I can say that it's always with lustful thoughts towards another person.
Genesis 38:9-10 is an example many people use when saying one shouldn't "waste their seed" but God didn't kill Onan for pulling out, per se, but because he didn't fulfill his familial duty to provide his dead brother an heir.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is a reference to sexually immoral acts like anal sex, sex between 2 men or 2 women, sex with animals or any other unnatural act. It can easily be argued that masturbation is neither immoral nor unnatural.
There is mention in Deuteronomy and Leviticus about a man emitting semen in his sleep (nocturnal emission/wet dream) and being unclean as a result but this is a natural process one has no control over.
There is no specific Bible verses explicitly forbidding or even addressing masturbation. The only thing I personally feel addresses it to any capacity is Jesus in Matthew 5:27-28, referenced above and for the reasons also mentioned above. In today's pornography driven society, lust is especially an issue.
Personally, I feel that if I am single and the person with whom I'm lusting over while masturbating is also single, then I can't by definition be committing adultery, and if I'm lusting over natural sexual acts and nothing unnatural, then there's no sexual immorality and so I'm not sinning.
For me, it comes back to nocturnal emissions. I can't control what I lust about in my dreams and so can't control what my body reacts to in said dream and I'm not at fault for that so when I'm awake and consciously perform the same action, as long as I'm within certain parameters I'm fine.
Now, if you're married, all that goes out the window and anything you lust over that isn't your spouse is automatically a sin.
The same goes for a woman: as long as masturbation is within certain parameters, she's good--lusting over another single person, natural sex acts, etc. However, if she is married, everything I mentioned above applies to her as well.
Hope this helped someone :)
Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus says that anyone who has lusted in his heart has committed adultery. While I can't say what someone thinks about when they masturbate, I can say that it's always with lustful thoughts towards another person.
Genesis 38:9-10 is an example many people use when saying one shouldn't "waste their seed" but God didn't kill Onan for pulling out, per se, but because he didn't fulfill his familial duty to provide his dead brother an heir.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is a reference to sexually immoral acts like anal sex, sex between 2 men or 2 women, sex with animals or any other unnatural act. It can easily be argued that masturbation is neither immoral nor unnatural.
There is mention in Deuteronomy and Leviticus about a man emitting semen in his sleep (nocturnal emission/wet dream) and being unclean as a result but this is a natural process one has no control over.
There is no specific Bible verses explicitly forbidding or even addressing masturbation. The only thing I personally feel addresses it to any capacity is Jesus in Matthew 5:27-28, referenced above and for the reasons also mentioned above. In today's pornography driven society, lust is especially an issue.
Personally, I feel that if I am single and the person with whom I'm lusting over while masturbating is also single, then I can't by definition be committing adultery, and if I'm lusting over natural sexual acts and nothing unnatural, then there's no sexual immorality and so I'm not sinning.
For me, it comes back to nocturnal emissions. I can't control what I lust about in my dreams and so can't control what my body reacts to in said dream and I'm not at fault for that so when I'm awake and consciously perform the same action, as long as I'm within certain parameters I'm fine.
Now, if you're married, all that goes out the window and anything you lust over that isn't your spouse is automatically a sin.
The same goes for a woman: as long as masturbation is within certain parameters, she's good--lusting over another single person, natural sex acts, etc. However, if she is married, everything I mentioned above applies to her as well.
Hope this helped someone :)
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