IS MASTURBATION SIN?

by Hosanna David | Dec 23, 2017 | Masturbation

This is a hot topic that is splitting the Church of Christ, stirring up arguments. The argument whether of masturbation is a sin or not according to the biblical principles is an age long topic. Some teachers have come out openly to say “yes it is a sin.” Others have say “no, it is not,” while another set of Christians are just silent about this issue saying nothing but upholding their silence.

For instance, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome openly defended masturbation that it is not a sin. (You can watch the Video here). Pastor E.A. Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God responding to this false teaching while addressing his ministers and workers in Jos, north central Nigeria said: “The pastor of Christ Embassy was quoted by the press as saying there is nothing wrong with masturbation.

“I want to tell you that everything is wrong with masturbation, it is a sin against God and against human nature. Anybody that practises it will go to Hell and it is a bad habit you must not get involved as a Christian or as a pastor or worker in the Redeemed Christian Church of God!

“It is a sin against God and your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, masturbating is a way of defiling the body (1 Corinthians 3:16-18).”

There is no other person or book that can best answer this question except the Holy Bible itself. The challenge that many have with answering this question from the Bible is that there is not a single mention of the word “masturbation” in the Bible. Is this an indication that the Bible sanctions it or that God doesn’t concern Himself with so little a matter such as masturbation? Despite there is no mention of the word masturbation in the Bible we all know as Christians that there are laws guiding man’s sexuality. The fact that God gives us laws concerning our sexuality shows that any issue that has to do with human sexuality is not of small concern to god Himself. The seventh of the Ten Commandments addresses the issue of sexuality – adultery. There are other laws given at different times by God to address the issue but not just adultery and fornication alone but also of sexuality generally.

WHAT IS MASTURBATION?

Etymological meaning of masturbation: Masturbation is from the Latin word manstuprare, from manu, ablative of manus “hand” + stuprare “defile” (oneself), from stuprum “defilement, dishonor” (Online Etymology Dictionary). manusturpare means “to defile with the hand”.

Meaning of masturbation: Masturbation is the erotic manual stimulation of especially one’s own genitals in order to produce sexual pleasure following generally by orgasm. Masturbation is also referred to as “self-abuse”, “Jacking off”, etc.

Masturbation also includes one voluntarily receiving sexual pleasure from another person(s) touching his/her genitals. When it is done by one person to one’s self it is called solo sex, meaning sex involving one person making love to himself/herself. Masturbation is undoubtedly a sex act.

WHY PEOPLE MASTURBATE

In our contemporary world, the reason for an action is considered important when the issue of whether it is morally right or wrong is concerned. Although, there is no reason for doing wrong that can justify a wrong deed to make it right, I think also that we should look at some of the reasons people masturbate before we search the scriptures.

Many people masturbate for the following reasons:

1. To experience sexual pleasure: This is the major reason people engage in masturbation. They masturbate because of the sexual excitement they derive from the act.
2. To relieve stress: To some, masturbation is a way of easing themselves of stress.
3. To engage in sex when a partner is unavailable or does not want to have sex. Married and sexually active persons may masturbate when they cannot have sex with their partner. To them it is a way of satisfying their sexual needs when their partner is not readily available.
4. A means of preventing sexually transmitted diseases: Many, especially single youths engage in solo sex to get sexual satisfactions and avoid sexual contacts with others so that they themselves will not contact sexually transmitted diseases.
5. To ease tension: Some see masturbation as a means of relieving themselves of both sexual and general tensions.
6. To induce sleep: Orgasm is found to relax nerves hereby inducing sleep. For this reason some masturbate before they go to bed. Research shows that men feel sleepy after ejaculation because of the release of a hormone called Prolactin.
7. A means of avoiding pregnancy: Since pregnancy results from sexual intercourse or semen accessing the female sex organ, some use solo sex as a means of preventing pregnancy.
8. A means of “preserving virginity”: This may sound funny to some persons but many believe that masturbation helps them to preserve their virginity. Quickly, I have to add that virginity is more than an intact hymen. Masturbation does not preserve virginity but it corrupts virginity.
9. A means of discovering one’s sexuality: Some sexologists say masturbation is a means through which one can discover his/her sexuality. They argue that through pleasuring one’s self one will be able to know what one likes or dislikes. This is dangerous because masturbation itself can lead to not being able to achieve sexual satisfaction with one’s wife or husband. Masturbation and premarital sex programme your sexuality. When one’s sex organ becomes used to a certain pattern of stimulation it becomes customary to the brain to be pleasured in that way. For such one to get sexual satisfaction, he or she had to be stimulated in that pattern. My question is “why programme yourself ready for someone unknown (future spouse), who may not be sexually compatible with your programming?”
10. Extreme shyness and low self-esteem: Some persons feel too shy or/and that they are not good enough to have sex with another person. They therefore resort making love to themselves.
11. Peer influence: some young adults are influenced negatively by their mates to engage themselves in masturbatory activities.
12. Media: The media has a lot of influence on today’s generation. Some persons masturbate because of what they may have seen, heard or read over the media.
13. Wrong Teachings: Masturbation is widely taught today as a child’s normal way of life as against what our grandfathers said about this act.

I once heard a young man in his 30s saying that he was taught that if a male does not have sex nor masturbates his sperm would congeal. But this is a big lie because sperm is mainly proteins. The body doesn’t store proteins but they (sperms) are absorbed and are used up by the body.

1. Depression: Depression can lead to different types of addictive habits, one of which is masturbation.
2. Loneliness or boredom: When some people feel lonely they engage themselves in this unhealthy habit.
3. Spiritual Reasons: There are spiritual reasons that make some people to masturbate. Some believe it is a means of acquiring spiritual energy. Some of such reasons for masturbating are cultic.
5. Addiction: Masturbation is addictive. Many who masturbate no longer do it for any of the above reasons or any other but for the sole reason of being addicted to the habit. Compulsive masturbation is a psychological disorder that one that is addicted to masturbation suffers. This mental disorder makes the sufferer to have less control over one’s will and restrain himself/herself from masturbating. Such one becomes a slave to the habit.

BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES THAT CERTIFY THAT MASTURBATION IS A SIN

• 1) Lust is a sin but can anyone masturbate without lusting:

We will all agree that lust is a sin. Matthew 5:28, says, “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” “… the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16), “… the lust of the eyes” (1John 2:16; Job 31:1) and the lust of the heart (Matthew 5:28; Proverbs 6:25) are all forms of the manifestations of lust that the Bible condemns. Even if there is no verse in the Bible that says directly that masturbation is a sin, the above scriptures condemns lust. It is impossible to masturbate without lust!

For an effective sexual arousal to take place there must be something that stimulates the brain sexually. This may be visual, audio, physical touch or mental. In the case of the masturbator who is alone yet desires sexual excitement and possible orgasm, there is the need to create a mental sex partner and fantasise having real sex with an imaginary human being. This may be someone they once had a sexual relationship or at present but absent or someone they find sexually attractive. This is lust and adultery of the heart! Some go beyond fanaticises but watch pornography in order to heighten the sexual mental excitement.

• 2) God Created Sex to be enjoyed only in marriage.

This is a fact that every Bible believing Christian agrees to, that sex is for married couples only. There is no verse of the Bible that says humans should experience sex or enjoy sexual pleasures outside marriage. Masturbation is solo sex – one making love to himself. This is not the purpose of God for creating sex.

• 3) Sex is not a lawless gift

God is the creator of sex but He didn’t give sex to man without guiding it with laws. Various laws in the Bible warn against the misuse of sex against its natural use.

“Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of                              their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves… For                  this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did                             change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also                                 the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one                              toward another;  men with men working that which is unseemly, and                                   receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet                          (Romans 1:24, 26,27).

• 4) Sex makes two fleshes to become one.

It is the sexual union of a man and a woman that makes them both to become one flesh. It is written: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:  and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24). This is the question: if sex is for making two persons (man and woman) to become one, what will the one who makes love to himself/herself be unified with to form one flesh? Is it possible for one to become one flesh with a lifeless sex object? The answer is NO!

• 5) Taking the unnatural for the natural

Sex is a natural act which involves bodily union between a male and a female but masturbation is against this. Some of those who engage in this act use inhumane object to replaced the position of the husband or wife. The sex object becomes their “wife” or “husband” as the case may be. Here is what the Bible says concerning unclean practices:

in the Bible warn against the misuse of sex against its natural use.

                “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of                              their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves… For                  this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did                             change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also                                 the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one                              toward another;  men with men working that which is unseemly, and                                   receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet                          (Romans 1:24, 26,27).

• 6) What form of masturbation is right?

Many of those who say that masturbation is not a sin fail to tell their listeners or readers where to draw the line between what is biblically (in their own eyes) and morally wrong or right.

It is no longer news that those the Bible refers to as “INVENTORS OF EVIL THINGS” (Romans 1:30) are actively inventing things that will help man get drunk with “the wine of fornication” (Revelation 17:2), be enslave to sex and to offend God continually. Those who buy sex machines with hundreds of Dollars equally use them for masturbation. Satanists that promote the worship of sex and modern sexual revolution produce sex robots (many of which are covenanted to demons to possess those who use them.) Is this not a sin too? When Christians say that masturbation is not a sin, they give license to those in the world who raise sexual wars against the Church of Christ to operate freely without being hindered by any holy doctrine.

• 7) Sex – a god of the new age.

Since the sexual revolution of the 1960s sex had been even more deified and raised to the position of a hedonistic god. The Bible says that Satan will make the whole nations of the world to become drunk with “the wine of fornication” (Revelation 14:8; 17:2,4: 18:3; 19:2).

• 8) Sex is holy but masturbation is not.

       There is nothing that God created that is unholy. The Bible tells us that sex is a holy act.

“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: 

but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4).

This means that sex is holy and the marriage bed should not be made unholy. We cannot boldly say that masturbation is a holy act. Instead, it is classified as uncleanness.

• 9) Can masturbation draw man closer to God?

There is nothing like masturbating in order to draw closer to God. Instead, masturbation quenches the Spirit’s fire and open up your life for addiction and lust that draw you farther from God. Masturbation cannot draw one closer to Jesus Christ nor make one grow spiritually.

• 10) Is masturbation work of the flesh of fruit of the Spirit?

Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;  Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like” while “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance:  against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Temperance, which is self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. Many who are addicted to masturbation lack self-control. Self-control gives man the will-power to say NO to sexual urge but lack of self-control moves him into gratifying every bit of the lust of his heart.

• 11) Will masturbation cause people to glorify God?

Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. The question is: is masturbation a good work that makes people to glorify God?

• 12) Masturbation is self-abuse:

For hundreds of years till today, masturbation is known and widely called sel-abuse. Abusing oneself is condemned by God in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 6:9 (KJV) records this: “…abusers of themselves with mankind.” This means that those who abuse themselves through masturbatory activities are equally breakers of God’s law.

• 13) Is masturbation sex?

This a question that attracts opposite answers from different people. Some may say “yes” while others may say “no”. No matter from what view people give their answer one thing remains clear that “masturbation is a sexual activity”. Is anyone says masturbation is not sex it will be good for them to understand that it is also called “solo sex” – sex involving one person. Masturbation is sex but it is a perverse and selfish form of sex.

If masturbation is sex, is it fulfilling the natural use of sex? Can it reproduce? Can it make two flesh to become one flesh? For the fact that it doesn’t play the natural role of sex it is wrong.

CONCLUSION

The sexual revolution of the 1960s opened a very wide door for humanity and brought into existence unrestrained sexual “freedom” that is nothing but enslaving and depraving. If there is any time to curb the sexual urge of man it is now! This is a sex crazy generation. The culture we live in now is a hyper-sexualized culture. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between what is good and what is bad, except one looks deeply into God’s holy Word – the Holy Bible. Masturbation is not just a sin but it leads to other sins like lust, fornication, adultery, rape and enslavement to the power of the flesh.

Colossians3:17 says, ”And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” If the Bible commands us to do everything in the name of the Lord, we should abstain from anything that we cannot do in the name of the Lord. Here is God’s word in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”