January 15, 2025

If the holy Bible isn’t enough to provide solutions for this kind of sensitive topic, what good is it? There is no problem in our lives for which God does not have an answer. The answers may not be simple or easy, but that’s why we’re talking about it. God built into human beings a biological/psychological drive for sex. He must have thought it important because He certainly also knew how much trouble we would experience over our sexuality. I think a question that could really get to the heart of this issue and provide some clarity is asking yourself, “Does this act point me to Jesus and help me glorify God in my life?” Introduction The Bible is clear that watching pornography is a sin. But many wonder whether it’s still sinful to masturbate if you don’t use porn. Some still struggle with masturbation long after they leave porn behind. But is it really sinful if you’re not looking lustfully at pornography? It’s important to remember that Jesus’s teaching about lust goes beyond explicit porn. “Adultery in the heart” could be any kind of sexual impurity. So then, just because you aren’t watching porn doesn’t mean that you aren’t lusting when you masturbate. Is it always lusting to masturbate? Lust is not pleasure. Sometimes pleasure is experienced (taken) whilst a person lusts, but this is by no means always the case. Instead, lust is a form of desire.  But there are many different definitions of lust. Definition 1: Lust = Desire In the King James Version of the Bible (and the NKJV), Paul’s letter to the Galatians talks about the “lust” of the flesh as well as the “lust” of the Spirit (as in, Holy Spirit). Let’s be very clear: the intended meaning is simply “desire”; it is not even sexual desire. (And if you remember the points I made in part 1 of this post, you’ll notice that when Paul talks about the “flesh” here, he’s not talking about our physical bodies! This passage in Galatians is not about sex!) Definition 2: Lust = Sexual / Erotic desire Some people define lust as being completely the same as sexual or erotic desire. By that definition, any sexual relationship without lust is a failure and Song of Songs is loaded with lust. This isn’t the definition understood by most Christians. Definition 3: Lust = Inordinate sexual desire By this definition, lust is hyper-sexual desire. It’s oversized, disproportionate and grotesque on account of its gargantuan dimensions. This definition is consistent with many of the uses of “lust” in the Bible, where lust is cited as a sin. But it’s not the definition I would advocate myself, because I think lust is not sexual desire in overdrive, I think it’s got a qualitative aspect that we ignore at our peril.  Definition 4 (my preferred one): Lust is sexual desire without respect for boundaries This makes sense to me. By this definition, sexual desire without respecting a person’s humanity, their consent, or their other relationships, is firmly in the lust camp. Objectification, rape and adultery are immediately ruled out as morally wrong if we believe that lust is wrong. (Which it is.) Why is masturbation sinful? Though we haven’t yet answered the specific question of whether masturbation is sinful, we can already see some clear biblical teachings: Scripture teaches at least some masturbation is wrong. Romans 14:23 adds that anything that isn’t of faith is sin. That means that even if masturbation itself isn’t sinful, it’s sinful to masturbate if you believe it’s wrong and do it anyway. Furthermore, the Bible teaches that when God saves us from our sin, he transforms and changes our hearts and behaviours—including our sexual habits like masturbation (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Followers of Jesus should seek to submit themselves to his commands and obey him no matter what the cost. That means we should be willing to give up masturbation if we feel convicted. Is Masturbation Without Porn a Sin? But your question is whether masturbation would be sinful if the person doing it was only using it to release semen and managed to do so without thinking about sex outside of marriage. Such is possible, especially when the seminal vesicles are full, and a man’s sexual desire is so strong that it is easily triggered Pornography always exploits someone. The person photographed/videoed is always being used for the sexual pleasure of someone they have no relationship with, often under extremely abusive circumstances. Pornography always damages your ability to connect with your spouse, taking the sexual/emotional energy you should invest in them. Pornography is seriously addicting. It makes you do things even when doing so harms yourself or others. Pornography sears your brain and damages your soul. It’s difficult to NOT be exposed to pornography in some form. That’s not sin to the person who is unexpectedly exposed. It’s the second look, the choosing to go back, that becomes sin. Is masturbation sinful? I tread cautiously here. This is where true guilt and false guilt can become confusing. There’s no question that compulsive masturbation is sinful. It controls you, damages you, and takes sexual/emotional energy from what you should invest in your spouse. What Does the Bible say about masturbation? As mentioned, the Bible does not directly address the issue of masturbation or deliberate self-stimulation of the sexual organ to the point of orgasm. It does warn against all forms of self-indulgence, adultery of the mind, and fornication There is no passage in Scripture that directly condemns masturbation. If we are going to be good and honest Biblicist, we must acknowledge this. However, the Bible does talk quite a bit about human sexuality. Those passages absolutely need to be a part of this conversation. In the New Testament we see various instructions that are pertinent to this conversation. We are commanded to: Offer our “bodies as a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1) “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Cor. 6:18) “Glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:20)