MASTURBATION
Is it a sin according to the Bible?
This topic promises to get me into trouble
Nevertheless, here it is.
It is customary for those who write books for teens and youth to caution them against masturbation. Beyond this, many will even find a way to say it is a sin. So, what does the Bible say on masturbation.
THE BIBLE ON MASTURBATION:
There is virtually nothing said in the Bible about masturbation.
ABUSE OF THE BIBLE ON THE SUBJECT:
There is one text used against masturbation.
Gen_38:9-10
And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.
This text cannot be applied to masturbation. The whole context is in regard to a man trying to engineer which of his wives will give birth to the first son and thus the heir. Onan displeased God in that God did not want his people manipulating His sovereignty. The point is not wasting the "seed," the point is about cruel control of destiny and degrading of the wife.
Other than this sort of thing, masturbation is not found in the Bible.
REASON:
Reason is the tool of the apologist from here on out. He will reason that sex is for marriage and procreation. He will not talk about sex being pleasurable. Many saints really do think sex is only to make babies. Note Solomon on sex....
Pro_5:15-20
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
Solomon clearly talks about pleasure in sex, and procreation has NOTHING to do with it. The fountain is a discreet reference to the man's pleasure in copulation. The graphical language is very obvious. The sin would only be in sharing the fountain with anyone other than the god-given wife. In the right setting, the fountain is to be very busy for a godly man and women.
Son_7:8
I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;
There would be a lot less stress in Christian marriage if husbands and wives talked to each other in these terms. Also, note that procreation is not mentioned ONCE in Song of Solomon. The satisfaction of sexual love is everywhere in the book, and it is of God and good.
So, masturbation cannot be pushed into the sin category by saying that copulation is only for having babies.
The next trick the alleged experts will use is that masturbation is selfish.
Well then, so is eating a chocolate bar. If I eat a chocolate bar and enjoy it, am I selfish. It gratifies my need for pleasure in food, and that too is sanctioned by David, Solomon, and others as they describe special feast type foods which satisfy me. So, that one won't fly either.
The next trick is to say that there are many things the Bible does not mention, but we know that they are sin by other contexts. Things like smoking and drug abuse will be cited.
Well, masturbation was not some late thing to come along which Bible writers did not know about. Adam could have conceivably masturbated if he had wanted to. I note that God gave council on much to do with sexual things, and He made it very clear which things were sin or forbidden:
- 1. Adultery
2. Fornication
3. Sodomy
4. Having sex with your wife in the dog position (This is suspect, and I think it actually came from the Talmud).
5. Women grabbing a man's testicles during a fight
6. Having sex with an animal
I suppose I missed something, but you see the point. Masturbation is so common, and it is available to both men and women, that we must not assume it into the sin category when God made NO comment at all on the subject.
CAN MASTURBATION BE A PROBLEM?
Of course. All the sex perverts, exhibitionists, and sex criminals of all the ages masturbated before they got around to criminal sex.
Problem with this logic-- So did all the great and godly men with very few exceptions. We don't need to prove anything, but we do need to stop making cases for morality based on stupid statistics and notions.
Masturbation becomes a problem when boys masturbate together. This kind of social masturbating, or stag party, often leads to acts of sodomy as boys start stimulating each other. The solution is to teach young people that masturbation is a private matter and should not be made public. This will help them to realize that sex in marriage is also a private matter between husband and wife. Neither form of sexual stimulation should be the subject of gross humor and light conversation. Telling jokes about masturbation pushes the thing into the dirty category. Beware of that.
If masturbation becomes obsessive it will lead to a loss of control in the life just like gluttony or any other form of appetite gone astray. The young person should be taught to confess the sin of appetite which is out of control rather than to tell them that they are sexually perverted or nasty. The sin is that of not letting the Holy Spirit lead in appetites. Read that again please, especially if you are more than ten pounds overweight
Another way in which masturbation is, without a doubt, sinful is when it is accompanied by the use of pornography, filthy music, or even mental fantasies of women other than the spouse. This is so common that it is assumed to be the only method of masturbating. Of course, many young people do NOT start out in their first masturbating venture with ANY fantasy. They have no history to work with mentally. They are just playing with their hardware.
The older a man gets, the more he accumulates a mental history which feeds fantasy, and thus, the more tempted he will be to sin by mental lust as he masturbates. This is why Paul warns Timothy to "flee youthful lusts." We said that masturbation is NOT called sin in the Bible, but sexual lust for a women IS called sin by Jesus. To add masturbation to this mental "youthful lust" will insure trouble by and by. So, it IS true that masturbation is easily perverted by fetishes of the mind or magazine. I knew a man who fantasized in lust for a woman in the church fellowship while he masturbated, and whenever he came to church and saw the woman, he blushed with shame. So, this IS a danger for sure.
DOES MASTURBATION SERVE ANY GOOD PURPOSE?
When a husband and wife are separated against their will and one is having severe temptations with lust, masturbation can serve as a release for those drives. This has saved many men from infidelity. In that sense, and I suppose I shall be thrashed for this, I suggest that masturbation is a very useful solution. Masturbation is also a release to young unmarried men. We just don't like to admit it. Many a young man has defused a setting for fornication by masturbating ahead of time.
Cold showers are fine, but they don't last. Of course, a young man can further help this struggle greatly by making sure he is only found in modest company.
Masturbation can also be therapeutic according to one report I read. It seems that copulation in a man will help to relieve the effects of prostrate problems of middle age. Of course, the ideal is for the man to simply increase his bed chamber life with his wife, but if that is not possible, masturbation could be helpful to keep the plumbing working well. Also, this therapy is no excuse for obsessive behavior, and young men need not think this is a matter of getting an early start on the thing.
Also, ask any Roman Catholic priest how he avoids fornication (if he does, that is). Guess what he will tell you, if he feels free to speak candidly. Rome's celibacy laws are wicked indeed.
MORAL:
Rom_14:14
I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
There is one area we need to beware of. If someone sees masturbation as defeating and unclean, we better be cautious about encouraging that person to just let go on and enjoy it. Enjoying it is also NOT taught in the Bible. Masturbation is not anywhere spoken of at all. So, we dare not try to deliver someone of their dedication to avoid and flee from masturbation. To them, it is important and related to their victory. Again, this is why the thing needs to be made a private matter for a kid at an early age.
If you catch your son or daughter masturbating, DO NOT panic. You don't have a budding pervert in your family. Deal with it discreetly and kindly with a word of advice to keep it very private and personal.
If masturbation is a sexual sin to you, well deal with it that way. But,
you have NO grounds to teach that to anyone else, for God pointedly said nothing about it, and it is the first and possibly the most common form of sexual activity with all of humanity.
