 Is masturbation a sin? And if it is, are there any circumstances where it's not a sin? Hey, smart Christians, welcome back. There are statistics that say that 90 to 95% of males either currently or have in the past masturbated and that stat isn't that much better for women. It's not a problem for just males, but also for females because there are stats that say that about 80 to 85% of women also masturbate. And also shocking is that it's not an issue that's just reserved simply for single people but also married people. Between 70 to 75% of people, if we believe these stats, of married people also engage in masturbation. Someone once said that half of the people masturbate and the other half lie about not masturbating. We're not really sure if these stats are accurate, but one thing we can know is that a lot of people do it and struggle with it. And so for the people, particularly the Christian community who wonder, is this a sin? And then also, how do I stop? Let's go ahead and address this biblically. Now, unfortunately, the Bible doesn't speak a whole lot about the actual sin, the act of masturbation. However, it does speak about some of the things that are tied to masturbation. Obviously, most people would agree that in order to engage in it, there has to be some sort of lustful thoughts. There has to be an object, some person that is thought of when masturbating. Well, that obviously takes us to Matthew chapter five, verse 27. It says that Jesus says you have heard it said, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent or lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And so it's clear that just these lustful thoughts, according to the scriptures, are a sin. It's pretty hard for a person to masturbate, not having any lustful thoughts about someone. One of the passages that gets brought up a lot about masturbation is in Genesis 38 about Onan. However, when we look at the passage, it's really not speaking about masturbation. So let's just go there and take a look at the text. In chapter 38, verse nine, but Onan knew that his offspring would not be his. So whenever he went into his brother's wife, he would waste the semen on the ground so as not to give offspring. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord and he put him to death. The issue here was not masturbation. As a matter of fact, this wasn't a one-time thing. This was something that happened repeatedly. And because it was the younger brother whose responsibility was to provide an heir or an offspring for his older brother, who was no longer alive, to have an heir or to have a child with his wife, Onan didn't wanna do that. And so God punished him for that. And the punishment was not for masturbation. The punishment was for not doing what was required of him. So we really can't look at that particular passage. Now there is one passage that would also help to shed some light on this because again, masturbation is clearly an issue of the flesh. It is a desire of the flesh, a desire to gratify oneself absent of their spouse. It'd be hard for a single person to make the claim that they can masturbate because what they're doing is they're engaging in some sort of sexual activity without a spouse. And to do so lustfully is again a sin. But the same holds true also for someone who's married because you're doing something that is reserved for a sexual act that is reserved for the confines between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife. So Peter says in first Peter chapter two verse 11, he says, beloved I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul. So we are told to abstain from these passions of the flesh that wage war against our soul. What happens is if we're not careful and it'd be hard not to have it happen is when you engage in this, it will take your focus and your attention off of what you are supposed to be doing. It will take your focus off of serving the Lord. One of the things, one of the byproducts or one of the things associated with masturbation necessarily has to be pornography. Now, not necessarily speaking about X-rated videos or websites or channels to go to and things like that, but also just places where you can go to such as certain clubs and things like that, even listening to certain songs that will conjure up pornographic thoughts. The porn industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and we see no signs of it slowing down because people have these fantasies and they want to gratify themselves as a result of these fantasies. We are told by Paul in Romans chapter 13 verse 14, he says, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify desires. So obviously masturbation is gratifying the desires of the flesh and he's saying, don't make any provisions. Similarly, if a person is single but dating someone and the person decides to go out and buy condoms, just in case something happens that at least this won't lead to a pregnancy. Well, that person is making a provision for sin given up out, so to speak. The same thing for masturbation. Don't do things that would cause you to go down this road. Because the way the body is hardwired with the brain, these particular activities because they're self gratifying will cause a certain chemical reaction in the brain that would cause you to look forward to and seek out this self gratification. The continual practice of it will cause the body to crave it to desire this particular action even when there's no real increased sexual desire to do so. In other words, a person doesn't have to be triggered by some sort of sexual desire or a thought or a view. If they continue this, the body ends up craving the reaction, the feeling. Octatox and serotonin and dopamine. When this stuff kicks in and granted, you can talk to a doctor who would know better than me but when these chemical reactions occur in the body and in the brain, your body craves that feeling, the sensation and the feeling becomes something that your body looks for every day and it can become a normal course, a normal routine, a normal part of your lifestyle. And that can become a problem, especially with your relationships, either with your spouse or your relationship with a future spouse. Now for some people, this would be a sin but there are some people who are not quite sure but typically what happens when a person does engage especially for a believer, there's this feeling of guilt, this feeling that I should not have done so and so which is probably why most folks ask the question, is it a sin because something in their mind or their heart is telling them, maybe I ought not do so. Well, even on that account, James addresses it in James chapter four, verse 17, he says, so whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it for him, it is sin. We are supposed to be sowing to the spirit and not to the flesh and what does it say? If we sow to the flesh, we'll reap of the flesh corruption. Now some will say, and I've had this question before, what if the person that I am lusting after and masturbating to is my spouse? Well, clearly it's okay to lust after the spouse and the truth be told, there really is no passage that says, don't do that, however, let me give you this warning. Doing so can end up causing in that person's mind even subconsciously can create an alternative to that person's spouse. Even if the person is single, it can create an alternative to a potential spouse. It becomes a barrier, especially once they get married that the new spouse would have to overcome because in the back of their mind, there's one person that at least gets me sexually or in the event of a married couple when they are engaged in an argument or separated or what have you, that that person will say, well, I can go and gratify myself, I don't need you. And because every time that you do so, you are thinking of your fantasizing not about the spouse, but about someone else, especially when the arguments come on, because it's hard to imagine someone being upset with their spouse and then going to gratify themself, thinking about or fantasizing about the spouse that they're angry with. But let's just say, even if that is a possibility, even if that is a possibility, again, that becomes an alternative that you do not want to create. It would be my counsel that if a person is separated for business or what have you, any particular reason why they cannot have a time with their spouse, well then I think that God has made it to where that we have the ability to resist. We know we're told that one of the fruits of the spirit, the carpac, the result of having the Holy Spirit in us is self-control. And from abstaining and utilizing self-control in that area, what possibly I would say would likely build up a desire so when the people come back together, what God intended in the first place would be more gratifying, would be more enjoyable in the confines again that God has created between a man and a woman who is married. But if this becomes a daily routine, it becomes a part of your life and then now it has mastery over you, it's now what's dictating how you walk, how you talk, where you go. And so for some people there, you're gonna have to make a decision not to go certain places, not to do certain things, not to be with certain people. The way this works according to James, he says, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Then the desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it's fully grown brings forth death. And so the more you think about something, the more that thought can be used, can be pushed to become a simple desire and then as it stays in your brain, it's conceived and leads to sin. Think about the devil in the garden with Eve. He, all he simply did was whisper or promote what she already had been thinking about, the fruit. And then obviously it led to sin. Same thing with this. And so just as we've been told not to present an occasion or open up an occasion for sin, you're gonna have to avoid certain sites that you go to, listening to certain songs, watching certain TV shows that would cause this desire, this heightened arousal between the person, leave that alone. It's not, I can promise you this, it's not healthy. If it were healthy, God would have told us about it. And so my friends, I hope this has been helpful. This is something that a lot of people struggle with. We know they struggle with it because one, they ask the question, but two, after they're through, there's this guilt, this stain, and if there were something from God, there would not be any question, any doubt. There would not be any sort of remorse because of it. And so again, since the Bible says to, if we sow to the spirit, what would happen? Let's make that our point. Let's seek out opportunities to gratify the spirit, to be involved with the spirit, be that more prayer time. I know it's difficult, more reading time. Again, I know it's difficult, more fellowship with someone of the same sex that you can also have fellowship with and then let the intimacy between you and God suffice, especially until you have the time to have this intimacy fulfilled between you and your spouse. Amen.