Masturbation - Is It a Sin According to the Bible?
1) Direct answer
Yes. Even if the Bible does not name the act by that word, masturbation springs from lust and uncleanness, and that is sin.
2) Scriptural explanation
- Jesus traced adultery to the heart: “Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Masturbation feeds on lustful thoughts; that’s where it lives.
- The works of the flesh include “uncleanness” and “lasciviousness” (Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5). Self-gratification driven by lust falls right there.
- “Flee fornication… your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost… glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). You can’t glorify God by indulging lust.
- God’s provision for sexual desire is honorable marriage, not self-pleasure: “To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife… defraud ye not one the other…” (1 Corinthians 7:2-5; see also Hebrews 13:4). If desire burns, the Bible says marry (1 Corinthians 7:9), not turn inward to lust.
- We’re commanded to “abstain from fleshly lusts” (1 Peter 2:11), “make a covenant with our eyes” (Job 31:1), “walk in the Spirit” so we “shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16), and “mortify… fornication, uncleanness” (Colossians 3:5).
- A simple test: “Whatever you do… do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” and “to the glory of God” (Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31). Can this be done unto the Lord? If not, it’s sin (James 4:17).
3) Simple clarifying logic
- Now notice: God made sexual union for covenant, love, and life within marriage. Masturbation turns it inward, feeds fantasy, and strengthens the rule of the flesh—not the Spirit.
- Some say it’s harmless or “normal.” But the Bible doesn’t measure by culture; it measures by holiness, self-control, and a clean heart. Lust in the heart is where God looks, and that’s exactly what this act requires.
- It’s not three standards—one for mind, one for body, one for spirit. It’s one life. If the thought is sinful, the act it fuels is unclean.
4) Hope and victory
- There is cleansing: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us…and to cleanse us” (1 John 1:9).
- Walk it out:
- Repent—turn from lust and renounce it in Jesus’ Name.
- Cut off the feeders: pornography, suggestive media, idle scrolling (Matthew 5:29-30).
- Fill your heart with the Word and prayer; walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16).
- Discipline the body: fasting, honest accountability, purposeful work (1 Corinthians 9:27).
- Pursue God’s order: purity in singleness; fidelity and mutual care in marriage (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5; 1 Corinthians 7:3-5).
- If you stumble, don’t hide—run to the Lord, rise again, and keep walking.
You see, God calls us to holiness—not bondage to the flesh. Jesus cleanses, the Holy Spirit empowers, and the Word renews the mind. Live clean; live filled; live free.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 3:E-104
Now that we have come this far, let me try to crystallize your thinking on this subject so you can see the necessity of our going into the 'serpent seed doctrine' as I have. We start with the fact that there were TWO trees in the midst of the garden. The Tree of Life was Jesus. The other tree is definitely Satan because of what came forth of the fruit of that tree. Now then, we know that both of those trees had a relationship to man or they would never have been placed there. They must have had a part in the sovere...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 5:E-91
Since we have discovered who Ninus was, it is now necessary to discover who his father was. According to history it was Bel, the founder of Babylon. (Now it is to be noted here that Bel founded it in the sense that he started this whole move, but it was the son, Ninus, that established it and was the first king etc.) But according to the Scripture, the father of Nimrod was Cush: "And Cush begat Nimrod." Not only is this so but we find that Ham begat Cush. Now, in the Egyptian culture Bel was called Hermes, and Herm...
The time is at hand
56-0408E §55
Now, since He has resurrected... You said, "Brother Branham, that woman touched His garment when He was in a corporal body." I want to ask you something. Does the Bible in the book of Hebrews teach that He is the High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmity? Is that right? Certainly, the Bible teaches that. How're you going to touch Him then with the feeling of your infirmity? Just believe Him. Then He, as the Holy Spirit, His divine Agent that's in us, He reveals it back just like He did then. I...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 9:E-44
...n the midst of the Church. As He stands there revealing Who He is in this last age, He calls Himself the "Author of the creation of God". This is ANOTHER CREATION. This has to do with the church. This is a special designation of Himself. He is the CREATOR of that church. The heavenly Bridegroom created his own bride. As the Spirit of God, He came down and created in the virgin Mary the cells from which His body was born. I want to repeat that. He created the very cells in the womb of Mary for that body. It was not...
Questions and Answers
61-0112 §50
[A brother says, "That's where there's a little error because of human weakness, and when people will fail to accept anything; only say, 'I won't believe it any way, only according to Acts 2:4!'"] Well, if they had it according to Acts 2:4 they certainly wouldn't speak in an unknown tongue. ["No, in a language."] They'd have to speak in the language that the people heard you, see, because "every man heard in his own language." Now, if I receive the Holy Ghost right now, according to... I believe there's one brother...