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-35
There He is with the seven stars in His right hand. The right hand or arm signifies the power and authority of God. Psalms 44:3, "For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favour unto them." In that right hand of power are seven stars, who, according to Revelation 1:20, are the seven church messengers. This signifies that the very power and authority of God are behind His...
The unpardonable sin
54-1024 §17
And then when we come together sitting in Heavenly places, with one accord, one heart and one accord, then the Holy Spirit can come in and bless us, and give to us the precious Word of God. Then, in this, many times, through visions, see things. The first thing when somebody tells me, or I pick up on a recording that I have seen a vision and foretold something, before I say anything about the vision, anything, first I check that vision with the Word of God. And if it isn't according to the Word of God, I'd say ......
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-129
But to go on. These elect were not only the eternal thoughts of God which were to be expressed in flesh in their due season, but these same elect are called by another name. Romans 4:16. "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." Romans 9:7-13, "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall...
The unpardonable sin
54-1024 §18
Then, when we come sanely, sound, to God, when we come without any malice, any prejudice; with an open heart, willing to learn, God is able to teach---when we are willing to learn! But we must first lay aside tradition, lay aside ideas that we've been taught. Now, I know mother taught you things that was very good, and so forth, but sometimes mother had things wrong. I've got a mother sitting right here that---the very subject I'm coming to in a few minutes---told me years ago that she thought the unpardonable sin...
The invisible union of the Bride of Christ
65-1125 §29
...ing that a woman cannot remarry until her first husband is dead. She cannot remarry as long as her first husband is living. She, by no circumstances at all. She must remain single as long as her first husband is living. And if she should do such a sin, she shall be called an adulteress. I am speaking of the natural now, to type it with the spiritual. If this woman would commit such a sin, then she is marked an adulteress---if she has two living husbands at the same time. Therefore, she has forfeited, by doing this,...