Do you think masturbation is a sin?

Yes, my point is that getting married is not like calling up and ordering a pizza for delivery. It is much more complex than even choosing anchovies or extra cheese. It takes much longer to make the "arrangements", and I think the Bible is way more certain about divorce than about masturbation. Marriage is a nice solution on paper, but people are more than sex machines.

I wanted to make one more point, because this quote immediately put Romans 7 in my head. While Paul was holy, consecrated, and set apart by God as a disciple, he was also human.

Romans 7:14-25
[SUP]14 [/SUP]So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. [SUP]15 [/SUP]I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. [SUP]16 [/SUP]But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. [SUP]17 [/SUP]So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

[SUP]18 [/SUP]And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[SUP][d][/SUP] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. [SUP]19 [/SUP]I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. [SUP]20 [/SUP]But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
[SUP]21 [/SUP]I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. [SUP]22 [/SUP]I love God’s law with all my heart. [SUP]23 [/SUP]But there is another power[SUP][e][/SUP] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. [SUP]24 [/SUP]Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? [SUP]25 [/SUP]Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

God has just plain and simply called us out of darkness harming ourselves and one another, to LOVE his type found in 1Cor.13 and that is the fulfillment of the Law to actually literally care.

So therefore die to your sinful nature
Romans 6:11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Or don't we know those that believe have died to:
Romans 6:2Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Romans 6:7For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Romans 6:8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
Romans 6:9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
And this is true with every believer if one will go all the way in belief to see how deep this salvation really is
Romans 6:10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
So lets do the same in belief
Romans 8:34Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
No its the devil you all condeming keeping you in your sins by getting you to ask for forgiveness over and over again, never allowing you to bepurged from the sin issue
Romans 14:9For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
1 Corinthians 15:22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
2 Corinthians 5:15and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
Galatians 2:19For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.
Galatians 2:21I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Philippians 1:21For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain
Therefore I die daily, how about any of you all?
I am talking about belief here and now that we are dead to our flesh and alive to God by God keeping us alive in the Spirit
Have a great day see ya!

Is masturbation wrong? | Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
this helps explain some things---to be honest i dnt think everyone "lusts" while masturbating---everyone is different---we can or can not say no one can do it without a clear mind---and what about within the marriage when a husband wants the wife to turn him on by "experimenting" with herself? is that a sin? we can not say one way or the other-- just check out the website...

We can safely say it is not a sin. We don't have to worry about it.

I hope you dint think I was saying I thought Paul was perfect, cause that is not what I was saying at all. I was making a point we should be Holy consecrated and set apart, including our bodies as the disciples of Christ. Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. They should not be defiled. The original thread question is: Is masturbation a sin. Yes. I think it is and I think there is plenty of biblical evidence that says it is. I have quoted it and explained it. I also think that when people want to do something they know in their hearts is wrong they will find a way to justify it, no matter what the bible says. The bottom line is: God told us sex is for marriage. Sex is for your spouse, anything outside of that is either fornication or adultery.

I agree that sex is for marriage, but masturbation is not sex, fornication, or adultery. One cannot have sex with themselves as that is physically impossible.

And this is a perfect example of why its important to clearly understand the concepts you're talking about

Well said.

Why are we made with the desire to do this? I mean what kind of being would create
us this way and not want us to enjoy one of the most pleasurable experiences on earth?

The church has always had something against sex but it seems gratuitous violence is ok.
Movies like The Passion and the tv show "The Bible" on the history channel just glorify
violence. No problem there! But I guess when you read the OT it's one of the most
violent stories ever written so go figure.

God wants us to enjoy sex, but he wants us to do so in the confines of marriage. The reason for this is because when you have sex you become one with the person you're having sex with. This is a spiritual thing, not only physical. Therefore, God wants that to be with someone you have committed to spending your life with, as one unit. Hence, marriage.

The church doesn't have anything against sex, it has something against fornication and adultery as those are sins. So, of course the church is going to be against sin.

The Passion and The Bible miniseries do not glorify violence, they portray what Christ went through for us. It was not all roses and flowers, he went through extreme torture. How else do you portray that? You have to show what he went through for us, therefore the violence in both The Passion and The Bible is necessary.

There's plenty of sex in the bible too. No need to overlook that if you're going that direction in criticism. Dang puritanical atheists

Masturbation is a sin because lust is a sin, and the flesh is at war with the spirit.

This premise has been discussed repeatedly in this thread and dealt with multiple times. Do you care to check why people disagree and address their disagreements?

You can have the moderators remove my post if you think it's really that bad.

I didn't say it was either a bad or good post. I don't want to re-type the positions that are sitting just a few pages back, so I pointed out that disagreements to your point existed there. I only asked you if you cared to discuss the topic or if you where just opining for the sake of opining.

What moderation has to do with it I don't know.

I don't want to rehash what I put earlier in this thread, but you should go back and read the whole thing. There are some good responses from people of both sides of the topic.

The Bible doesn’t say much directly about masturbation. (Some people point to Genesis 38:9, but that’s not really about masturbation.) The Bible doesn’t seem to condemn the actual act of masturbation, but there’s more going on in our minds if we do it. On the positive side, the Bible has lots to say about the goodness of sex. (Gen 2:24-25, 1 Cor 7:5, Song of Songs) Sex is part of God’s good creation and sexual urges is not a sign of sin but a part of being human.
However sex is for marriage, and works to bind a husband and wife together in a profound way. Sex in marriage is good, but any other sexual activity is a distortion of that goodness. That’s why such activities as adultery, casual sex and so on are condemned.

There was a time in my life when I stayed high and was promiscuous, but the spirit of God overcame my evil desires. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit. That's the only reliable way to overcome any fleshly desire. Desire itself is not sin just like sex itself is not sin, but either done in a way that is contrary to God's will is sin. Enjoying sexual pleasure is a gift from God for married folks. Getting yourself off really isn't going to help you in the long run any more than just going for it and hooking up with a partner. Both are just about satisfying your fleshly desire instead of being in the spirit. I've been sober and celibate for years but only by the power of God, not my own will power. Lots of folks get love and lust, or desire, confused. True spiritual love doesn't cause you to suffer with desire for someone else or simply for another rush. Sexual orgasm causes your brain to secrete chemicals similar to a drug rush. That's why it's counterproductive spiritually to depend on it for peace of mind. The more you get, the more you'll want. The only way to overcome obsessive desire for anything is the spirit of God. That includes food, smokes, booze, dope, sex, money, whatever. You can fool yourself into thinking you're not having sex when you don't hook up with somebody else, but you're still stimulating your sex organ, right? And for what purpose? It is to give yourself fleshly pleasure to satisfy your soul. Scripture says, "For the word of God is living and operative, and keen above any two-edged sword, and penetrating up to the parting of soul and spirit, both of the articulations and marrow, and is a judge of the sentiments and thoughts of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) The soul is the conscious sensation resulting from the combination of spirit with an organic body. The soul is about experiencing the senses. When you're primary goal is to feel a sexual sensation to satisfy your soul at the expense of your spirit, you will ultimately be disappointed because the spirit, the imperceptible power of action, life, and intelligence is the only source of peace and true love. I recommend studying the word of God the next time you want to get yourself off. I speak from experience at overcoming my own demons. That's why it's called the sword of the spirit. God bless you, sister.

"13 Therefore take up the panoply of God that you may be enabled to withstand in the wicked day, and having effected all, to stand.
14 Stand, then, girded about your loins with truth, with the cuirass of righteousness put on,
15 and your feet sandaled with the readiness of the evangel of peace;
16 with all taking up the large shield of faith, by which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the wicked one.
17 And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is a declaration of God." (Ephesians 6:13-17)

The Greek transliteration "epithumia" means desire, coveting, lust, yearning.

"16 Now I am saying, Walk in spirit, and you should under no circumstances be consummating the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh is lusting against the spirit, yet the spirit against the flesh. Now these are opposing one another, lest you should be doing whatever you may want.
18 Now, if you are led by spirit, you are not still under law.
19 Now apparent are the works of the flesh, which are adultery, prostitution, uncleanness, wantonness,
20 idolatry, enchantment, enmities, strife, jealousies, furies, factions, dissensions, sects,
21 envies, murders, drunkennesses, revelries, and the like of these, which, I am predicting to you, according as I predicted also, that those committing such things shall not be enjoying the allotment of the kingdom of God.
22 Now the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 meekness, self-control: against such things there is no law.
24 Now those of Christ Jesus crucify the flesh together with its passions, and lusts." (Galatians 5:16-24)

"5 Deaden, then, your members that are on the earth: prostitution, uncleanness, passion, evil desire and greed, which is idolatry,
6 because of which the indignation of God is coming on the sons of stubborness --
7 among whom you also once walked, when you lived in these things." (Colossians 3:5-7)

"17 This, then, I am saying and attesting in the Lord: By no means are you still to be walking according as those of the nations also are walking, in the vanity of their mind,
18 their comprehension being darkened, being estranged from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the callousness of their hearts,
19 who, being past feeling, in greed give themselves up with wantonness to all uncleanness as a vocation.
20 Now you did not thus learn Christ,
21 since, surely, Him you hear, and by Him were taught (according as the truth is in Jesus),
22 to put off from you, as regards your former behavior, the old humanity which is corrupted in accord with its seductive desires,
23 yet to be rejuvenated in the spirit of your mind,
24 and to put on the new humanity which, in accord with God, is being created in righteousness and benignity of the truth." (Ephesians 4:17-22)