Sexual Temptation Bible Verses
If you are a Christian man who struggles with pornography, masturbation or another form of sexual immorality, and if you long to gain victory over your sin, you must first understand what the Bible says about sexual temptation. Here is a compilation of sexual temptation Bible verses that gives you a summary of what God says in the Bible about temptation, lust, sexual sin. It also shows you how to win the victory in your life through prayer, memorizing God’s Word, and taking preventive action both before and while you are tempted sexually.
First, let’s get clear on what we mean by temptation. A temptation is a thing, or event, or thought, or course of action that attracts or entices someone to take an action. Where the Bible is concerned, temptation involves an experience in which someone is challenged to choose between good and evil, between purity and sin, between obedience and disobedience. Temptation in the Bible always has a moral element to it. The devil tempted Adam and Eve to sin against God. The devil tempted Jesus to sin. The devil temps you to commit sexual sin.
Sexual temptation is any enticement to commit sexual sin. Sexual temptation is typically experienced as a strong desire, or urge, or compulsion, to perform a sexual act or to think sexual thoughts that are contrary to God’s Word. Sexual sins include adultery, sex outside of marriage, watching, reading or listening to pornography, and masturbating to porn. One key thing to remember about sexual temptation is that temptation is not sin. Giving in to sexual temptation is sin (see more on this below). While sexual temptation isn’t sin, it often leads to sin. Or, to put it the other way, sexual sin often consummates a chain of events that began with a simple sexual temptation.
Summary of What God Says About Sexual Temptation
You are tempted sexually because you have wicked desires (James 1:14-15). Outward sexual temptation starts inwardly with a heart that is already defiled (Mark 7:20-23). Men are usually tempted sexually through the eyes (Matthew 5:27-28), but sexual temptation can also come through something heard (Genesis 39:7). The course of sexual sin follows a predictable pattern (James 1:14-15). When you give in to sexual temptation, you act like an unbeliever (2 Thessalonians 4:3-5). You resist sexual temptation with a mix of preventive steps and action in the moment.
| Preventive steps to avoid sexual temptation | Actions to take when tempted sexually |
|---|---|
| Anticipate it in order to avoid it (Job 31:1) Deny your lustful desires (Titus 2:11-12) Memorize scripture (Psalm 119:11) Seek God’s help through prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) Walk through life with a holy walk (Galatians 5:16) | Run away (1 Corinthians 6:18) Take drastic action to avoid sin, no matter the cost (Matthew 5:29) Put lust to death (Colossians 3:5-6) Use the way of escape that God always supplies (1 Corinthians 10:13) Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) |
Overcoming sexual temptation costs you something (Genesis 39:11-12), and involves practical actions that you must take (Matthew 5:29), but your ultimate defense against sexual temptation is not technological (porn filters, for example), or mental (sheer willpower, for example), or others (recovery groups and accountability partners, for example) but spiritual (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
Sexual Temptation Bible Verses
James 1:14-15
You are tempted sexually because you already desire something wicked
“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
Mark 7:20-23
Outward sexual temptation starts inwardly with an already defiled heart
“And He [Jesus] said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.’”
Matthew 5:27-28
With men, sexual temptation often comes through the eyes
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Genesis 39:7
Sexual temptation can also come through something you hear
“And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’”
James 1:14-15
The course of sexual sin follows a predictable pattern
“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
2 Thessalonians 4:3-5
When you give in to sexual temptation, you act like an unbeliever
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God.”
Job 31:1
You resist sexual temptation partly by anticipating it and then by avoiding it
“I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?”
1 Corinthians 6:18
You resist sexual temptation by running away
“Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”
Matthew 5:29
Avoiding sexual temptation requires drastic, costly action
“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
Genesis 39:11-12
Overcoming sexual temptation may cost you something
“But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.”
Colossians 3:5-6
To resist sexual temptation, put lust to death
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” NIV
Titus 2:11-12
You resist sexual temptation by denying your lustful desires
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
1 Corinthians 10:13
When you are tempted by sexual sin, God always provides a way of escape
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
Matthew 6:9-13
To overcome sexual temptation, seek God’s help
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Psalm 119:11
To overcome sexual temptation, memorize the Bible
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”
2 Corinthians 10:5
To control lustful thoughts, control your mind
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Galatians 5:16
You gain victory over sexual temptation with a holy walk
“I say then: ‘Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.’”
2 Corinthians 10:3-6
Your ultimate defense against sexual temptation is not technological, but spiritual
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
Conclusion
Sexual temptation is not sin. When you first see something that excites you sexually, you have not sinned. But if you continue to look and lust, then you sin. The initial sight, or thought, or sound that enters your mind, the one that tempts you to sin sexually, is just that—a temptation. Temptation is not sin. Giving in to temptation is sin.
Just remember that the longer you entertain sinful thoughts and contemplate sinful actions, the closer you get to sinning. After all, you can commit adultery simply by looking at a woman to lust after her (Matthew 5:27-28). Sexual sin doesn’t require a sexual act. A sinful thought or look is sufficient. But the initial look is not sin. The temptation to sin is not sin. But the continued looking, or reading, or listening that quickly (and predictably) leads to lusting, this is where the sexual sin occurs.
This means the way to avoid sexual sin is to avoid sexual temptation. You avoid the sinful act by avoiding or overcoming the sinful temptation. According to these Bible verses about sexual temptation (above), the key to gaining daily and lasting victory over sexual temptation is twofold—prevention and action.
Prevention. First, do whatever you must to prevent sexual temptation in the first place. Put a porn filter on your phone and all your other electronic devices, for example. Cancel subscriptions to streaming services and apps that you know trip you up sexually. Avoid places that tempt you sexually. Yes, this will hurt. So what? Pay the price required for gaining—and maintaining—sexual purity. Your very soul is at stake.
Action. Then, get into the habit of acting immediately whenever you see, read or hear something that arouses you sexually. Bounce your eyes. Stop reading. Change the channel. Leave the room. Turn off the radio. Quote a Bible verse. Change the subject. Pray to God for deliverance. Do whatever you need to do to kill the initial temptation to sin sexually.
Copyright Notice
Unless otherwise stated, scriptures taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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