“But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.” Romans 14:23
The Bible doesn’t mention the words masturbation or masturbating. That means pleasuring yourself is OK, right? Not so fast. Just because the Bible doesn’t mention something doesn’t mean it’s allowed. You must dig deeper if you want to discover why masturbation is a sin.
Just consider some other sexual activities that aren’t in the Bible. We’re talking exhibitionism, voyeurism, fetishism, frotteurism, obscene phone calls and sexual sadism. Because the Bible is silent concerning these activities, does that mean they are allowed? Of course, not. Take frotteurism, for instance. Frotteurism is “the act of touching or rubbing one’s genitals up against a non-consenting person in a sexual manner.” The Bible never says anything about frotteurism. But I don’t know any Christians who would argue that frotteurism is OK simply because the Bible doesn’t mention it.
What we’re talking about here is the silence of Scripture. Since the early days of the Church, believers have struggled in this area. Some argued then, and still do today, that if the Bible doesn’t expressly forbid something, then it’s allowed. Others argued then, and still do today, that if the Bible doesn’t expressly authorize something, then it’s forbidden. In real life, this is what these two positions look like:
- The Bible doesn’t expressly forbid drums in worship, therefore they are allowed
- The Bible doesn’t expressly authorize drums in worship, therefore they are forbidden
The problem with each of these positions is that the Bible couldn’t possibly be large enough to mention every forbidden act or every authorized act. Plus, you face the problem of innovation. Technologies exist today that didn’t exist when the Holy Spirit inspired the authors to write the books of the Bible (that’s why the Bible is silent about Tinder and virtual reality headsets). There is simply no way that the Bible could be a rule book that governs every possible activity for all time.
And yet, when it comes to the topic of masturbation, some Christian men use the Bible as their authority—sort of. They favor the first position rather than the second one. They argue that the Bible doesn’t expressly forbid masturbation, so it must be OK. They use the silence of Scripture to justify their masturbation. But this is never a wise move. Silence is never permission. Or prohibition.
You and I know that exposing our genitals in public is a sin even though the Bible neither forbids nor authorizes exhibitionism. We know that peeping through windows to watch others undressing or having sex is wrong even though the Bible is silent on the topic of voyeurism. The same goes for masturbation. If you and I study the Scriptures with an open heart, asking God to guide our thoughts, and meditating on God’s express design for sex as something that takes place only between a husband and wife (God has spoken expressly on this topic), we will discover soon enough why masturbation is sin.
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