I've seen this topic addressed several times over the last
few weeks, wondering to myself why it was being so vehemently called out. Thinking, "Wow. I'm so glad God isn't placing a burden on me
to write about THAT." Right. There have been other issues dealing with
sexuality that God has been increasing a burden upon my spirit to address, but
not that one. That is, until I was
having a conversation with a dear friend who is on fire for God and has a
passion for ministry. God had previously
revealed to me that this person had been dealing with a spirit of lust in her
life and during our recent conversation the issue of masturbation came up. She said that she had received conflicting
information from others in the church in regard to that topic. Some saying it was a sin, some saying it was
only natural, so she was still in limbo in her understanding.
The simplest way for me to give a sound, scriptural
understanding about this topic is to start by pointing out that the Bible says
that the only thing that comes "natural" to human beings is sin. Selfishness, disobedience, rebellion,
lust....all these things come naturally to mankind. Scripture says that until we come to Christ,
we are spiritually dead because of our natural inclination towards sin, "As for you, you
were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which
you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of
disobedience— Among them we
too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the
rest." (Eph 2:1-3). Read that again, "and were by nature
children of wrath." The world says that human beings are, by nature, sexual creatures. But the Bible says that human beings are, by nature, sinners who deserve God's wrath. The Bible says that those who follow their natural instincts like an animal would, are those who are without the Spirit of God, "These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit." (Jude 1:19).
If masturbation can be called anything, it
can most definitely be called a "lust
of the flesh" and an "indulgence
of the desire of the flesh" (Eph 2:3). Scripture
teaches us that those who belong to Christ are no longer to be slaves of their
fleshly desires, "those
who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires." (Gal 5:24). The reason a
Biblical understanding of masturbation places it under lusts and desires of the
flesh is because human sexuality was created for one, single
purpose: as a blessing to be shared by
those who are married to consummate their spiritual union and to enable them to procreate under God's blessing through the bond of marriage. That is truth,
that is Biblical, that is scriptural, despite the fact that stating such a
truth causes an uproar in today's overly-sexualized society, because we live in
a culture that has determined that sex is an inalienable right, to be indulged
in upon the whims of our fancy-- no blessing of God required.
The Bible may not specifically address masturbation, but it
clearly addresses the parameters to which human sexuality is allowed to take
place, and that is only within the confines of marriage between a man and a
woman. By that definition, that would
necessarily NOT include any sexual activity of any type and under any
circumstances not within the confines of marriage between a man and a
woman. Scripture is abundantly clear: marriage only...man and woman only...that's it.
God leaves no wiggle room, despite our personal objections. The world cannot accept God's authority on
human sexuality because the world says that human beings are simply animals who
have become aware of themselves. The
world sees God's clearly defined parameters of human sexuality as archaic and
prudish, even sexist, bigoted and foolish.
But scripture says, "The
person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit
of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they
are discerned only through the Spirit." (1 Cor 2:14).
The fact that the world has completely
and utterly perverted human sexuality and brought it under a classification of
"natural instinct", does not negate nor change the purpose for which
God originally created it to serve.
Rampant, unbridled human sexuality is nothing new, it is something that
the enemy has used for a very long time to destroy lives, to deceive and lead
astray, and to put people in spiritual bondage.
Scripture says that "the
thief comes only
to steal and kill and destroy." (John 10:10). When we do anything
outside of God's well-defined parameters, we open up a potential foothold to
the thief by our sin. Sexual immorality
can be likened to fooling around with a Ouija board. Not everyone who does it comes under demonic
oppression, but they are most certainly allowing the devil a foothold in their
life through their disobedience. The
Bible says have nothing to do with such things for a reason. God told Cain, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do
not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you,
but you must rule over it." (Gen 4:7).
As believers in Christ, we are no longer slaves to our
flesh, "We know
that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be
brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Therefore do not
let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as
an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who
have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him
as an instrument of righteousness." (Eph
4:6,12,13). We offer every part of
ourselves to God as an instrument of righteousness through our obedience to
Him. We walk in obedience with Him when
we do not allow ourselves to participate in things that lay outside of God's
prescribed order and purpose. Masturbation,
fornication, adultery, homosexuality, pornography, bestiality, pedophilia, sadomasochism and
any type of perverse fetishism lies outside of God's prescribed order and
purpose for human sexuality. That is a Biblical truth that will either convict, or offend. I didn't make the rules, I'm only explaining
them to whoever is able to humble themselves to receive it and grow in their
relationship with God and spiritual maturity.
The world tells us one thing, but God
tells us another. The world caters to
our physical needs and desires and God seeks our spiritual needs and
growth. The flesh and the spirit are
diametrically opposed. The world says
it's only natural for us to look upon someone with lust, but Jesus said, "but I say to you that everyone who looks at
a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his
heart." (Matt 5:28). God is
serious about obedience, so serious that Jesus said that if your eye causes you
to stumble, tear it out and throw it from you, or your if your hand causes you
to stumble, tear it off and throw it from you, "for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body,
than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." (Matt 5:29,30). That seems so harsh and so intolerant, but we
need to understand God's perspective.
God doesn't want us to expose ourselves to ANYTHING that might lead us
into temptation. Masturbation in and of
itself may seem simple, natural and unimportant, but the fantasizing and
lustful thoughts that go along with it can lead to so much more. And that is besides the fact that
masturbation lies outside of God's purpose for human sexuality, whether you
agree with it or not. To say that human
beings are mere "sexual creatures", relegates them to animals. Human beings are not animals. The Bible
clearly states that animals were all created according to their own order, prior
to human beings. Only human beings were created in God's image and only human
beings did God, "[breathe] into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Gen 2:7).
For those not in a marriage union, coming
to terms with God's ordinances in regard to human sexuality can be extremely
difficult. The Bible teaches that the
expression of human sexuality may only be enjoyed as a blessing of marriage
between a man and a woman. So the most
natural question asked by those who are not married is, "What about my
blessing? What about my
sexuality?" But these are
"me" centered questions. Our
questions that begin with, "What about my..." are not the answers we
should be seeking. Scripture says that
God knows what our needs and desires are, but that we should "seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for
tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:32,33). God assures us that He knows how to rescue us
from our trials, but that we are to turn away from fleshly desires and to seek
righteousness by submitting ourselves to His ways, "the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the
unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow
the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority." (2 Pet 2:9,10).
I Googled "Christian
masturbation". Yes, I did
that. Hopefully my husband won't look at
my internet search history and wonder why I read about masturbating all day. Among all the articles and advice I read, the
most disturbing thing to me was the fact that most of the people addressing
this issue did so in such a way as to ease the guilt experienced by those
engaging in masturbation. Instead of supporting
God and His word, they chose to comfort the flesh of those seeking an answer to their
masturbation dilemma. These people who
were obviously convicted enough by the Holy Spirit to seek out an answer, to seek
out truth, guidance and direction, were, in essence, told to ignore the conviction
of the Holy Spirit. That is the main
problem with the church today. People
are seeking comfort, rather than repentance, for what their spirit is
convicting them about, and sadly there are droves of people telling them that
they should ignore that conviction and continue in their behavior.
The problem with relegating masturbation,
or any other manifestation of sexuality that lies outside of God's purpose, to harmless, natural, personal sexual impulse
is that in doing so, we are agreeing with the world that human beings are
merely creatures of instinct and this is opposed to what scripture says we are. While I would like nothing more than to be
able to say, "Do what you want to do in your own personal time and
space", I can't, because I wouldn't be speaking the truth. Speaking truth
is the call that God has placed upon my life, it is like a fire in my bones and
I have determined that the turmoil I endure by holding it in is far greater
than any turmoil I will ever endure for speaking it. And the truth is, we can't just do whatever
we want to do because the Bible says to seek God's will and submit to it.
"Submit yourselves therefore
to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he
will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts,
you double-minded." (James 4:7,8)
"For
those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the
flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things
of the Spirit.
The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is
life and peace. For the mind that is set on
the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it
cannot. Those who are in the flesh
cannot please God. You,
however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to
Him. But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of
righteousness." (Rom 8:5-10)
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