Is this a sin?

Question

Is "Pleasuring yourself" a sin in Christianity?

Answer 1

Yes. Masturbation makes us begin to live according to the dictates of the flesh and to become slaves to the "misdeeds of the body." Scripture warns us about this kind of activity, "For if you live according to the flesh (by giving in to its desires), you will die" and tells us how to stop, "but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live" (Romans 8:13).

Answer 2

Mankind is sinful by just living each day. There is no one that is perfect, not one, other than Christ Himself. That is why it was necessary for Him to die on the cross so that we, sinful mankind, can be justified from our sins by his Blood. If pleasuring yourself, something you do in private, causes you to feel bad or guilty then maybe it would be best to try and stop. If you are more worried about what others think then you are living your life based not on what you believe but what you mentally think others are thinking and you never will be able to live a happy, full, life if you don't live according to your own belief rather than what you think someone else is thinking. Is it a sin? You have to decide that for yourself for if you feel bad about doing it and feel guilty most definitely it is a sin to you. If it hampers your worship of your God then yes it's a sin but remember everyone sins every day. That's no excuse to do it but just to say that this is the reason Christ died, for our sins that we cannot help committing.

Answer 3

The first thing that you should be considering is whether the idea of sin is actually real.

Think hard about it. The idea of sin assumes certain things about God that seem highly unlikely to me.

First it assumes a God who is too incompetent to organize a simple educational field excursion and get all of the students home safely.

How likely is this that God would not be smart enough to come up with a plan for our salvation that is going to work?

It also assumes that God must have created something imperfect, us.

One might assume that God could create someone perfect each and every time if he chose to. Assuming God is capable of this, then it follows logically that we must be perfect creations if we are actually creations of this perfect God.

Unless of course you are saying that God chose to create us imperfect. If God created us imperfect then anything that may go wrong is Gods fault, not ours. This seems a bit illogical at best so I think that we need to assume that What God creates would have to be perfect.

If this is the case then nothing that we can do could change Gods will unless we think that we are more powerful than God is. How likely is it that we the creation could be more powerful than the creator. I personally find this idea somewhat amusing, and a bit absurd.

Religion tells us that God is perfect. If this is true then Gods creations could hardly be considered to be imperfect.

If this is the case then Nothing that we can ever do could possibly change this perfection the God willed, unless we were so powerful that our choices could override and change the will of God.

How likely is that????

Think about it.

The idea of sin is simple nonsense, a lie made up about God by religion.

Love and blessings
don

Answer 4

Good question.

I read in a book that sexual gratification is something done to another person as a means of expressing your feelings for them in a physical way. So, if you pleasure yourself, you're expressing your love for yourself. And in christianity, vanity or great love for self (the way you should love someone special), is a sin. SO, according to the book I read, pleasuring yourself is a sin.

BUT, we must keep in mind that as humans, we have sexual desires, whether we want to or not. Dreams can turn us on. A person walking down the street can turn us on. So if pleasuring oneself is a sin, humanity is soooo doomed.

Some chrisian denominations teach that if you're desires are too much to handle, to get married. Unfortunately, that isn't always the best idea in the year 2006.

I hope this helps:)

Answer 5

Of course not my child. Or my adult. This is 2006 and people been doing that since Eve told Adam to get away from her virgin self. It ain't in the Book and if it were nobody would pay attention except to deny it in public then do it in private. If there were no "pleasure" in life, what would be the point of living? I could go on but I got a lightning bolt to throw at some potentate whose britches just got too big. Peace.

Answer 6

well, the people who say "yes it is a sin", are very ignorant! because it doesn't say in the bible that it is a sin! I read in an article that a pastor said "it should be a gift from God"! i don't know, but i don't do it anymore, i'd rather be safe than sorry!
If you are a Christian and have decieded that u wanna do it, i suggest you don't lust or look at porn while you do it, just think of the feeling.

P.s- The part when they say it's a sin because of the Onan thingy, it's not true...that is a whole different story, It's about a guy dripping his seed because God commanded him to get some girl preggo, but he died and got in trouble because he didn't, not because he spilled his seed!

Answer 7

Paul wrote most of the New Testament and covers this topic in the form of describing the Christian life. He said that we are released from the law (Ten Commandments and the traditions of the prophets) and are renewed in submission to the living and present will of God in the form of the Holy Spirit. We are no longer subject to the law, but the law was written for our benefit. So while we are not bound by the law we can definitely find real benefits in understanding why it was given.

The definition of sin is; whatever is not from faith (trust in the plan and will of God) is sin. Since God designed us to be social creatures and since we learn much about His desire for a relationship with us through our relationships with each other, I suggest that it is indeed against God's will. You will benefit greatly by self discipline to abstain from pleasuring yourself and use your energies to work on relationships with others within the framework of God's design.

Make you goal "Right relationships with others" pleasing them with righteous behavior. Save your sex life for your spouse, develop your fun side for socially pleasing friends, family co-workers. We call this, being 'other centered' vs. self gratification, being 'self centered'

http://judgeright.blogspot.com

Answer 8

No, it is not a sin. Only since 1992 did the decide that it was wrong, according to the Catechism of Catholic Church. So I would say it is not a sin.

Answer 9

Gen 38:9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled [it] on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

And some point to that passage, and claim masturbation is a sin. Read it in context. It's cloitus ineruptus, pulling out just before you climax, not masturbation.

There are two types of people. Those who admit they masturbate, and liars.

Answer 10

The Commandments say :Thou shall not commit adultery. But Jesus says, whoever looks upon another with lust has already committed adultery in his heart.

When you pleasure yourself, you are thinking erotic thoughts about another person. That would be a criteria for lusting after someone, committing adultery in your heart, which is a sin.

Answer 11

no

Onanism is not the answer----

And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him.
And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.

-- Genesis 38: 7-10 (KJV)
As a favored son of God's chosen patriarch, Jacob (a.k.a. Israel), Judah should have been sitting pretty. But in fact his family life is miserable. Judah's first son, Er, turns out to be "wicked in the sight of the Lord"; so God kills him. Judah's second son, Onan, likewise "displease[s] the Lord," so God kills him, too. But at least in Onan's case we're told why.

You might think Onan's sin was "onanism," an eponymous English term for masturbation. But such is not exactly the case. True, Onan "spills his seed on the ground," but he doesn't do it all by himself. Jacob has put him on the spot, by means of a peculiar tribal law: though Er is dead, if Er's brother impregnates Er's widow (Tamar), then any resulting son will be taken as Er's. It's bizarre enough that Onan could father Er's son if he wanted to. What's more, since primogeniture (succession through the first-born son) was of supreme importance at this stage of Israelite society, he's compelled by duty to do so.

But Onan, rebelling at the idea that his own child will be credited to Er, tries to pull a fast one. He does begin to perform his duty with Tamar -- several times, in fact. But, each time, he withdraws at the crucial moment. It is this outrageous shirking of duty that so displeases Yahweh, not the method Onan uses to spill his seed -- which is technically coitus interruptus.