Last updated on August 26, 2020
Question:
I used to masturbate until ejaculation multiple times a week. I have just recently learned that it’s a sin. Before, what I had been taught had been really vague. They made it sound as if only sexual intercourse was a sin. In school, they don’t talk much about the different religions and made it sound sort of like it’s going to happen and it’s not bad as long as you don’t get a disease or get a girl pregnant. I have stopped since I learned and ask for the Lord’s forgiveness multiple times. Do you think I can still go to Heaven? I’ve already been saved, too, but that was a big sin and did it many times without knowing it was a bad thing.
Answer:
Answer
We have several issues to discuss, so be patient with me as I go through them. I want to challenge your thinking so that you can learn to think clearly and serve the Lord better.
You state that you learned recently that masturbation is a sin. Do you recall what verses were used to show you that this was the truth? What I’ve been seeing is a lot of people asserting that it is wrong in and of itself, but it isn’t proven. There are numerous things often connected with masturbation that are sinful, and it is those things that should be condemned.
God doesn’t want His teachings altered (Galatians 1:6-10). It is wrong to leave out a teaching, but it is equally wrong to add things that God didn’t say. The Pharisees were rebuked by Jesus a number of times for adding commands which God didn’t give. I’m sure they thought they were making God’s word clearer by detailing what should and should not be done. But in their eagerness, they made rules that God never gave (Mark 7:1-9). If masturbation is a sin, then we should be able to show either directly or indirectly where God declared it to be a sin.
Rather than repeat myself, I want you to read through several earlier answers:
- Is masturbation unacceptable?
- I’m still confused about masturbation. Is it right or wrong? What are your thoughts?
- Does this article prove masturbation is a sin?
- Doesn’t masturbation require indecent thoughts to climax?
- Is masturbation a sin when it is not accompanied by pornography or sinful thoughts?
Now, let’s look at a more important issue. You view God as someone eager to keep people out of heaven. Which sin will God not forgive if the sinner repents of his sin? “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9). God has worked hard to save people from their own sins. It is people who are too stubborn to leave their sins behind. “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?”” (Ezekiel 18:21-23). You serve a God who is trying to get you into heaven, not keep you out.
Response:
The links helped. Someone asked about it in school, but, because of restrictions on talking about religion, the teacher said to ask someone else. Thanks for the links.
About the paragraph about God saving us from our sins, thanks.
And thanks for the site. It’s nice to be able to read what you wrote and have someone else to discuss it with.