Why Didn’t God Call It Sin?

Over the years I have heard a number of explanations as to why masturbation is sin, but I have yet to have anyone give me a good explanation for why the Bible does not clearly say so.

Is there any other sexual sin that is not directly and clearly identified as sin in the Bible? There are passages which clearly label as sin such things as fornication, adultery, lust, incest, rape, homosexuality, and even bestiality. Surely the urge to masturbate is more common than most of these and much stronger than many of them, and yet the Bible says nothing about it. If God felt it necessary to tell us not to have sex with animals, why didn’t He also find it necessary to tell us not to masturbate?

I can only come up with three reasons why “thou shalt not masturbate” is not found in the Bible.

It’s an oversight.

One must have special knowledge or be spiritual to know this truth.

Masturbation is not an inherently sinful act.

Number one makes the Bible incomplete, while number two is the heresy of Gnosticism. By the process of elimination, I am left to conclude that number three must be true.

I know some will say, “it does not matter why God didn’t say it,” or “who are you to question God?” But it does matter. If you want to add to what God has called sin you must first give a good reason why God did not say it Himself. Since there is no doubt that masturbation was known of and practiced by those who originally read and heard the words of the scripture, the Bible’s silence on the issue is extremely difficult to explain if you are convinced masturbation is sin.

Most of the arguments I hear against masturbation seem to work because they begin with the belief that masturbation is wrong. Because God is actually silent on this subject I hope this article will encourage people to reexamine the issue.

image credit
paper scraps with question marks © IMG_191 / Adobe Stock