I was wondering if masturbation was a sin even if one didn’t have any sinful thoughts when he does it. In Leviticus 15:14-15\u00a0it says that the person who had a discharged should offer two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and other for a burnt offering. Does this make masturbation a sin?<\/p>\n\t
If what you concluded were true, then women would sin by having their monthly menstruation (Leviticus 15:29-30) and having a baby would be a sin (Leviticus 12:7-8). Even catching a skin disease would be a sin, which by the way is what Leviticus 15:14-15 covers. The emission of semen isn’t mentioned until verse 16.<\/p>\n
The confusion comes from the concept of uncleanness. Certain things, which we are inclined to see as gross anyway, were declared to be unclean. The rules of uncleanness were to teach Israel to distinguish between the holy and the unholy (Leviticus 11:43-45). In following the rules for uncleanness, Israel learned about the nature of sin. Even though the items called unclean were not sinful in and of themselves, they did serve as a physical illustration of how sin (which you can’t see or touch or hear) behaves. Because uncleanness illustrated what sin is like, God required a sin offering before an unclean person became clean again.<\/p>\n
There is a sermon outline that talks about this at length. Please read through “Uncleanness<\/a>” and be sure to read all the passages cited. I think that by the time you complete the study you will have a better idea about what uncleanness is. Then seen the answer to the question “Is Masturbation Unacceptable?<\/a>” for details about whether the act of masturbating is a sin or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I was wondering if masturbation was a sin even if one didn’t have any sinful thoughts when he does it. In Leviticus 15:14-15\u00a0it says that the person who had a discharged should offer two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and other for a burnt offering. Does this make masturbation a sin? Answer:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[171,115,202],"class_list":["post-11834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-masturbation","tag-old-law","tag-uncleanness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1170,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-masturbation-unacceptable\/","url_meta":{"origin":11834,"position":0},"title":"Is masturbation unacceptable?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is masturbation unacceptable? Answer: This question has been widely debated because the Scriptures do not directly refer to the practice. However, there are a series of passages that\u00a0might\u00a0include it. \"If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29060,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-you-using-the-argument-from-silence-differently-between-the-topics-of-masturbation-and-instrumental-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":11834,"position":1},"title":"Why are you using the argument from silence differently between the topics of masturbation and instrumental music?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I hope all is well! I just wanted to say that I felt your advice, backed up by Scripture, has been helpful. I'm a 23-year-old male and struggled with masturbation (without fantasizing or porn), wondering if it is a sin or not. This is an on-again\/off-again matter and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18746,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-masturbation-require-indecent-thoughts-to-climax\/","url_meta":{"origin":11834,"position":2},"title":"Doesn’t masturbation require indecent thoughts to climax?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your\u00a0article. In regards to the definition of masturbation, which\u00a0for\u00a0years has been taught to me that was a\u00a0sin. According to what you say, there is no proof of that in the Word. Now, if the motives are what sets the definition of when masturbation is a sin and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28477,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-the-laws-of-uncleanness-mean-masturbation-is-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":11834,"position":3},"title":"Do the laws of uncleanness mean masturbation is sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have to start by saying this: I do not fall under the law, but I try my best to obey it as the Holy Spirit guides me, or, as I allow God to use me. I am also not trying to make you feel guilt or shame, for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21638,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-this-article-prove-masturbation-is-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":11834,"position":4},"title":"Does this article prove masturbation is a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I clearly understand that what you are saying is that the act of masturbation is not a sin. But look at what I found. [A link to an article is then given.] Answer: If masturbation bothers you or you are not confident that it isn't sinful, then you shouldn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23831,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-fornication-not-a-sin-under-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":11834,"position":5},"title":"Was fornication not a sin under the Old Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Since the Old Testament had no shedding of blood for fornication, could it be considered a sin under the Old Testament? Answer: There were numerous types of offerings given to God depending on the circumstances. A sin-offering was given when the person's sin did not have restitution included in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}