Wet dreams, also known as nocturnal emissions, are involuntary ejaculations that occur during sleep. They are common occurrences, especially in adolescent males. Though generally harmless, many people wonder if wet dreams are considered sinful according to the Bible.
The Bible does not directly address wet dreams or state whether they are sinful. However, an examination of relevant biblical principles provides insight into how wet dreams should be viewed.
Wet Dreams are Involuntary
A key factor is that wet dreams are involuntary functions of the body, meaning they are not consciously controlled. Deuteronomy 22:25-27 makes a distinction between voluntary and involuntary sexual acts, indicating involuntary acts do not bear the same guilt as voluntary transgressions.
Leviticus 15:16 similarly differentiates between voluntary and involuntary bodily discharges. Just as sickness or physical injury is not sinful, involuntary sexual release during sleep is a biological response outside individual control.
Wet Dreams Don’t Violate Biblical Sexual Ethics
The Bible promotes sexual purity and restricts sexual activity to monogamous marriage (1 Corinthians 7:2). Since wet dreams stem from subconscious impulses during sleep, they do not willfully violate biblical sexual ethics in the way that premarital sex, adultery, or pornography consumption do.
Moreover, wet dreams do not involve the exploitation of or lusting after another person. Rather than indulging in illicit sexual desire, wet dreams represent involuntary nocturnal functions.
Old Testament Cleanliness Laws
Under Old Testament religious law, bodily emissions resulted in ritual impurity requiring ceremonial washing and a waiting period before entering God’s presence at the temple (Leviticus 15:16). This reflected the belief that human sin and imperfection made people unclean before a holy God.
However, the New Testament emphasizes moral purity of the heart rather than ritual purity (Matthew 15:17-20). Christians are made pure through Christ (Hebrews 10:19-22) and indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), so bodily discharges do not separate believers from spiritual union with God.
New Testament Principles on Sexual Morality
The New Testament teaches that sexual immorality is a sin against God (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5). Included is any sexual activity occurring outside the husband-wife relationship (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).
However, these passages refer to willful sexual sins. The involuntary discharge of semen during sleep does not qualify as immorality any more than a menstrual cycle or wet dream experienced by a woman makes her guilty of sexual sin.
Sin Begins in the Mind
Jesus taught that sin flows from the heart’s desires, not involuntary biological functions (Matthew 15:19-20). Sin’s genesis requires intent and conscious choice, as conveyed in James 1:14: “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” Wet dreams arise from subconscious desires, not deliberate intention.
Moreover, Ecclesiastes 5:6 warns against allowing dreams or fleeting thoughts to cause someone to stand before God and declare them guilty. Though wet dreams result from mental stimulation during sleep, fleeting nocturnal fancies are not willful indulgences.
The Instructive Aspect of Wet Dreams
While wet dreams themselves do not constitute sin, they can serve as reminders for believers to maintain moral purity in their waking thoughts. Wet dreams may indicate a need to guard against lustful appetites and fantasies.
1 Corinthians 9:27 disciplines the body to avoid falling into sin, and Matthew 5:28-30 teaches removing sources of temptation. Therefore, wet dreams could constructively instruct someone to control their thoughts and avoid lustful behavior while awake.
However, wet dreams also occur naturally without erotic stimulus, and having a wet dream does not automatically make someone morally deficient or responsible for the content of their subconscious thoughts.
A Natural Occurrence
Wet dreams are prompted biologically and physiologically during the REM sleep stage as the brain randomly fires neurological impulses. They represent a natural release mechanism and do not inherently occur due to immoral cognitions prior to falling asleep.
However, due to hormones and developmental changes, adolescent boys and young men experience wet dreams more frequently. This explains the greater prevalence of nocturnal emissions during puberty without implying special moral liability.
Not Necessarily Caused By Pre-Sleep Thoughts
While erotic fantasies may mentally stimulate wet dreams if entertained before sleep, people can also have wet dreams without prior lustful thinking. The body may simply respond physiologically to hormonal signals and other biological factors during sleep.
Therefore, wet dreams should not automatically be taken as proof that someone harbored immoral thoughts or committed mental sin before falling asleep. The causes are complex and not entirely attributable to pre-sleep cognition.
An Argument Against Repression
Lastly, some argue that wet dreams serve as the body’s natural outlet for sexual tension. This safety valve effect may reduce the likelihood of waking sexual sin. Therefore, wet dreams could be viewed positively as God’s design to protect against greater sexual depravity.
Trying to repress wet dreams may be legalistic and counterproductive, potentially resulting in unhealthy responses like masturbation, pornography use, or fornication to relieve pent-up sexual pressure.
Avoiding Feelings of Guilt
Since wet dreams are involuntary and don’t constitute willful sin, Christians should seek to avoid any guilt, shame, or negative feelings associated with them. Believers are freed from condemnation through Christ (Romans 8:1).
Receiving wet dreams without self-blame may also help avoid compounding sinful responses through desperation to stop wet dreams in counterproductive ways that dishonor God.
Handling Wet Dreams in a Healthy Manner
Rather than reacting with guilt, believers can respond to wet dreams in spiritually healthy ways. Here are some biblical strategies for handling nocturnal emissions:
- Thank God for the reminder to take lustful thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and avoid sexually tempting situations when awake.
- Pray for God to empower you to mentally dwell on what is honorable (Philippians 4:8).
- Take comfort in God’s forgiveness that covers involuntary faults.
- Ask God to help control conscious thoughts and fantasies during waking hours.
- Pursue kinds of thoughts that please God when you have the ability to control your mind.
- Trust God continues working in you for moral purity and self-control.
- Get spiritually edified through bible study, fellowship, and other means of grace God provides.
Avoiding Counterproductive Repression
It’s important to handle wet dreams in a balanced, godly manner. Attempting to forcibly repress wet dreams through ascetic discipline or denial may lead to harmful dysfunction, similar to teachings that forbid marriage:
They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:3-5)
A condemned, fearful view of wet dreams can potentially cause greater harm than accepting them as a natural part of existence.
Conclusion
In summary, the Bible does not specifically prohibit wet dreams or label them as inherently sinful. As involuntary events, they do not violate biblical sexual ethics. Moral defilement comes through intentional disobedience in thought and deed, not involuntary nocturnal functions.
Although wet dreams may signal a need for greater sexual self-control when awake, Christians should avoid feeling guilt, shame, or condemnation due to natural physiological occurrences outside conscious control. With God’s help, wet dreams can be handled in spiritually edifying ways.
