5 Sex Acts in Marriage Forbidden By the Bible

(Warning: This article does use explicit sexual language for the purpose of clearly answering hard questions people are asking. If you’re sensitive to such language and descriptions, you may not want to read further.)

Are there any sexual acts that are off limits for husbands and wives?

According to the Bible, here are 5 sex acts that are forbidden in marriage.

1. Anything Sexual Between Anyone Besides One Husband and One Wife Is Forbidden in Scripture

The Bible is very clear that any sexual activity that happens by yourself or with anyone besides your spouse is a sin. 1 Corinthians 7:2 states, “But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.”

There you have it. It’s very clear. Sexual immorality is everything sexual that is not between a husband and wife. No polygamy (1 Timothy 3:2, 12, Matthew 19:4-6, Malachi 2:14-15). No adultery (Exodus 20:14, Hebrews 13:4). No orgies (Galatians 5:19-21, Romans 13:13-14, 1 Peter 4:3). No porn (Matthew 5:28-30, Philippians 4:8).

Nothing but sexual activity between one husband and one wife is biblical.

2. Any Sexual Act that One Partner Doesn’t Want to Do Is Forbidden in Scripture

1 Corinthians 7:3-4, “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.”

Sex is a commanded choice. In that way, sex is just like love. We are commanded to love others. However, true love is a choice. In that same sense, spouses are commanded to have sex. But sex must never be forced. It must always be a voluntary choice.

Therefore, the couple will have to compromise when misalignments happen between sexual desires. They must work towards an agreement that allows sex to be freely chosen by each spouse; that might sometimes require one spouse to say no to certain sexual acts that the other spouse desires.

If you feel forced, it’s forbidden for you to do it because that would not be an act done in faith but rather one that is violating your conscience (Romans 14:12, 23)

Just as love should be mutual in marriage, so too must choices about sex be mutual. So if one spouse doesn’t want to do some specific sexual act, that act should not be done in that marriage.

3. Any Sexual Act that Would Be Harmful to the Body Is Forbidden in Scripture

Romans 12:1, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Sex is a spiritual and emotional act, but it obviously is a physical act too. Just as food can help or harm the body depending on how it is used, so too can sex be helpful or harmful to the body depending on how it is being used.

This is probably the best biblical justification to forbid anal sex. While many think anal sex is directly forbidden in Scripture, that claim is not as clear as one might think. GotQuestions.org explains:

The Bible does not overtly mention anal sex. The account of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 is often used as the basis for declaring anal sex a sin. In that account, a group of men sought to gang rape two angels who had taken the form of men. The reasonable presumption is that the men of Sodom wanted to have forcible anal sex with the angels. The men’s homosexual lust is obvious, but anal sex is not explicitly mentioned in the passage. The words sodomy and sodomize come from this biblical account. Sodomy is, literally, “the sin of Sodom.” The strict understanding of sodomy, based solely on the events of Genesis 19, would have to be “forcible anal sex, with one male homosexually raping another male anally.”

However, I think anal sex would be forbidden by the Scriptures when it is causing harm to the body. I’m not going to get into all the specific details. You can research that on your own. But overall, the negative effects anal sex has on the body make it pretty clear God did not design the body to be used in that way.

But to remain biblically grounded, if there is something pleasurable that involves this sexual activity that is not harmful to the body that both spouses want to do, then perhaps it would be biblically permissible.

Overall, however, I think anal sex is a bad idea and leans closer to an unbiblical act than it does to a biblical act. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 states:

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

If anal sex is painful, only wanted by one spouse, or is causing damage to the body, that would certainly go against this command to glorify God in your body.

4. Any Sexual Act that Is Degrading Is Forbidden in Scripture

If you were to take the three biblical criteria already mentioned, you might be able to justify degrading sexual acts, particularly if one of the spouses has been mentally beaten down to have a low value for themselves. Because of low self-respect, they might think they want to do something just to please their spouse.

Because of addictions to porn and the widespread perverseness of our society, some people get sexually addicted to acts that are disrespectful, humiliating, dominating, and not honoring to their spouse. And if the spouse who is being degraded simply wants to please the other spouse, this couple might be able to justify to themselves that this act would not be forbidden since it’s just between the two of them, they are both willing to do it, and it’s not physically damaging their bodies.

For example, some form of dark role-playing could be degrading. Or some form of sexual act that is rooted in aggressive domination over the other person would be degrading.

The Bible tells wives to respect their husbands (1 Peter 3:5) while it tells husbands to be gentle with their wives (1 Peter 3:7). Biblically, sex in marriage is supposed to be about expressing love (Proverbs 5:19), and true love is kind, it’s not dishonoring, and it does not insist on its own way (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

Therefore, if the sex act is degrading in nature, the Bible would forbid it in marriage.

5. Masturbation Is Forbidden in the Bible Even If You’re Thinking About Your Spouse

Let’s go back to the principle we highlighted in point 1. Anything sexual that is done without your spouse is a sin.

Another verse that supports that principle is 1 Corinthians 7:5, “Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

There are only two categories mentioned here: having sex with your spouse and falling to Satan’s temptation because of your lack of self-control. Masturbation falls into this second category.

For more on this topic, you can read my article 5 Biblical Reasons Masturbation Will Ruin a Marriage.