Exodus 20:14 “You shall not commit adultery.”
This
is pretty clear, right? Any married person having sex outside of that
marriage covenant is a clear violation of God’s law. Make no mistake
about this. It doesn’t matter how your spouse is treating you, it
doesn’t matter if you’ve “fallen in love” with someone else, it doesn’t
matter what you want or what you feel - any sexual relations outside of
your marriage covenant is wrong!
We
live in a society that places little to no value on commitment and way
too much value on emotions. Your covenant with your husband or wife
wasn’t intended to be based on emotions. Your love - and your fidelity -
should be based on what you promised, not what you feel at any given
moment.
Adultery
is serious. It’s devastating. It destroys lives and tears families
apart. It carries from one generation to the next like a disease. Many
thousands of men and women, even people who were strong in faith and
used mightily by God, have fallen to the sin of adultery...and God hates
it!
The consequences of adultery are tragic.
Proverbs 6:32 “Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; he who does so destroys his own life.” Do you see that? Adultery destroys your life.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Do
you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers...will inherit the kingdom of God.“ Adultery keeps you out of the kingdom of God.
Proverbs 6:34 “For jealousy is a husband’s fury; Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.” There are always consequences of adultery - In this world (with other people) as well as the next (standing before God).
Listen to what Hebrews 13:4 says, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” There is no question here, God will
judge adulterers. Why does He hate adultery so much? Because He
intended marriage to mirror His relationship with the church. You see,
marriage isn’t a two-way contract - it has three partners. You, your
spouse and God. God is always faithful to us, He never fails us. He
keeps His promises and His covenant and He expects us to do the same!
This is the type of covenant He created marriage to be, faithful and
unconditional!
For
most people, it’s obvious that going outside of your marriage covenant
for sexual gratification is wrong. We can see that there are drastic
consequences for adulterers. But what we don’t seem to realize is that
God’s command against adultery doesn’t only apply to our actions - it is
also binding on our very thoughts. Jesus said this in Matthew 5:27-28: “You
have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit
adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for
her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.“ Wow...Jesus just told us that a lustful look is going to be judged the same way as a physical act!
God has poured out His grace on us
and has empowered us to live a godly life. Because of this, He expects
us to go further than mere outward obedience. Now He expects obedience
from the heart. He expects us to do more than abstain from illegal
relations - now He expects us to guard our hearts and our eyes. Job had
insight on this even before Jesus came. This is what he said in Job 31:1
“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.”
There
is one more side to adultery that often goes unspoken. This is the
spiritual side of adultery. You see, when we were born again, we
committed our lives to God. We entered into a covenant of grace,
commitment, and loyalty. When we made Him Lord, we made a promise to
serve Him exclusively.
But so many of us break this promise and go outside of our covenant
with God to find satisfaction. We break our commitment and begin to
“cheat” on God for the thrills of sin. Listen to what James tells us in
his letter: “Adulterers
and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is
enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world
makes himself an enemy of God.“
Whenever we take God’s plan and passion for our life, and mix it with
the way the world does things - we become spiritual adulterers.
While
I’m writing this, I know that there will be people who will nod their
head and mentally agree with every word - but then go right back to what
they were doing before. So listen to this closing statement from Romans
2:22, and take it to heart: “You who say, ‘Do not commit adultery (those of you who agree with everything you’re reading right now),’ do you commit adultery (in action, in thought, or in spirit)?”
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