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The Seventh Commandment – Adultery
God says in Exodus 20:14 NKJV, “You shall not commit Adultery.”
Adultery stands out among the Ten Commandments.
All of the Commandments are important. Each one deals with what separates God and man. To have a right relationship with God, we must submit to following all God’s commands.
Adultery is a direct attack on God’s divine plan for mankind, and it is a betrayal of vows made between a husband and wife. Satan uses this sin above all others as a wrecking ball for marriages.
Adultery is destructive in three different ways.
First, it is an attack on God’s plan for mankind; second, it breaks apart the union of a man and a woman that is holy to God, and third, it destroys innocent lives.
Let’s first look at marriage as God’s plan for mankind.
Jesus, God’s Son, tells in Mark 10:6-9 NKJV, 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Notice these important points, Jesus tells us about mankind:
- He made them male and female. In other words, a man and a woman.
- A man will leave his father and mother. The wife now becomes first.
- The man will be joined to his wife. They will face life together.
- They will become one flesh. No longer two, but one.
- It is a holy bond because it is God who joins them together.
- Man is not to separate what God has joined for life.
Adultery is a man or woman breaking the covenant relationship between them and God. Note, this is what Jesus says, “ 9 Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Adultery is not only the betrayal of your life partner, but a direct attack on God’s plan for the family.
The Church has failed to preach this truth about sexual sin.
Many modern-day preachers are afraid to preach the truth, and you can see the devastating effects within the church. The Apostles were not. The Apostles and the early evangelists were very clear that sexual sin would send you to hell. They were not afraid to preach that those in the Church should separate themselves from evil, all kinds of evil, but especially sexual sins.
Second, it breaks apart the union of a man and a woman that is holy to God.
Divorce is just one result of the sin of adultery.
Today, 35-40% of marriages end in divorce. That does not mean that 35% of couples marrying for the first time end in divorce. Many people marry multiple times and are guilty of adultery and divorce many times in their lives. Over 50% of those filing for divorce cite adultery as contributing to the end of their marriages. It is even higher among couples who marry before they reach eighteen.
Within the Church, divorce rates are much lower among Christians who actively practice regular church attendance. Although statistics are still horrible, it is better than those of non-Christians.
Special Note: Christian couples who regularly attend church together and pray together daily have a divorce rate that is less than 1% some years. Christians should consider this even before they commit to marriage.
Marriage has to be more than living together. Each couple should commit themselves to worshiping and praying together daily.
My wife and I have practiced this every day since we married. We pray together every morning and evening. Yes, we even take time to kiss good morning and good night, and we worship God together. As part of our marriage ritual, we study the Bible together every day, reading through it each year.
We would encourage each of you to do the same.
Many will say that they don’t have time. We would tell you that it is necessary for your survival. FIND TIME!
Third, adultery destroys innocent lives.
The innocent husband or wife, along with the children, suffers the most. The guilty party often goes off marries again and does the same to another family.
Many of the children injured by the sin of adultery and divorce give up on their hopes for a God-honoring marriage.
Adultery has destroyed so many homes that some decide not to marry.
Many of our young people, and some older people, have decided to enter into relationships other than marriage. Experiencing their parents breaking up, they decide to just live with someone until they get tired and then move on to someone else, skipping marriage.
Society has abandoned many of our nation’s Judeo Christian morals. Self-gratification has become the new standard. Many decide not to marry and accept the sin of fornication as their way of life. If children are produced, they are often abandoned by one or the other of the partners who then leave and go find someone else.
Many of those who do marry have little understanding of the great responsibility they are undertaking.
The Scriptural term for having sexual relations outside of marriage is called fornication. It is one of Satan’s tools to destroy God’s plan for the family.
When looking at Adultery, we have to look at fornication.
Sex, as God designed it, is a blessing, but sex outside of God’s plan brings broken hearts and misery. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:18 NKJV, Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
Sexual sin is destructive on all levels.
The world calls adultery and fornication sexual freedom.
Satan has so deceived us that adultery, fornication, and other sexual immorality have become accepted in our society. Even within the Church, we rarely hear Pastors, or Sunday School teachers, teach that it is sin and should be avoided.
Yet, everyone still knows that it is wrong. Everyone, young and old, can see the great damage it has done.
It is NOT sexual freedom, IT IS SIN. That is why when God gave the Ten Commandments, He included adultery.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:2-3 NKJV 2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. This is God’s Plan. Nothing else works.
The works of the flesh promote adultery.
Notice what Paul says to the Galatians in Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV, 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Finally, why is adultery so evil?
Adultery is killing God’s plan for mankind. It destroys the foundation of the home and thereby the nation. Murder ends a human life and brings great sorrow, but adultery wrecks lives for generations.
As a Pastor, I witnessed adultery destroying families. I saw firsthand how children were devastated, often losing one parent and sometimes both, due to one person’s sin.
Years later, while working at New Mexico Boys and Girls Ranches, I worked trying to help children recover from the horrible effects of shattered homes. I cannot say that we were successful with most children. Some have gone on to normal lives, but many have not.
We worked hard to help the children who came into our care. However, we could not give them what they lost by not having a stable, Christ-centered home. God did not design child-care facilities to raise children. I am not putting down the many Christian men and women who serve God by caring for these children. It is just not the same as a family.
When the marriage covenant is broken, children are often damaged for life. When children from a broken home become adults, they still carry the pain of that experience. Sadly, we see the cycle repeated over and over.
Marriage represents Jesus and His Church.
Adultery is breaking a covenant between God, a man, and a woman. Remember the above Scripture. Mark 10:9 says, “Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Marriage is not a legal agreement between individuals that is only binding by a government statute. It is something that God does when a man and a woman submit themselves to marriage.
Jesus says the two become one flesh. Marriage is the symbol of Christ and His Church. Notice in Ephesians 5:23-24 MLKV it says, 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Marriage is not one-sided!
Paul points out two very important things in Ephesians 5. He tells Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord, and Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.
As Christians, it is our job to teach these truths everywhere we go.
Click the following links to continue your study of all the Commandments, The First Commandment – No Other God!, The Second Commandment – No Idols, The Third Commandment -The Lord’s Name, The Fourth Commandment – The Sabbath, The Fifth Commandment – Honor Father and Mother, The Sixth Commandment – Do Not Murder, The Seventh Commandment – Do not commit adultery,