ADULTERY

A CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE IS MORE THAN A CONTRACT OF CIVIL JOINING. IT IS A COVENANT OF SPIRITUAL UNION

THE IDEAL MARRIAGE PATTERN

Gen 2:20-25

20      So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

21      And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs,

and closed up the flesh in its place.

22      Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

23      And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

24          Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

25      And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

(NKJ)

THE NEW TESTAMENT COMENTARY ON THE IDEAL MARRIAGE

Eph 5:22-33

22          Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

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.

25          Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,

26      that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,

27      that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

28      So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.

29      For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

30      For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.

31      "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

32      This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

33          Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

(NKJ)

THE REAL IS NOT ALWAYS THE IDEAL.  TOO OFTEN ADULTERY DESTROYS THE SOUL OF MAN AND HIS MARRIAGE

Prov 6:32-33

32          Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; he who does so destroys his own soul.

33          Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away.

(NKJ)

GOD ENDORSES MARRIAGE BUT CONDEMNS SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE

Heb 13:4

4          Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

(NKJ)

1 Cor 6:12-13

12      All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

13          Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

(NKJ)

Eph 5:1-6

1          Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

2        And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

3        But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;

4          neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

5        For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

6        Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

(NKJ)

1Thes 4:3-8

3        For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;

4        that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,

5        not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;

6        that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.

7        For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.

8          Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

(NKJ)

THE WORD OF GOD OFFERS US REMEDIES FOR SEXUAL SIN

I          DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT

Matt 5:27-30

27      "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'

28      "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

29      "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

30      "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

(NKJ)

II          RUN!!

1 Cor 6:15-20

15      Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!

16      Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."

17      But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

18      Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

19      Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

20      For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

(NKJ)

III          SEXUAL SATISFACTION WITHIN THE MARRIAGE

1 Cor 7:1-5

1        Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

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.

4        The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

5        Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

(NKJ)

IV      PUT OFF THE OLD MAN AND PUT ON THE NEW

Col 3:4-11

4        When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

5          Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

6          Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,

7        in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

8        But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

9        Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,

10      and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

11      where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

(NKJ)

V       DIE TO SELF

Rom 6:11-12

11          Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

12          Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

(NKJ)

VI          DRAW NEAR TO GOD

Heb 10:22-36

22      let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

23      Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

24      And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

25      Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

26      If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,

27      but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

28          Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

29      How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

30      For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."

31      It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32          Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.

33          Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.

34      You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

35      So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

36      You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

(NIV)