ADULTERY - The Great Destroyer

I read the following article in a Christian Magazine. It is so true of the world we live in, that I wanted to share it with others. The author’s name was not published, so should they happen upon this, I want to say "thank you" for the warning. I am preserving this article for my children. In writing a column on the home for a Christian paper that is read largely by born-again, conservative Christians, it should seem strange to need to direct our attention to the sin of adultery. However, the sad but true fact is that this sin is running rampant in theologically fundamental circles of our day. Preachers, Sunday school teachers, deacons, and church members in general are ever increasingly falling into this pitfall of destruction for marriage and the home. Therefore, it is important, as a matter of warning and marital preventative maintenance, to sound again the command of God: "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). It is fitting that the command against adultery immediately follows the command against murder. The act of murder destroys ones life, whereas the act of adultery destroys at least two lives. We should note that the root meaning of the word adultery is "to mar" or "make impure" something that is beautiful. That pure thing God does not want marred is the sanctity of the marriage relationship. God’s command against adultery was intended to be a positive protection so that we might settle for nothing but the best use of sex as a bond between husband and wife. Hebrews 13:4 states both the negative and the positive side together when God declares, "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Sex outside marriage loses its meaning and becomes a gyp. More than that, it brings the judgement of God instead of the blessing of God. Every single person and every married person ought to read and take warning from the words of Proverbs 6:26-27 and 32-33: "For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?...........But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away." Adultery brings the special judgement of God, not only because it violates the plan of God for the marriage union and the beautiful way that physical union pictures the believer’s spiritual union with Christ (Ephesians 5), but because it is a many-sided sin. Adultery is a sin against one’s own self. First Corinthians 6:18 declares, "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." Adultery does unparalleled damage to the individual physically, emotionally, and spiritually. You cannot laugh at God’s laws and escape the consequences. One counselor said that the aftermath of adultery is, first, disappointment; second, bewilderment and confusion; third, frustration; fourth, remorse; and finally, guilt that sometimes self-destructs, if not physically, at least emotionally. Adultery is a sin against the home as well as self. Premarital sex often results in marriage role reversals if a couple gets married. The husband feels guilty because of his sin before marriage; thus he becomes passive to indirectly seek his wife’s forgiveness. On the other hand, the wife feels anger and resentment for being defrauded before marriage by her husband, and thus becomes dominant and resists her husband. Adultery is likewise a great sin against the church. Just as the enemies of God blasphemed when David sinned, so it is today when church members fall into this sin and dishonor Christ. Greatest of all, adultery is (as David acknowledged in his prayer of repentance following his sin) a sin against God. David said in Psalm 51:4, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight:........." The recognition of this fact can be a great resource to protect any true believer from this sin. Long ago, a handsome young man named Joseph, while a servant to Potiphar, conquered this temptation by this same realization. Genesis 39:8 declares that Joseph "refused" the propositioning of Potiphar’s beautiful wife. However, Genesis 39:9 reveals the real source behind this refusal was that Joseph saw it as a ".......great wickedness, and sin against God." This is the attitude that is needed today to protect our lives and marriages. May we encourage some who have, earlier in life, fallen into this sin that God can and will forgive this and all other sin if you will but receive the Saviour and ask forgiveness. First John 1:7 says, ".......and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." First John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." However, we should also remind you that, though Christ forgave the woman taken in adultery , as recorded in John 8, He also said, "Go and sin no more." Some need to flee tempting situations, associations, and people. The Bible always says to "flee" sensual sin. Let us all remember we cannot reason with lust.