Biblical Punishment For Adultery
In the Old Testament, the death penalty was given to both parties who committed adultery. In the New Testament, we are warned that those who live in a continual unrepentant lifestyle of sin, including sexual sins, may not have ever been saved to begin with. There are numerous verses that explain the danger of sexual sins. Adultery will leave scars. The sacred covenant has been violated and hearts have been broken.
20) Leviticus 20:10 If a man commits adultery with his neighbors wife, both the man and the woman who have committed adultery must be put to death.
21) 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
22) Hebrews 13:4 Let the marriage bed be held in honor by all and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.
The Sacredness Of Marriage
Sex is not just a physical act to bring pleasure or to create the next generation. The Bible clearly teaches that sex was given to us to make us one flesh with our spouse. Yada is the Hebrew word used in the Old Testament to describe marital sex. It means To know and to be known. This is so much more than just a physical encounter. Sakab is the word used to describe sex outside of the covenant of marriage. It literally means an exchange of sexual fluids, and is also used to describe the mating of animals.
. The husband is to reflect Christ the servant-leader, the one who gave up His own will to serve for the good of His Bride. The Bride being the companion to work along side Him and to follow His leadership.
12) 1 Corinthians 6:15-16 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, The two shall become one flesh.
13) 1 Corinthians 7:2 But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.
How To Avoid Adultery
We avoid adultery and other sexual sins in the same basic way we seek to avoid other sins. We flee from them and focus on Scripture. We keep our thoughts captive, and guarded, and keep our minds busy meditating on the Word. Practically, we do this by not developing a significant emotional attachment to an opposite sex friend and by not placing ourselves in potentially tempting situations. No one is above this sin. No one who has committed adultery just stumbled into it it is not a hole in the road. Adultery happens by giving in a little wiggle room at a time, a few too many glances, a few too many shared moments, a few too many private encounters. This is a slippery slope that happens inch by inch. Stand guard. Be diligent.
15) Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
16) 1 Corinthians 10:12-14 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
18) 1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
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Why Is Adultery A Sin
Adultery is a sin first and foremost, because God says that it is. God gets to decide the parameters on marriage since He created marriage. Adultery is an outward proclamation of several sins: lust, selfishness, greed and covetousness. In a nutshell, all sexual immorality is idolatry. God alone deserves to be worshipped. And when we choose what feels right instead of what God says is right, we are making an idol of it and worshipping it instead of our Creator. But also, adultery is wrong because of what marriage represents.
11) Matthew 19:4-6 And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.
The Greater Meaning Of Biblical Adultery
Have you ever wondered if there is a greater meaning of adultery in the Bible than what the church preaches? What if I told you it isnt what you think it is?
The Word Web dictionary states adultery as meaning:
Extramarital sex that willfully and maliciously interferes with marriage relations.
The authors of ancient scripture used adultery to illustrate a much broader sin than the definition you see above. In fact, the definition you see above didnt really have anything to do with its true meaning in scripture. Ill give you some pretty strong evidence to support my claims.
In Mark chapter 10:11-12, Jesus states:
whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commits adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and marry another, she commits adultery.
Is Jesus really saying no one can ever get remarried? There are a lot of people in this world that deny any hopes of finding eventual happiness with another spouse because of Jesus words. Taken literally, theyd have the right to be cautious because Jesus really does seem to be saying that once youve been married, thats it! You dont get a second chance.
Let me give you another example of adultery in the Bible that cant be restricted to meaning an extramarital relationship. In John 8:3-11 the Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to Jesus to see what he would say. Verse four states:
They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
Closing thoughts
Blessings!
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Adultery In Old Testament Law And Wisdom Literature
Thou shalt not commit adultery
King Davids seduction of Uriahs wife Bathsheba and the murderous cover-up of their adultery is an infamous transgression of this commandment. Occurring approximately four centuries after the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai, the event and its aftermath are recounted in the books of Second Samuel and First Kings. Despite Davids sincere and lasting repentance, his breaking the commandment against adultery brought temporal punishment, initiated a cascade of tragic events in Israel and remains well known in modern times. The artist Triqueti illustrated the exposure of the crime when the prophet Nathan confronted David.
Triqueti has condensed the aftermath of King David’s seduction of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite . David, seated beside Bathsheba, is overcome with remorse as the stern prophet Nathan confronts him. Nathan reveals David’s crime through the parable of a rich man who steals a poor man’s only lamb, narrated in a subsidiary zone. As a sign of divine wrath, David’s illegitimate son lies lifeless before his guilty parents.
Ribner, 1993
The book of Proverbs contains entire chapters warning against adultery and describing its temptations and consequences. Direct warnings are given to stay far away from the adulteress. Wisdom is described as a protection against the wayward wife with her seductive words her house leads down to death. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
What Is The Meaning Of Adultery In The Bible
The biblical definition of adultery is engaging in sexual relations between a married person and someone who is not their spouse. The word adultery comes from the Latin word meaning to deceive. In other words, its biblical definition means being unfaithful to ones spouse.
Both men and women who commit adultery are sexually immoral in the eyes of God. The consequences of being sexually immoral in Gods eyes are incredibly severe, so much so that many scriptures warn us to stay away from this sin at all costs.
In the Bible, adultery is defined as a sin against God and man. Adultery was punishable by death according to Deuteronomy 22:22-24: If a man is found lying with another mans wife, then they shall both die, both the man that lay with the woman and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
Matthew 5:2728 deals with adultery from another perspective: Jesus teaches that lusting after someone who isnt your spouse is equivalent to having sex with them. In the same way that cheating is a sin against both God and ones spouse, so too is lusting after someone who isnt your spouse.
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Examples Of Adultery In The Bible
The firstborn said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come into us after the manner of the world. Let us make our father drink wine and lie with him so we may preserve our family through our father. So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn moved in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
On the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, Behold, I lay last night with my father let us make him drink wine tonight also then you go in and lay with him, that we may maintain our family through our father. So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger one arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down with him or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of Lot were with their father. The firstborn gave birth to a son called his name Moab he is the father of the Moabites to this day. As for the younger, she also gave birth to a son and called his name Ben-Ammi he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.
And it came about at that time that Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adullamite named Hirah. Judah saw a daughter of a certain Canaanite named Shua he took her and went into her. So she conceived and gave birth to a son and called him.
Can You Remarry After Adultery
Whether a Christian who has divorced their mate on biblical bases is free to remarry is a question of scripture. Their spiritual status has not changed in any manner in the eyes of the Lord or the church. Jesus allows someone to remarry when adultery has taken place. Whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery, and marries another raises the issue of remarriage. Jesus declares that divorcing a mate on the grounds of immorality frees the offended mate to remarry without committing adultery.
Remarriage following a biblical divorce for adultery seems explicitly allowed by Christ, and remarriage following a biblical divorce for desertion by a non-believing spouse may be allowed as an implication of the teaching of Paul. The elders remember that among orthodox evangelical churches, there are conflicting interpretations of scripture concerning the possibility of remarriage in the case of biblical divorces.
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The Ten Commandments/you Shall Not Commit Adultery
“You shall not commit adultery” is one of the Ten Commandments. Adultery is sexual relations in which at least one participant is married to someone else. According to the Book of Genesis|Genesis narrative, marriage is a union established by God himself.
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Genesis 2:24
Within marriage, sexual relations are designed to unify husband and wife, to be a source of enjoyment and to result in children. Before the account of the Ten Commandments, there are biblical examples that adultery was understood to be a serious offense. According to Book of Exodus|Exodus, the law forbidding adultery was codified at Mount Sinai as one of the Ten Commandments written by the finger of God on stone tablets. Details regarding the administration of this law and additional boundaries on sexual behavior followed. According to Deuteronomy, the commandment was reaffirmed as the leadership of Israel passed from Moses to Joshua.In the book of Book of Proverbs|Proverbs, the temptation to adultery is described, and advice for avoiding it is offered. Proverbs likens a man entering an adulterous encounter to a deer stepping into a noose. Adultery may be the first specific activity referred to as a highway to hell, and temporal consequences are starkly stated. For example:
Adultery is one of three sins the Mishnah says must be resisted to the point of death.
What Is Gods Punishment For Adultery
Leviticus 20:10 subsequently prescribes capital punishment for adultery, but refers to adultery between a man and a married woman: And the man that committeth adultery with another manâs wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbourâs wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
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The Two Types Of Adultery
Lets look at the dictionary definition of adultery: voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse. In fact, there are two types: single adultery and double adultery Here is the definition of adult: having attained full size and strength grown up mature.
What conclusions can we draw regarding relationships from these twists of etymology? Maybe that a real-life definition of adult is the condition of being responsible for our choices, and that the choice of whom to love and honor is probably the most adult decision of all.
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Is Emotional Infidelity Grounds For Divorce
Infidelity is a common cause of marital stress and can contribute to the decision to end a marriage through divorce. Emotional affairs, meaning infidelity without a sexual or physical component, can develop when married spouses form close, intimate relationships with others outside of their marriage.
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Adultery In Jerusalem Before Its Destruction
It has been inferred from John 8:1-11 that sexual adultery may have become very common during the age preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, for when an adulteress was caught in the act and brought before Jesus to be stoned by religious leaders, He responded, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And the crowd, apparently knowing they too were guilty, began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones leaving the woman alone.
Is It Adultery If You Have An Open Marriage
Open marriage is typically defined as a form of non-monogamy where the couple agrees that each may engage in extramarital sexual relationships. These sexual relationships are not considered infidelity and instead establish the open marriage or relationship despite societyâs implied monogamy as it relates to marriage.
When adultery walks in, everything worth having walks out. Woodrow M. Kroll
Adultery occurs in the head long before it occurs in the bed.
Adultery is a moment of pleasure and a lifetime of pain. Its not worth it!
Divorce was never commanded, even for adultery. Otherwise God would have given His notice of divorce to Israel and Judah long before He did. A legitimate bill of divorce was allowable for adultery, but it was never commanded or required. It was a last resort to be used only when unrepentant immorality had exhausted the patience of the innocent spouse, and the guilty one would not be restored. John MacArthur
Passion is the evil in adultery. If a man has no opportunity of living with another mans wife, but if it is obvious for some reason that he would like to do so, and would do so if he could, he is no less guilty than if he was caught in the act. Augustine
The monstrosity of sexual intercourse outside marriage is that those who indulge in it are trying to isolate one kind of union from all the other kinds of union which were intended to go along with it and make up the total union. C. S. Lewis
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Life Through The Spirit
Bible Definition of Adultery – Easton’s Bible Dictionary
What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? – Crosswalk.com
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What Jesus Meant By Adultery In Matthew Chapters 5 & 19
I didnt really write this article to stand alone. I was writing another article about Jesus words on lust that got too long with the stuff below included. So I lopped this off and made it its own separate article.
With that disclaimer lets tackle the topic of adultery and what it really means in the Bible.
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