Ex. 20:14 and Deut. 5:18 “Thou shalt not commit adultery”.
Adultery is sexual relations between any two people who are not married to each other. This includes the sin of fornication. This does not mean sex is bad, in fact God is no prude as the very first command he gave to Adam and Eve was to go and replenish the earth- procreate. God told them this even before He commanded the Sabbath Day (Gen. 1:28). God created the sex drive, hormones and testosterone. God also demands humans use His creation of sex in a proper way. It was God who created marriage and sex between a man and a woman (see CSCOG7 Staff Marriage and CSCOG7 Staff Love and Marriage for more detailed information). God blesses marriage and sexual relations between a husband and a wife and God disdains sexual relations outside of marriage.
First: Sex in marriage is good and blessed by God. “The Bible is full of comments on marriage and marital advice. “Cheer up thy wife” (Deut. 24:5), “Let her breasts satisfy thee” (Pro. 5:19), keeping warm (Ecc. 4:11), live joyfully with the wife of thy youth and do this with “all your might” (Ecc. 9:7-10), do not treat your wife treacherously (Mal. 2:14-15), honor each other (Eph. 5:21-33), love and submit to each other (Col. 3:17-19), newlyweds not to go to war (Deut. 20:5-7), finding a wife is a good thing and brings favor with God (Pro. 18:22), do not deny each other sex (I Cor. 7:3-5), those who forbid marriage are espousing doctrines of demons (I Tim. 4:1-3), Paul tells younger woman to marry (I Tim. 5:14), marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled (Heb. 13:4), elders in the Church are to have one wife (I Tim. 3:1-2), marriage is symbolic of the relationship between Jesus and His Church (Eph. 5:32). The wife is subject to the husband and the husband must honor the wife, together all with one mind (1 Pet. 3:1-8).” Quoted from CSCOG7 Staff Marriage.
Second: God condemns sexual relations outside of marriage. Concerning “perversion” (Rom. 1:24-32 especially verse 29). Horrible fornication in the Corinthian Church (I Cor. 5:1). Fornication and adultery is against one’s own body (I Cor. 6:18). Avoid fornication by having one wife and give each other sex (I Cor. 7:1-4). Fornication is one of the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19). Do not let fornication be even named among the saints (Eph. 5:3). Do not defraud your spouse through fornication/adultery (I Thes. 4:2-5).
Third: Results of adultery can be very severe. We read of David and Bathsheba in II Samuel 11 & 12. This adulterous affair left many dead including Uriah the husband of Bathsheba. The baby produced died and King David was severely reprimanded by God. Jesus says quite clearly that if any man even looks on a women to lust after her that he has committed adultery already in his heart (Mat. 5:27-28). This would go for a woman looking on a man too. We understand God created hormones and the sex drive but God commands we control our lusts and desires when it pertains to sex outside of marriage. We must control our minds and our thoughts. We read of the time a woman was caught in an adulterous affair. The self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees wanted her to be stoned to death (what about the man taken in adultery?). This was a set up trap for Jesus by the Scribes and Pharisees, they knew precisely what was going on in the local bedroom. Jesus bent over and wrote something into the dirt. One by one the accusers left until only the woman was left. Jesus told her to “go and sin no more” ie. Do not commit adultery anymore and then he forgave her (John 8:1-11).
We have learned, adultery, sex between unmarried individuals is wrong. Marital sex is good. The results of adultery can be devastating to a family and to a marriage. The only legal reason Jesus gives for divorce is found in Matt. 5:32 and Matt. 19:9- fornication/adultery. Even so, Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery and simply told her to go and sin no more. God forgives and forgets our sins after repentance (See CSCOG7 Staff Guilt forgive and forget). Paul said in Phil. 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” When it comes to adultery and fornication do we have the mind of Jesus in us so we do not commit adultery? Are we as forgiving and forgetful of sins as Jesus was? We must have the mind of Jesus in us to avoid adultery and to obey the seventh commandment of God.
