Divorce, Forgiveness
What does God say about Adultery & Infidelity?
May
NOTICE: IRI IS NOT A RELIGIOUS ORGANISATION
We provide this information, as it is a common question during marriage counselling sessions. We provide this information for your reference ONLY. No person should stay in an emotionally or physically abusive marriage.
The Bible speaks much on the subject of marriage and divorce.
Check out Matthew 5:21, Matthew 19:8-9, Luke 16:18, 1 Corinthians 7:11, 27 and the scripture in Malachi 2:16 where we can find out how God really feels about it: “‘I HATE DIVORCE,’ saith the Lord God!” Marriage represents the union between Christ and His bride – the church. No wonder divorce is so very painful. The two are supposed to become as one flesh, no longer separate but joined together with such completeness they become a single unit, and what God has joined together, let no man tear apart.
In this article, we will look at various quotes from the Bible on Infidelity, Adultery & Porn.
What God says about… Adultery
God forbids adultery : Exodus 20:14
Adultery has consequences : Proverbs 6:26
Adultery is foolish : Proverbs 6:32
Adultery is disgusting to God : Jeremiah 7:9-10
God considers lust to be as sinful as adultery : Matthew 5:27-28
Divorce often leads to adultery : Mark 10:11-12
God can forgive the adulterer : John 8:1-11
In the Old Testament, God Declared Adultery to be a sin Deserving Death
When God set apart a nation to be His special people, He gave them a set of basic guidelines for living. They were the basis for every other law He would give them. These laws were a written record of the way God expects His people to behave. The seventh commandment God gave His people was,
“You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14).
God knew that the heart of humankind would naturally seek to fulfill every desire it experienced. God gave these laws to make His holy standards clear.
God viewed adultery as being a sin so terrible that it was punishable by death.
“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 20:10; cf. Deuteronomy 22:22).
What does God say about sex outside of marriage?
“Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4).
The Bible says,
“…because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband” (1 Cor. 7:2).
The Bible warns that those who continue a life-style of fornication and adultery will not inherit God’s Kingdom.
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 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” (Gal. 5:19-21).
What about EMOTIONAL AFFAIRS?
The Bible says that through Christ we should bring discipline and control to our thought-life. Our thoughts should not control us, but we should rule over our thoughts.
“Cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
Sexual fantasizing is a symptom of lust and is not pleasing to God. It stimulates and promotes sexual anxiety, which can lead to impure behavior and fornication. Get your mind out of the gutter and discipline your thoughts on good, and holy things.
“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28). (Read Mark 7:21-23, Eph. 4:8.)
What about viewing PORNOGRAPHY or “PERVING”?
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28).
This tells us that adultery can take place within the heart [mind] and is just as sinful as an outward act. The sin of the mind may not affect as many other people, families, and friends as the outward physical act, but it is still a sinful affront to the holiness of God.
This applies to the prevalence of pornography in our culture. Often claimed to be a ‘victimless offense’, the damage pornography does to the heart of the one involved in it, and often to those around him/her, can be just as devastating.
Will God Forgive Adultery?
Second Samuel 12:1-15 tells us that Nathan, David’s beloved friend, confronted David with his sin. The mighty Kind David’s heart was broken when he realized how he had sinned against God and grieved God’s heart. David repented, asked for God’s forgiveness, and was forgiven.
Today, God offers that same forgiveness. When one comes to faith in Jesus Christ, by confessing and repenting of his or her sin, God is faithful to remove the guilt, shame, and future penalty that sin carried with it. By committing one’s life to Christ, a person becomes a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17), no longer helpless to resist temptation, but empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit. (1)
This forgiveness is reiterated in the New Testament by Paul, writing to the Corinthians. Recall the verses mentioned earlier in I Corinthians listing some of the sins that will prevent one from entering the kingdom of God. Paul did not leave the Corinthian Christians without hope.
The next verse says,
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (I Corinthians 6:11).
Whether the sin is adultery or something else, Jesus Christ has paid the price for our forgiveness by His death, burial, and resurrection. No one has sinned too much or too long to be forgiven. The offer of salvation is for everyone (John 3:16) who is willing to confess and repent of his or her sins and turn their lives over to the Almighty Creator, Sustainer, and Savior of the world.
If you are a Christian and would like to add verses or passages from the Bible, please do so below, in the spirit of helping those couples who need motivation and direction from the Bible.
Source: https://www.intothelight.org/forgiveness-divorce.asp
Christ didn’t go against God’s Law this single time in His preaching. He always, truly always, spoke correctly. The incident with the adulteress is no different. The phrase “Sin no more” has a literal meaning, for an ancient Jew, and that meaning is “Never break God’s Law again”. This Command doesn’t mean the adulteress is forgiven. It means that, if she follows God’s Law for the rest of her life, she CAN BE forgiven by God. But to follow The Law, she must return home to her husband, serve him as wife under The Law, truly repent by completely turning away from her sin forever while serving a man who hates her, work very hard under The Law in all aspects of living while trying to earn her husband’s love again, and do this for the rest of her life with no guarantee that her husband will ever love her again. What Christ Commands is what God’s Law Commands, pure repentance and atonement. He never says she is forgiven in the immediacy of her sin, having done nothing to earn it. He quotes Law at her and directs her to never sin again, in a world where the word “Sin” means “Break God’s Law”, which is over six-hundred Commandments long. This article is misleading, well written but misleading. My husband cheated and left me and I was told by God, in a variety of ways, that the man is damned to Hell. Everywhere I look, I see adulterers suffering horrible consequences, as if they are being slammed by God for their sin as some kind of attempt by God to move them to stop sinning, which is also what The Law says God will do to try to stop us from falling into Hell. No adulterer is forgiven unless they obey Christ and repent and atone for their sin. Repent literally means turning away and moving in a different direction. No sin that continues is every forgiven, from Christ’s own lips to our ears. So, again, this is misleading. A spouse may be forgiven, only if they do as Commanded and serve for the rest of their life, pure in fidelity and in service under God’s Law. Male or female makes no difference. The Law tells us how to live and how to repent and atone, but if one cheats they are not forgiven by God until their last day, when they are Judged according to their deeds, to what they have done and what they have left undone. If they fail to repent, there will be pain and suffering, not joy and certainly not Heaven.
A woman is not there to serve. The heart says otherwise regardless of what is written.
Thou shall not judge
It’s easy to take a few words from a passage and transform them into thought. I’d be interested in knowing what these words mean to you.
So , my wife has been commiting adultery our entire 30 year marriage . I dont have a physical relationship with her . She is a leader in her church. It is said that God forgives , is she forgiven every time she is with someone else ? To me she is no Christian, but a cheating whore
Thou shall not judge
Seek a divorce