7. Adultery Forbidden! Exodus 20:14

Text:  “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Exodus 20:14.

          “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I (Jesus Christ) say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Matthew 5:27-28.

Good morning, naturally sinful, but honest, Christian!  Having been ‘quickened’ by God the Spirit to receive conviction of sin; faith to believe; and true, God-given repentance from sin – you know your old self well enough to realise that you have probably committed the sin of adultery in some form, many many times throughout your life - in mind, word, or deed - even after being led to Christ and saved!

 Furthermore, you are now mature enough in the faith, made honest enough in the faith, to admit your many faults and failings - as it seems that, the closer the Living Lord God allows us to come to Him, the more clearly we see our sinful selves for what we most definitely are – gross sinners, yet saved by God’s grace!

(This is usually the point in which I get so much grief and opposition from the self-righteous! However...)

“...God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him (the light!), and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.”    (1 John 1:5-6)

With this Bible truth in mind, therefore, we find the following fact of our Christian faith: The closer the Lord God allows sinners to approach His Divine Light, the more light sinners  have to see our own sinfulness more clearly!  The closer the Lord God permits us into His Holy Presence, into His Divine Light – the more exceeding sinful we see ourselves, and the enormity of our words, thoughts, actions, and potential to sin against His Holiness.

When the Lord permits us to mature enough in faith that we might draw closer and closer to Him, and His Divine Light – instead of becoming proud and self-righteous, we become more humble and self-effacing to realise how much the Lord grants us His Sovereign grace, to allow us to draw close to Him without our being consumed in an instant by the fire of His Absolute Holiness.

“Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.”
(Hebrews 12:28-29)

This Lord God Almighty Jehovah – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is that same and only Sovereign Lord God Whose Commandment proclaims: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Dictionary Definition: Adultery – (noun) voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone who is not that person’s legal partner; lack of chastity generally (Bible); applied especially by theologians to marriages disapproved of, expressing reproach or scorn; image worship; adulteration or falsification.  (The Chambers Dictionary, page 21)

Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s Catechism: Questions & Answers:

“57. Q. Which is the seventh commandment?  A. The seventh commandment is, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

58. Q. What is forbidden in the seventh commandment? A. The seventh commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts, (Matthew 5:28; Colossians 4:6) words, (Ephesians 5:4;    2 Timothy 2:22) and actions. (Ephesians 5:3)

“Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Ephesians 5:4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Ephesians 5:3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints.”

While many will immediately and clearly understand the fact that the Lord God forbids breaking ones marriage vows by having sexual intercourse with someone outside the marital bed – the Seventh Commandment goes an awful lot further than that in implication and prohibition.

The action aspect of actually breaking this Holy Commandment needs no elaboration.  However, when we begin to understand that the Living Lord God Jehovah judges the very motivation of our hearts; our most deep, and too often devious, thoughts; the carnal desires of our fallen human nature – then we can more fully understand how often we have broken, and continue to break, this serious Commandment of God.

Furthermore, the more legalistically inclined professing Christian, somewhat blinded by his/her success in attending every available church-meeting; paying, religiously, church tithes; and seeking to stroke all the Ts and dot all the Is of their doctrinal stance – can become very prone to self-righteousness, until they realise that in God’s eyes and mind, the thought equals the actual deed!

“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  (Matthew 5:28)

Now, please ask yourselves, dear ladies and gentlemen readers: “Am I going to seriously deny committing this serious sin of adultery, in lustful thought; in lustful, otherwise secret, desire; or in the actual commission of fornication, lewd practice, or physical sexual sin?”

Hear what the Spirit of God teaches us on this subject, penned by the apostle James: “For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he/she is guilty of all.  For He (God) that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill.  Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the Law.  So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.”    (James 2:10-12)

When we break one Commandment, we break ALL the Ten Commandments at once.

Thought: God’s grace puts ALL our sins under the Blood of His dear Son, Jesus.