Table of Contents
Adultery
Adultery is defined as the consensual sexual intercourse between a married person and a person other than the spouse. Adultery is the breaking of the seventh commandment that says, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). This command encompass not only adultery but impurity of every type in act, word, and thought (Matthew 5:27, 28).
The Lord forgives any sin (including adultery) when the sinner confesses his sin and forsake it. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The gracious love of God accepts the repentant sinner, the confessed sin is wiped away, and the sinner gets justified before the Lord covered with the perfect blood of Christ (Colossians 3:3, 9, 10).
The Woman Caught in Adultery
“Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (John 8:3-11)
Jesus’ words to the woman caught in adultery were full of mercy, in contrast with the deadly words of her accusers. Jesus pointed the woman to the main thing for which she stood in need—the immediate forsaking of her sins. “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17).
Repentance from adultery and any other sin must be true and sincere. Not only must the sinner be sorry for his sin; he must turn away from it. The repentance that consists in nothing more than feeling, wishing, hoping, is completely worthless in God’s eyes. Until a person stops completely to do evil, he does not really repent (Psalms 32:1, 6; 1 John 1:7, 9).
God Gives Victory Over Sin
The good news is that God will not only forgive the sins, but He will also give the victory over every sin including adultery, so the believer will not fall into it again. Victory is promised to all that by faith hold onto the Lord for help. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4). The Lord gave the faithful the assurance, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Nothing shall be impossible for all those who put their trust in God. “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).
As a person connects himself to the Lord through daily prayer and study of the scriptures, the Holy Spirit will change his weak nature and give him a new nature that hates sin. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). So, what seemed hard to do before connecting with God will become easy by His grace. Then, the believer will triumphantly say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
