What Is Adultery?

What Is Adultery?
Adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and another person who is not his or her lawful spouse.
“You shall not commit adultery.”
(Exodus 20:14)
What Does It Mean to Adulterate?
- To adulterate is to corrupt or debase.
- To adulterate is to make impure or inferior by adding something improper.
- To adulterate sexually means to be involved in any sexually impure activity.
“Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity.”
(Ephesians 5:3)
What Is Fornication?
- “Fornication” is generally an umbrella word for any sexual immorality, including adultery and pornographic acts. The Greek word porneia, from which we get the English word pornography, is often translated “fornication.”
- Fornication sometimes refers to sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons.
- Fornication is used as a spiritual metaphor when referring to mixing worldliness and godliness.
“Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.”
(1 Corinthians 6:13 KJV)
You should expect no easy solutions in dealing with the problem of adultery. However, God can work the miracle of the new birth for the non-Christian, and spiritual renewal for His own who have fallen away. If you are successful in securing a commitment to Christ, you can be confident that this will bring a new perspective, making it easier to mend lives and to reach permanent solutions.
Consider some of the consequences of adultery:
Emotional: guilt, fear, anxiety, loss of self-esteem, shattered personalities, and depression
Physical: illegitimate births, venereal disease, abortions
Spiritual: loss in this life and in that which is to comeIf you’re struggling with questions like these, know that there is hope. We want to equip you with helpful information so you can find hope and healing today.
Possible Outward Signs of Adultery
- Change in behavior
- Change in mood
- Change in spending patterns
- Change in schedule
- Less personal conversation
- Less discussion of future plans
- Less spontaneity
- Less sexual intimacy
- More unaccounted time away from home
- More faultfinding
- More emotional distance
- More anger at being questioned
“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”
(Proverbs 10:9)
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