You Shall Not Commit Adultery Series

Do Not Commit Adultery

Exodus 20:14 - You shall not commit adultery.

Introduction

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A cartoon offered this commentary on the 10 Commandments.

Moses is coming down from Mt. Sinai with the 10 commandments and says to the people, “I’ve got good news and bad news. First the good news. I got him down to 10 from 20. The bad news is that the one about adultery stays.”

Today, we are going to talk about the 7th Commandment found in Exodus 20:14,

“You shall not commit adultery.”

I think this is important to talk about in a day when biblical marriage is being assaulted in ways many of us could not have imagined. Today, you can even find websites that are for married people who are looking to have an affair.

There is even one site where, if you buy there premium package, they will guarantee you have an affair or your money back.

(http://www.ashleymadison.com/app/public/guarantee/detailsform.p)

The assault on the biblical concept of marriage in this country is troubling and if we are going to ever get to a point in our lives where we can truly experience the full life in Christ, we need to understand God’s plan marriage and the importance of monogamy in our marriage relationship.

To do that, I think it is important that we first understand

What Adultery is and why it is such a big deal and

What God’s plan for sex is,

so that we can truly view why He has given us this command and then talk about ways in which we can protect ourselves from becoming an adulterer and enjoying God’s plan for sex.

What is the Big Deal with Adultery?

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Well, let’s understand what adultery is first.

According to Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Adultery is “the willful violation of the marriage contract by either of the parties through sexual intercourse with a third party.”

(from The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.)

So Adultery is a sexual act with someone other than your spouse that violated your vows under the marriage contract.

Sexual relations were something that was recognized that consummated the marriage contract. It was the giving of yourself in such a way that this is meant to be lifelong.

So Adultery is a big deal because it is the breaking of

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a covenant made with your spouse and

a vow made before God.

God takes vows seriously.

Deuteronomy 23:21-22 - If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty.

He expects us to live up to the vows we make before Him in His strength and power.

Listen to what He says in Malachi when the people had broken their marriage covenant with their spouse.

Malachi 2:13-14, 16 - Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant…16b So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

So that is part of why Adultery is such a big deal. It is a breaking of a Covenant made with your spouse and a vow made before God and God detests that.

But I also think for us to understand why adultery is such a big deal, we also need to understand

God’s Plan for Sex

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First, we need to understand from the outset that

God designed Sex to be Good

I think that sometimes people think that God really didn’t design sex at all and that it is something that is just sinful.

That is not true.

God did design sex and He designed it to be good.

Look all the way back at the very beginning.

Genesis 1:27-28, 31

27 So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

God created them male and female and told them to be fruitful and increase in number and it was good.

It is not like after God created man and woman, that it was only then that He realized how they were going to be fruitful and multiply.