In Exodus chapter twenty, verse fourteen, the seventh commandment is that no one should not commit adultery. This commandment prohibiting adultery encompasses immorality and all sexual sins. Why? Adultery is the second set of the final five commandments. The difference between this one from the other four is the potential for contamination: to be eternally connected to the person through intimacy.
Adultery is so abominable in God’s sight that the Bible everywhere condemns its practice. The Word of God teaches that it transgresses God’s moral law as expressed in the Ten Commandments. In the Old Testament, adultery was punishable by death. People who encounter adultery experience serious consequences. The one committing adultery will bear the shame for the rest of their life.
Adultery is an especially heinous sin if committed by leaders of God’s people. If and when they act this sin, it is equivalent to despising God’s Word and the Lord Himself. By marital unfaithfulness, professed believers disqualify themselves from being chosen for or continuing in church leadership. How could they continue? Note how in the Old Testament, adultery filled the land because of the influence of godless prophets and priests.
Adultery begins as a desire in the heart before being a physical act. Lust is sin in the Bible. Adultery is a sin of such magnitude and consequence that it gives the innocent person the right to end the marriage by divorce. In terms of ministry, sexual immorality within the church must be disciplined and not be allowed activity. Otherwise, the entire organization will succumb to contamination.
Unrepentant adulterers have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. They are separate from the life and salvation of God. Adultery and prostitution are terms used to describe the apostate church and the abomination it produces. Adultery can ruin lives and make healthy couples unhealthy.