BVI News

Ministers Wilbert and Jacqueline Richardson

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” – Exodus 20:14

When God created the family, He ordained that man and woman should be joined together as one flesh. Nevertheless, statistics today show that the divorce rates in most countries are skyrocketing.

Yes, many marriages end because of irresolvable differences, but a lot of marriages fall to pieces because of adulterous affairs. We see in the Old Testament that the sin of adultery has been around for a very long time. Exodus 20:14 states, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” But what is adultery?

In Jewish thought, adultery was seen as the willful violation of the marriage contract by either of the parties through sexual intercourse with a third party.

The Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary defines an adulterer as “One who has unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another.” Adultery has become too rampant in the body of Christ.

In some churches it’s so common that people are not very surprised by it anymore. Adultery is sin and it is a trap of the enemy. The devil is on a mission to destroy the family unit.

So goes the family, so goes the church, so goes the nation. Whether you’re single or married, beware of the trap of adultery.

Husbands and wives are being wounded because of this sin, and many times children are caught in the middle and get hurt in the process. Adultery leaves emotional scars on many—scars that only Jesus Christ can truly heal.

Also, many spouses are being abused physically, emotionally, and verbally because of the sin of adultery. Some pastors are afraid to touch the topic of adultery in their churches, although they’re aware that it is present.

Some pastors are themselves involved in this sin and so find it difficult to preach against it. Some pastors don’t want to offend people who are in adulterous relationships in their church because they may be faithful givers or do a lot in the church.

Nevertheless, adultery is still sin. Christians sometimes condone adulterous relationships that friends or family members are involved in because they don’t want to offend. “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he don’t turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul” (Ezekiel 33:7-9).

God says that we must warn the wicked or their blood will be required at our hands. As Christians our responsibility is not to judge but to warn those involved in this sin. Some condemn adultery when someone distant is involved, but ignore it in someone close to them. We must not compromise, but call sin, sin. In Galatians 5:19, adultery is listed as one of the works of the flesh.

God wants us to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. People who are committing adultery make all sorts of excuses and try to justify it. However, sin cannot be justified. Some spouses say they do it because their spouse is doing it, but two wrongs don’t make a right. Many a strong man and woman have fallen prey to this sin.

Don’t be deceived. If you’re an adulterer and you don’t repent, this is what the Word of God says in Revelations 21:8 (AMP): “But as for the cowards and the ignoble and the contemptible and the cravenly lacking in courage and the cowardly submissive, and as for the unbelieving and faithless, and as for the depraved and defiled with abominations, and as for murderers and the lewd and adulterous and the practicers of magic arts and the idolaters (those who give supreme devotion to anyone or anything other than God) and all liars (those who knowingly convey untruth by word or deed)–[all of these shall have] their part in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone.

This is the second death.” Beware of the trap of adultery.  “But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.”

Proverbs 6:32 If the person is committing adultery with you, then they will do it to you.  You are valuable and precious to God.  It is time to stop being “the other woman” or “the other man.”  Look out for a devotional on Monday entitled “Stop being the other woman”.  Whether you decide to curse or stop reading at this point, the fact remains, adultery is a dead end road that leads only to destruction and it is sin!

Parents your children are watching you and many of them know things that you don’t think they know about your adulterous affairs.  Some adulterers, cannot even talk to their children if they get into adulterous affairs because the children turn around and tell them, “You have nothing to say to me, because you are doing the same thing.”  They do not want to hear that but truth if truth.

You getting the money, your house rent is being paid, you are getting jewelry and can go hair dresser and nail salon every week but all of this is not worth losing your soul or the pain that you are causing to innocent victims of your actions.  To those of you who still holding out waiting for the man to leave their wives or the woman to leave her husband, sometimes after seven and eight years of promises, it is time to get out of that mess, allow Jesus Christ into your life and He will help you to break free and move on.

God wants us to use wisdom when dealing with relationships of the opposite sex. Many innocent friendships end up in adulterous relationships because the parties involved did not use wisdom. Men and women alike get into traps because they pour their problems out to members of the opposite sex who will take time to listen to them.

If you’re a Christian, the Holy Spirit is like a red light that says “stop!” when you’re about to enter something dangerous. If that warning is ignored, then the results can be catastrophic, and many people including you, can be hurt. We must use wisdom to avoid the traps of adultery. It is a sin to have an intimate relationship with some who is married. If someone is married they are married.

Even if they’re getting divorced next month, until they do, they’re still married. Adultery is sin. Second Peter 2:14,15 puts it this way: “Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.”

Many people think that they can be secretly involved in adultery, but there is nothing secret about it. Man may not know, and people can sometimes fool man, but we cannot fool God. God sees everything. Life is of such that what you sow, you reap. And what goes around comes around.  If you’re involved in an adulterous relationship, God wants to deliver you. He wants to set you free from that bondage.

Repent, ask God to forgive you, and turn away from this sin that wants to destroy your soul. Sin cannot enter heaven. What would it profit you to gain the world and lose your soul?

God is merciful, and He wants to free you and make you whole. I challenge you today to allow Jesus Christ to be all that He desires to be in your life.

Allow Him to meet your every need. Allow Him to take full control of your life.

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