You shall not commit adultery. This commandment generates as much or probably more controversy then the Fifth Commandment. There are all types of of moral issues under this commandment. This commandment addresses sex before marriage, living together before marriage, extra marital affairs, homosexuality, divorce, and pornography among other things. The Sixth Commandment says that all of these things are sinful before God. Unfortunately many of these sinful actions are not looked upon as sinful anymore by society. For instance our society has no problem at all with sex before marriage. It is the way it is. The same thing with living together. Everybody seems to live together before they get married anymore. Extra marital affairs are still frowned upon, but recent polls show that a high percentage of people have had them. Homosexuality has been completely embraced by society as just an alternative lifestyle. Gay couples on TV are now considered normal. In fact a TV show without at least a guest appearance of a gay person is the exception. Divorce, although there are justifiable reasons for it in Scripture, continues to be taken advantage of. And with the Internet, pornography use had gone through the roof. No one is shocked or surprised by any of this. And in fact it is looked upon as okay, as long as other people don't get hurt, which they usually do.
Let's address these one by one. Sex before marriage is forbidden because it is a misuse of God's gift of sex. Sex is a good thing. It is as I said a gift from God to be enjoyed inside the marriage convenant. When it happens inside marriage it results in the creation of children and also the enjoyment of the marriage partner. It deepens the relationship between the two people. Outside of marriage it is just using the other person for your pleasure without any commitment to them.
Living together has become the norm. Some people do it before marriage to see if they are compatible before they take that big step. It is interesting to note though that secular study after secular study shows a significantly higher divorce rate for those couples who lived together before marriage as opposed to those who didn't. The underlying reason for that is a lack of commitment. Marriage is commitment. It takes more than love to hold a marriage together. When people live together before marriage they are not committed to one another, they are just trying it out. So when they do get married many times that lack of commitment gets hauled into the marriage as well. There are also big advantages to just getting married. There are financial advantages and there is more stability for any children born into the relationship. The marriage license is not just a piece of paper either, it is a legal contract recognized by the state and it is a public proclamation before others of a commitment to one another. The church has always recognized the authority of the state in these matters and does not perform marriages without a legal license. So a person cannot claim to be married in God's eyes if they are not married according to state law.
Extra marital affairs are also forbidden by this commandment for obvious reasons. The biggest reason is that it destroys that one person union that is established in marriage. That is why it is one of the justifications for divorce. The church never recommends divorce and tries to bring reconciliation and forgiveness to the relationship, but is the right of the offended party to divorce. Adultery also hurts both people involved and also any family members as well.
Homosexuality is very clearly against God's law no matter how accepted it has become. That does not mean that we hate or mistreat homosexual people, in fact we are called to love the homosexual but hate their sin. There has been a great argument through the years over whether homosexuality is a choice or not. Some say that there is a biological reason for it. There has never been any hard proof presented for this, but it really doesn't matter. Even if it is biological it is still sinful. Sin is not just a choice but also a condition that we are all born with. Just because someone is born a certain way or with a certain personality or disorder that does not make their sinful actions okay. If a person is born with a homosexual orientation then they are called to live a life of celibacy.
We have talked about divorce above, but to enlarge upon it, we teach that divorce is only acceptable for a couple of reasons. The first one is one of the people having an affair, the second one is desertion. That is when one of the people just abandons the marriage. In other words walks out the door and doesn't come back. We could also put abuse under that as well. When one partner abuses the other one there is a point when that person even without leaving the house, has deserted the marriage. In the end we try everything we can to keep all marriages together.
Pornography is another issue that has become normal in our society. Porn is a cheapening of the gift of sex that God has given to us. God calls us to have pure actions and also pure thoughts. Use of porn takes away from the marriage and also devalues women. Therefore we are called to avoid it.
What God wants in this commandment is for husbands and wives to respect and care for one another. He wants them to enjoy each other through sex and to be the basic building block of the church, his body.
Here are some Scriptures for you. Genesis 1:27,31; Genesis 2:24-25; Mark 10:6-9; Hebrews 13:4; Matthew 19:6,9; 1 Corinthians 7:15; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 18; Romans 1:24, 26-27; Matthew 5:28; Matthew 15:19; Ephesians 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Gensis 2:18; 1 Corinthians 7:4; Ephesians 5:21-23, 25
Pastor Fred
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