Immorality: Adultery, Fornication and Homosexuality, Part 2

October, 2004

by: Jack Hughes

• Common Sins

We have been doing a series on major sins and their cure. First we examined what the Bible said about the “lust of the flesh.” Then we started to look at the topic of immorality which includes all forms of deviant sexual thoughts and behavior. Immorality is a big problem in the church and this is why we are spending several Calvary Review articles examining this topic. Last Calvary Review we discovered that both the Old and New Testaments have much to say about immorality. We also learned that the Bible clearly condemns immorality in all of its expressions. But then we asked an important question, “Why is immorality so prevalent in the church if the Bible so clearly condemns it?”

Part of the answer to this question is that most churches are preaching an inadequate Gospel, a false Gospel, or no Gospel at all. The consequence of not preaching the Gospel clearly and completely is that churches become filled with people who think they are Christians but are not. They are slaves of sin and children of the devil professing to be children of God. Naturally, they walk according to their father the devil and do his deeds, which includes immoral behavior. Salvation only comes through the preaching of the gospel and when the gospel is not being preached accurately or completely many become deceived into thinking they are saved when they are not.

Apart from problems with the Gospel, much of the blame for immorality in the church needs to be laid at the feet of preachers. Weak, inadequate preaching creates weak, sinful congregations. Biblical preaching is not only God's means of saving people but it is also God's means of sanctifying people or making them holy. Jesus prayed to the Father in Jn. 17:17, “Sanctify them in truth; Your word is truth.” The truth of God’s Word is used by the Holy Spirit to show us God’s will for our lives and changes us into the image of Christ (II Cor. 3:17). This is why, when you read the pastoral Epistles (I & II Timothy and Titus) and sections in the Bible such as Acts 20:17-35 where leaders are told what to major on in the church, there is a constant emphasis on preaching and teaching the Word of God. Even if someone is truly saved, if they are not constantly nourished up on the words of the faith (I Tim. 4:6), they cannot hope to grow in holiness (I Pet. 2:2). They will be plagued by all sorts of sins. So weak teaching and preaching is a primary reason why immorality is rampant in the church.

Now you may be wondering why churches are not preaching the Word. If the Bible says churches are to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (II Tim. 2:4), why are so many churches dropping the ball in this area? There are a multitude of reasons, but these are a few of them:

1. Unsaved pastors and leaders in the church don’t preach hard, biblical, confrontational sermons. They have many excuses why preaching the Word of God is not necessary today. When the Word of God isn’t preached, immorality increases.
2. Saved pastors who are in sin have a difficult time preaching against those sins they know they are presently enjoying. Sin takes the wind out of your preaching sails and if a pastor is in sin, it will take the passion and conviction out of his sermons. He will begin to hold back hard calls to righteousness and obedience. When the Word of God isn’t preached, immorality increases.
3. Poor training is another reason. Most seminaries put little value on preaching the Word of God. A pastor may be saved, may have good intentions, but if he goes to a seminary that teaches him that preaching is not that important, he will graduate often thinking that preaching is not that important. When the Word of God isn’t preached, immorality increases.
4. Unbiblical ministry philosophies also keep churches from preaching the Word of God. If a church believes its purpose is to cater to the felt needs of people, to make people feel good, to please men rather than God, the Word of God will not be preached like it needs to be preached. Some churches strive for fame and prestige in the site of the world, others strive for numbers, others emphasize drama, others focus on professionalism in music and the list goes on and on. Their philosophy of what the church is to do on Sunday mornings is not derived from the Bible, but from popular opinions, surveys, and the opinions of the world. Sadly, often the first thing to go is biblical preaching. When the Word of God isn’t preached, immorality increases.
5. Finally, there are churches where the pastor has had good training but he is lazy. Some pastors don’t want to work hard to prepare accurate, engaging, doctrinally rich sermons. It just takes more time and energy than they are willing to give. They discover that with little preparation they can prepare a one point devotion and save two whole days in their week when they can golf and do less demanding things. So they encourage their worship pastors to increase the amount of music, add a little drama time, and then they take up the ten minute sermon slot. This way everyone can get to church, get what they want, leave feeling good, and get everything over with in an hour. When the Word of God isn’t preached, immorality increases.
6. Though most of the blame needs to be laid at the feet of preachers, some blame needs to be laid at the feet of those who are unwilling to pay the price to follow Jesus. Some believers are undisciplined and lazy. They are unwilling to sacrifice time, energy, and money to grow in their walks with the Lord. They don’t think twice of buying a game for their computer but would never dream of buying Bible software to study with. They won’t blink an eye at going out to dinner and spending 10 dollars, but they never would buy a commentary for 10 dollars to help them study the Bible. They will spend five hours going to a sporting event, pay money for admission, food, and parking, but would never think of going to a Christian conference to learn how to grow in the Lord. Many are just not willing to do what it takes to grow in holiness. They reason to themselves, “I am not saved by works and I am not sanctified by works, so I don’t need to do anything to grow in the Lord. It will happen automatically if I wait long enough.” And part of their reasoning is true. We are saved and sanctified by grace, but being sanctified by grace does not mean we don’t have to do anything. God supplies us with the resources we need to grow (by grace), and He calls us in His Word to use those resources (by grace), and then encourages and empowers us to do His will by the Holy Spirit who is given to us (by grace). Yet consider what the Scriptures say about our part in the sanctification process.

Paul told Timothy, the pastor of the church of Ephesus, “to pursue righteousness” (I Tim. 6:11; II Tim. 2:22). The author of Hebrews tells us the same thing in Heb. 12:4 when he speaks of “striving against sin.” Then in Heb. 12:14 he says, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” Paul told the Corinthians in II Cor. 7:1, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” A good text to see that sanctification is by grace and yet requires our obedience is I Cor. 15:10 where Paul says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”

The problem of immorality in the church might be summed up as coming from three primary failures: 1) inadequate preaching of the Gospel which leads to churches being filled with unbelievers; 2) inadequate preaching and teaching which keeps people from understanding God’s Word and growing in holiness; and 3) inadequate effort on the part of believers to apply the resources of God’s grace to their lives so they can grow. This is why main stream Christianity often looks no different from the world when it comes to immorality. Having defined immorality and discussed some of the reasons why the church is having problems with sins of immorality, we now want to take some time to examine specific sins.

Adultery

When studying the Old Testament it often seems that adultery is a sin that can only be committed against a husband when a married woman has relations with any man other than her husband. The law often speaks of the husband of the unfaithful wife as the one who has been wronged. The reasons for this is that it was crucial that every man raise up offspring in order to maintain his inheritance in the land. If his children were not his, it would jeopardize his inheritance, not only for himself, but for the future generations of his family line. So the law often addresses adultery from the perspective of the husband. Yet this does not mean that a man in an adulterous relationship was considered innocent as the law required the death penalty for both (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22).

Whenever a betrothed or married woman had any sort of sexual relations with any man not her husband it was considered adultery (Lev. 18:20; Deut. 22:22-24). Adultery is explicitly condemned in the ten commandments. God gave one commandment specifically forbidding adultery and another commandment explicitly forbidding adulterous thoughts (Ex. 20:14, 17; Deut. 5:18, 21). In the New Testament it is clear that adultery can be committed against both a man and woman (Mt. 5:32; Mk. 10:11; Lk. 16:18).

Out of all the sins of immorality, adultery is one of the worst. The reason for this is that it is a compounded sin. What I mean by that is that it involves more than one person. Many sins are sins against God alone, but adultery is a sin against multiple parties. In adultery a person sins against God, sins against their own body, sins against their own spouse, sins against the other person, and sins against the other person’s spouse. In one act, you sin against a minimum of five people. If children are involved you sin against them as well by setting a bad example and causing them to suffer as adultery often leads to strife, divorce and financial ruin. Adultery might also be seen as a sin against the church, one’s community, and one’s country. Adultery is not just a violation of marriage vows, it is a serious threat to both the family and the health of society. Hence adultery is one of the greatest forms of immorality. Because of the seriousness of the offence and because adultery was a crime punishable by death, it was necessary that adultery be proven beyond doubt. In the case of someone being caught in the act of adultery, the law required both parties to be executed. When there was only a suspicion of adultery God required an elaborate ritual to take place whereby the suspecting husband could try his wife to prove or disprove her guilt (Numb. 5:11-31).

In the New Testament a classic case of adultery is found in Jn. 8:3-11 where some of the Jewish leaders brought a woman caught “in the very act” of adultery. They were trying to discredit Jesus so they reminded Jesus that the law of Moses required the death penalty for adultery. If Jesus refused to condemn the woman to death, they would accuse Him of violating the law of Moses. If Jesus did condemn the woman to death, they would tell the Romans that Jesus was violating Roman law. They thought they had him trapped.

But what Jesus did was amazing, he first started to write in the dust (no one knows what, but many have guessed). Then he said, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone” (Jn. 8:7; Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22). The woman’s accusers then left one by one. Some have wrongly assumed that Jesus was usurping authority over the law of Moses or setting the law aside in order to show mercy, but that is not what happened. Jesus supported the law fully and completely, even the death penalty.

The reason Jesus didn’t condemn the woman is that the law wasn’t being followed by her accusers. First of all, only innocent parties could participate in stone throwing. This is why Jesus said, “he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” They were all adulterers and so they all were without the grounds to throw stones. Secondly, the law required that both parties be stoned, but the man who committed adultery with the woman was nowhere to be found. Thirdly, the law required that the woman be brought to trial by her husband who is also glaringly absent. So if Jesus would have tried the woman and condemned her to death, He would have been breaking the law. This is why He extended mercy to her. She did commit adultery, which was acknowledged by Jesus’ words, “I do not condemn you, either, Go. From now on, sin no more,” but He couldn’t condemn her because the circumstances did not comply with the Law of Moses.