Adultery in the Corinthian church
In the Greco-Roman society in which the New Testament
churches lived, most expressions of sexual activity (specially for men) were
completely acceptable. Only sex with someone else’s wife was forbidden. Civil
marriage was protected by law and custom.
The dominant view in the Greco-Roman world was that sex was
an activity of the body and had nothing to do with one’s spiritual life. Having
sex in whatever way was perfectly normal and natural, like having a meal.
Therefore, for a married man to have an adulterous
relationship was no problem as long as he did not have it with a married woman.
God had a hard time to change the hearts and the minds of
the followers of Jesus in Corinth (and elsewhere) who were born into that
decadent culture. The apostle Paul and all other ambassadors of Jesus Christ,
the Messiah, faced a major uphill struggle to convince churches that adultery was
a detestable act in God’s eyes.
In this Meditation, we want to search the Scriptures [the
Bible] and see what God reveals with regard to adultery in the Mosaic Covenant
and in the New or Messianic Covenant. As with prostitution (see Meditation
90), we can distinguish between (1) adultery as a ‘carnal sin’ and (2)
adultery as ‘a spiritual sin’ or ‘a sin of the heart’. Firstly, let us reflect
on what God’s Word says about adultery as a ‘carnal sin’.
1a.) Adultery as a ‘carnal sin’ in the Mosaic or
Sinai Covenant
At Mount Sinai, God
said to His people Israel: “If you will obey me and keep my covenant, you
will be my own special treasure from among all the nations of the earth; for
all the earth belongs to me. And you will be to me a kingdom of priests, my
holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6)
As part of the Sinai covenant, God gave His people these
commandments on adultery:
At the end of his life, Moses reminded God’s people to
remain faithful to God and to His covenant with them, saying: “Today the LORD your God has commanded you to obey all these laws and
regulations. You must commit yourself to them without reservation. You have
declared today that the LORD is your God. You have promised to obey his laws,
commands, and regulations by walking in his ways and doing everything he tells
you. The LORD has declared today that you are his people, his own special
treasure, just as he promised, and that you must obey all his commands. And if
you do, he will make you greater than any other nation. Then you will receive
praise, honor, and renown. You will be a nation that is holy to the LORD your
God, just as he promised.” (Deuteronomy 26:16-19)
-- “Do
not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14; see also Deuteronomy 5:18).
-- “If a man
commits adultery with another man's wife, both the man and the woman must be
put to death.” (Leviticus 20:10; see also Deuteronomy 22:22)
On the basis of that Mosaic law, God warns again in
the book of Proverbs not to commit adultery:
-- “It (divine wisdom) will save you also from the adulteress, from the
wayward wife with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God. For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None who go to her return or attain
the paths of life.” (Proverbs
2:16-19)
-- “These commands
and this teaching will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue
of an adulterous woman. Don't lust for her beauty. Don't let her coyness seduce
you. For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, and sleeping with another
man's wife may cost you your very life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap and
not be burned? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? So it is with
the man who sleeps with another man's wife. He who embraces her will not go
unpunished. Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is
starving. But if he is caught, he will be fined seven times as much as he
stole, even if it means selling everything in his house to pay it back. But the
man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own soul.” (Proverbs 6:24-32; see also
Proverbs 7)
When Israel finally
had settled in the promised land, they turned again and again away from God and
from His covenant with them and followed the sinful ways of the nations around
them. Through the prophet Jeremiah (7th century B.C.), God warned
his wayward people of adultery with the following words: “How can I pardon
you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are
not gods at all! I fed my people until they were fully satisfied. But they
thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the city's brothels. They
are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbour's wife. Should I
not punish them for this?" asks the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself
against a nation such as this?” (Jeremiah 5:7-9)
1b.) Adultery as a ‘carnal sin’ in the New or
Messianic Covenant
God's New or Messianic
Covenant is for all those who have accepted Jesus Messiah’s sacrificial death
for their sins and who are reborn by His Spirit. As we said in Meditation 91,
it is God’s powerful Spirit in all reborn followers of Jesus who is destined to
help us overcome the hardness of our rebellious and wicked hearts. He is able
to transform us into the likeness of Christ.
The apostle Paul
writes to the church in Ephesus (modern Turkey): “Now glory be to God! By
his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more
than we would ever dare to ask or hope.” (Ephesians 3:20)
Because of the New or Messianic covenant that Jesus makes with all who
follow Him, He takes the bull by the horns and confronts the sin of adultery
head-on. We saw already in Meditation 91 that He declared divorce and
remarriage during the partner’s life time to be a form of adultery.
Jesus even goes
further and shows that adultery does not start with illicit sexual intercourse.
In fact, adultery starts already in a person’s heart:
-- “From the heart
come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft,
lying, and slander.” (Matthew 15:19; see also Mark 7:21)
-- “You have heard
that the law of Moses says, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I [Jesus] say, anyone
who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery
with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)
Later on the apostle
Peter repeats Jesus’ words when he speaks about those who “commit adultery
with their eyes.” (2 Peter 2:14)
We read in Meditation 91 also that the apostle Paul bases himself on
Jesus’ words when he speaks of adultery in the case of a divorce and remarriage
during a partner’s life time (see Romans 7:3).
Furthermore, Paul
reminds the Christians in Rome of the fact that “the commandments against
adultery and murder and stealing and coveting-- and any other commandment-- are
all summed up in this one commandment [of Jesus in Luke 10:27]: "Love your
neighbor as yourself." (Romans 13:9)
The apostle Paul
severely warns the followers of Jesus in Corinth, saying: “Do you not know
that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral ... nor adulterers ... will inherit the kingdom of
God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
The letter to the
Hebrews reminds us of Paul’s words: “Give honor to marriage, and remain
faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are
immoral and those who commit adultery.” (Hebrews 13:4)
In the light of our contemporary Western culture of tolerance, our
churches need to inquire of God concerning His view on adultery. Here are some
questions for thoughtful reflection:
-- The mass media in our western culture of individualism and tolerance
have a liberal view on matters of adultery, divorce and remarriage. Should
Christians not be free how to live in regard to these issues?
-- It seems that the
number of cases of conjugal infidelity, divorce and remarriage is growing
rapidly in churches in the West. One wonders how serious churches and
individual Christians take God’s judgment on these matters. Is God then only
like a good old Father Christmas who lets us get way with whatever we do in our
lives? Is He like a toothless lion who in point of fact would not harm anybody?
Is the Bible’s warning of God’s judgment only ‘a troublesome doctrine’ without
any real consequences in this life and
the afterlife? Is it inhuman to warn Christians of sinful behaviour by using
visions of ‘hail and brimstones’? Is it bad psychology and poor pastoral care to
caution God’s people to stay away from sin out of fear of God?
Yet, God teaches us in
Proverbs that “fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the
Holy One results in understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10)
By mouth of the
prophet Malachi, God is eager to warn His people: “I will come near you for
judgment; I will be a swift witness ... against adulterers ... -- Because they
do not fear Me,” says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:5)
The Epistle to the
Hebrews encourages us with the words: “Since we are receiving a Kingdom that
cannot be destroyed, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with
holy fear and awe. For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews
12:28-29)
-- Does the fear of
God and His judgment still mean that Christians shy away from taking unbiblical
and ungodly decisions with regard to adultery, divorce and remarriage?
-- How real in my
church is the hope that the loving and powerful presence of God’s Spirit is
able to solve complex and hopeless cases in marriage counselling?
-- Would warning of
God’s judgment on unbiblical and ungodly behaviour be seen in my church as a
case of bad counselling?
You will find further
questions for reflection on these issues at the end of Meditation 91.
We wrote in the
Meditations 56, 63, 74, 76 and 77 that God’s Spirit wants to empower our
churches to obey God’s first and greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37-38)
Since Meditation 76,
we have seen that God’s Spirit only can empower our churches to wholehearted
love for God if our churches, their leaders and all their reborn members keep
on pursuing Christlike holiness. God’s Spirit says by mouth of the author of
the Epistle to the Hebrews: “Make every effort to live in peace with all men
and to be holy; without holiness no-one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews
12:14)
Proverbs 2:16-19, 1 Corinthians
6:9-10, Matthew 22:37-38 and Hebrews 12:14 are
quotes from the New International Version. Malachi 3:5 is quoted from the New King James Version. All
other quotes are from the New Living Translation.
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