From the beginning, God has abhorred the sin of adultery. In Leviticus 20:10 we find that the punishment for adultery was death under the Law of Moses. In the eyes of God, adultery is such a severe sin that it is worthy of capital punishment. Why? Because the family is the strength of a nation; thus, adultery, not only destroys families, it weakens nations as well. God knew if He allowed adultery to run unchecked through the nation of Israel, it would destroy it, and the nation of Israel was not just any nation; it was the nation from whom God would bring forth the Messiah. He had to do everything He could to preserve the nation and keep it pure. Thus, the commandment “thou shalt not commit adultery.”

In the kingdom that Jesus would establish on the day of Pentecost, moral purity would be just as important as it was in the kingdom of Israel. Thus, the command to abstain from adultery is renewed in the New Testament. The New Testament is full of passages that condemn adultery (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Hebrews 13:4). Sadly, in our society today, adultery is so common that it has lost its stigma. We do not even call it by its proper name anymore, but instead we now call it an affair. The word affair sounds more refined and sophisticated, and less judgmental. However, the truth is, when a man or woman is unfaithful to his or her spouse, it is adultery and its prevalence is destroying the very fiber of this nation.

The Misconception of the Law

What we discovered about the Pharisee’s view of the sixth commandment, i.e., “thou shalt not kill”, is true with the seventh commandment as well. With the commandment not to commit murder, the scribes and Pharisees felt that it was only applicable to the physical act of shedding one’s blood, not to the conditions of the heart which lead to the crime. Jesus corrected their misconception by saying, “… whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…” In the eyes of a righteous God, hatred is just as condemnable as the physical act of murder. Now again, the scribes and Pharisees were making the same mistake with the commandment not to commit adultery. Their view of that prohibition extended no further than the physical act of adultery. They supposed that if the sin was restricted to the mind, that it would in reality be no sin at all, and that God would be indifferent about it. However, that view of the law was clearly wrong then, and it continues to be wrong now in the kingdom of God. God demands more than the abstinence of the physical act of adultery, He demands purity of heart. Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 5:28.

Jesus reminds us once again that what is in our hearts matters to God. The elders of Israel should have realized this, and so should the scribes and the Pharisees. The notion that one could fill his mind with filth, and imaginations with trash, and still be right with God, is to not know Him at all. The Psalmist, who lived under the of the Law of Moses, declared, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psa. 66:18). Jesus now clearly teaches us that this principle would not cease with the law of Moses. You may never commit adultery with your body, but you better examine your heart because lust is a crime against God as well. The words of Jesus should cause us to realize that long before adultery takes place in bed, it has taken place in the head.

Yes, the condition of our hearts still matters to God because He knows that if our hearts are corrupt, it is just a matter of time before our covert sins are acted upon outwardly. We must guard against what Peter referred to as “having eyes full of adultery” (2 Peter 2:14).

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.