Adultery – A Different Look

By Carlton Foster – May 2, 2025

                What is adultery? The Bible in Exodus 20:14 said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” No definition of what adultery means. However, Jesus gives a detailed example in Matthew 19:9 (NLT), “And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.”  The King James Version states it like this, “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” The dictionary defines it like this, adultery is a “voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse (Oxford Dictionary).”

In analyzing the structure of these definitions, we will look at the human relationship to one another; later we will look at the relationship between organizations or groups. These are the subjects that are involved in the act of sexual (mental or physical) activities of adultery: 

                      1) A Separation (divorce – put away)
                      2) A married person,
                      3) Another person – the intruder (who is not the spouse).

 These three aspects are needed to commit the sinful act of adultery. But a closer spiritual look identified more than we can see. Another look at it shows us that Adultery is first a spiritual phenomenon before it is manifested into a physical act. The evidence is when Jesus said, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”  

At this time, I need to differentiate the meaning of fornication with adultery. Fornication is sexual intercourse between people not married to each other. It is any sexual activity (mental or physical) occurring outside of the bounds of a marriage covenant. This includes acts like premarital sex, adultery, and extramarital relationships. Therefore fornication is a type of adultery, but adultery includes a married person. So, the “whosoever looketh”, could be a married person looking to lust. If both persons are single, then it would be fornication. But because Jesus said ‘adultery’, this implies that the looker is married. Let’s analyze the three categories above (separation, married covenant, and the intruder).

Marriage

When two persons agree to get married, they enter into a covenantal relationship with each other. This agreement is centered on each being faithful to each other in all aspects of the relationships. Any unfaithful acts (attempted murder to the other spouse, deceptions, abandonment, sex with others, etc.) violates the agreement, because the spirit of those unfaithful acts is to sever the agreement. If these acts continue while they are still married, they already started the process of severing the relationship and thus the agreement.

Divorce

When a marriage covenant is made, the agreement is forever (as long as both parties are living). When the marriage covenant is ended by one of the parties (death, divorce, abandonment), this breaks the agreement. In the case of death, the agreement is voided. If they are still alive, the agreement is still forever (in case the parties wish to get back together – repent). However, if one of the parties decides to marry (spiritually or physically) another person, the one who marries commits adultery to the spouse. WHY? The agreement was forever, but marrying caused the cessation of that marriage agreement (because you are not supposed to have more than one spiritual agreement between couples where the other person disagrees with the new agreement), where the divorced spouse can no longer reunite with the other spouse.  

The Intruder

Jesus said, “… and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” That is the single man who married the divorced wife, he commits adultery against her original husband, because by marrying her, he forfeited the chances for her to reunite with her husband. The same goes if the wife divorce her husband. The intruder can also be phonographic videos, excessive hobbies, other friends, relatives, or other activities or work that seriously rob the other spouse of meaningful family time. These are intruders with the potential to cause adulterous relationships.

As long as both spouses remained divorce and single, the opportunity for repenting and reuniting existed, but once any of them got married (as a result of the actions of the intruder), that opportunity to reunite does not exist anymore, thus the sin of adultery is the result.

Adultery

Therefore, the definition of adultery is this: a sin that tries to disqualify a married couple from repenting and reuniting with each other. In Proverbs 6:32, Solomon said, “The man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.”  Again in Jeremiah 23:14 (NLT), God stated, “But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! They commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil  so that no one turns away from their sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were.” Their adulterous acts are preventing the people from considering repentance and turning away from their sins. The prophets are committing adultery with God (who made a covenant with the people). What are these adulterous acts? Hosea 4:2 (NLT) states, “You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere— one murder after another.”

People can commit adultery against God, an organization, or an organized group that they are a member of. God has laws, organizations and organized groups have by-laws. Any member of these groups can commit adultery against the group, if they are doing unlawful acts against the group which can potentially sever their membership with that group. That is adultery against the organization. “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also (Jeremiah 3:8)”.

Some Facts Related to Adultery

Here are some facts related to the sins of adultery:

1. Adultery is a sexual immoral sin, committed against one person (the husband, the wife, or an organization).
2. The spouse that is NOT involved in an adulterous relationship is free to remarry and will not commit adultery.
3. The spouse that IS involved in a potential adulterous relations will commit adultery if that spouse marries someone else.
4. Adultery like all sins can be forgiven (if repented even if they are already remarried).
5. The Intruder(s) is involved in the acts of helping to prevent the married spouse from reconciling with the other spouse if they are committing unfaithful acts.
6. An unfaithful husband commits adultery against his (ex)wife, if the wife was faithful to the marriage.
7. An unfaithful wife commits adultery against her (ex)husband, if he was faithful to the marriage.
8. Another man (and the wife) doing unfaithful acts commits adultery against the husband of the wife.
9. Another woman (and the husband) doing unfaithful acts commits adultery against the wife of the husband.
10. Adultery is any unfaithful acts by any of the spouses where the acts are specifically against the marriage relationship.
11. Adulterous acts against the marriage include any unfaithful, sinful acts by either spouses that can break the covenant relationship (such as sexual immorality, frequent-lying, stealing, deceptions, abandonments, serious abuses, attempted murder, etc.).  
12. Adulterers can genuinely repent and be forgiven by the other spouse and/or by God.
13. King David was an adulterer with Bathsheba against Uriah; they repented and later got married. Then David and Bathsheba gave birth to Solomon.

What is the Future of an Adulterer?

For the unrepented adulterer, in Revelation 2:22-23, Jesus said, “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.”  So repent and live.