Doctrine of Adultery

mostly by R. B. Thieme, Jr.

1.    Adultery is prohibited by the Word of God. Ex. 20:14 Deut. 5:18

2.    Mental adultery is also condemned. Matt. 5:27–28

3.    Adultery produces “scar tissue” on the right bank of the soul. Prov. 6:32 Eph. 4:19

       a.    Scar tissue is called hardness of heart, of callousness of heart; and it is the build up of negative volition toward all forms of divine truth (laws of divine establishment for the believer and unbeliever; the gospel for the unbeliever; and Bible doctrine for the believer). It is called being seared with a hot iron in 1Tim. 4:2.

4.    Adultery carries certain laws of punishment, such as frustration, and leads to certain forms of slavery. Adultery is one of the manifestations of both sublimation (Escapism) and emotional revolt of the soul. This Principle is taught by the use of a Greek noun translated “greediness” in Eph. 4:19 and “covetousness” in, Eph. 5:3 and means a “frantic search for happiness.” These passages indicate that there is a built–in punishment that goes with adultery.

5.    Adultery has a destructive effect on the body of both male and female, as well as on the soul (1Cor. 6:13–18). Promiscuity can result in male impotence and inability to enjoy fully the woman for whom he was designed. Promiscuity can result in female frigidity, or the antithesis, nymphomania, and destroys the woman’s ability to respond to God and or the right man and to receive from him the fulfillment for which she was designed. Now this may come as a shock to some, but God is the Author of sex, and as such, he has laid down rules to protect the happiness for which it was designed.

6.    Adultery is a bona fide basis for divorce (Matt. 5:32; Matt. 19:9; Luke 16:18). The resultant scar tissue on the soul destroys mental and physical compatibility between husband and wife (Deut. 24:4. )

7.    Adultery is used in the Bible to describe both apostasy and negative volition toward Bible doctrine. Jer. 3:8–10 Ezek. 16:23–43 23:24–30 Rev. 17:1–5

8.    Marriage is the sanctification of category #2 love. 1Thess. 4:3–8 Heb. 13:4

9.    God's Spiritual love relationship with the believer is presented by analogy as in 1Cor. Eph. 5:23–32. The analogy in 1Cor. 11 is that just as the Edification Complex completes the soul of the believer, (Christ completes us) so the man completes woman. The woman becomes the glory of the man just as the Edification Complex in the soul, of the believer becomes the glory of the Lord. The Edification Complex of the soul is built upon Bible doctrine that has been taken into the left lobe, understood and then transferred to the human spirit by faith.

10.  There are two definitive examples of adultery in Scripture: Joseph and King David.

       a.    Joseph, when working in Potiphar’s home, he was approached by Potiphar’s wife. He rejected her, and ended up in prison for a time because of that (she falsely accused him). However, as a result of all this, Joseph ended up as one of the highest ranking men in Egypt. He preserved the nation Egypt and brought his family there.

       b.    King David, on the other hand, succumbed to his lust and then adultery. He began by collecting wives; but, during one summer campaign, David saw the wife of one of his soldiers (Uriah the Hittite) and desired her. He had her brought to the palace and he took her. When she became pregnant, David tried to get her husband to cohabit with her, but he would not, because his fellow soldiers were at war. David finally gave up with being tricky, and put a sealed order in Uriah’s hand, an order which would result in his death. As a result of all this, David spent the next 10 years in misery, as the results of his adultery came into his life. Interestingly enough, the woman with whom David committed adultery, was Solomon’s and Nathan’s mother. Solomon’s line is the legal line of Jesus; and Nathan’s line is the bloodline of Jesus Christ. This is God taking all the things in our lives and making them turn out for good, according to His purposes (Rom. 8:28).

Prov. 6:29–35