Central CC of Fresno

Adultery is About Much More Than Sex

Exodus 20:14

June 17, 2012

            “You must not commit adultery.”

Jesus transforms the commandment:   Matthew 5:27-28 (MSG)
²⁷ "You know the next commandment pretty well, too: 'Don't go to bed with another's spouse.'
²⁸ But don't think you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt.”

Jesus makes his expectation clear for Christians.  The commandment stands against adultery with our eyes, with our brains, and with our imagination.  Jesus raises the bar higher—you can’t fantasize about this sin, you can't enjoy the thought of this sin.  Jesus says that lust and adultery are the same sin.

Jesus is telling us that adultery has two dimensions---spiritual and sexual.

If you take Jesus seriously, there are things that have to be eliminated.

·        Celebration of sexual sin

·        Pornography

·        Leering, lustful glances

A culture that embraces adultery accepts within itself a poison pill for every other relationship. 

The church’s mission to live before the world and share the message of salvation is undermined by adultery.

Good News: God’s brings redeeming grace, greater than all our sin---grace great enough to cover the evil consequences, damage and ugliness —of even the sin of adultery.

Consider the prayer: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

How do you make yourself vulnerable to temptation? 

How have you fled temptation?