What is adultery? Without going into great detail, it is basically defined as:

Having intimacy with someone other than the one you're married to.

Adultery is a sin that our heavenly Father is very serious about. Now, Prayer Warriors, before you sit back and get comfortable, thinking this is one sin you don't ever have to worry about, let me write out what our Commander-in-Chief has to say about this subject. If you'd like to, open your Bibles to Matthew 5:27-29, and read:

"JESUS said, 'You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman (or vice versa, a man) lustfully has already committed adultery with her/his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.' "

JESUS did two things here concerning His commandments. First, He brought them to a new level of understanding, especially this one and the sixth. These acts are not just something we physically do but they are situations we've already "carried out" in our minds [thoughts; heart].

Secondly, He reaffirms the seriousness of breaking His Commandments; especially this one: 'If your eye offends...pluck it out.' Literally, JESUS says that if a person commits adultery it can keep that individual out of heaven. Not that He cannot forgive them, but that by its very nature, adultery leads to scars that one never fully recovers from; in other words; it is physically, morally, spiritually, and emotionally destructive.

Now, I don't want you to take JESUS' words in the wrong way. To "look lustfully" at someone means to desire strongly. It is one thing to 'look at' someone of the opposite sex and recognize that they are attractive; it is when someone dwells on their attractiveness that it becomes the sin. Despite popular opinion, in GOD's eyes, and as Christians it should be in our eyes as well, it is not OK to "look just as long as we don't touch" because looking leads to adultery in our hearts.

But there is also another meaning to this Commandment, spoken of frequently throughout GOD's Word, and that is commiting adultery with other gods. We will dig deeper into GOD's Word to discover His admonition on this subject at a later time.

to be continued...