Image Source: Hackers Divulgan Segunda Tanda de Datos del Sitio Ashley Madison by Noticias Seguridad; CC 2.0
“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell” (Matthew 5:27-30).
Do you take God at His word here? Do you believe that for all of those who have lusted after a woman – simply lusted and not done anything beyond this – are guilty of committing the heinous sin of adultery? Do you have this shameful, shiny bauble upon your mantle, or tucked away in the deepest recesses of your heart?
Now don’t get me wrong; there is a fundamental difference in desiring to do something and the physical act. In no way should a person excuse the flagrant hypocrisy of Josh Duggar, or any other serial adulterer or molester. Acting on these impulses exposes not only the rule of our flesh over our spirit, but more importantly, a heart of unbelief. I am advocating here, and lumping myself in the midst, that lust accomplishes these same exact things. It may not be the physical act; it may not be “whore-mongering” or “entering the pit of death” – yet it is that which crucified Christ.
Lust is adultery. Lust is taking something without regard to the blessed union of a man and his wife, the blessing of God upon that union, and the proclivity to wickedly ravage a woman without her permission. It is mental rape. Yet even if you have the “full permission” to ravage a woman through the expression of pornography – it is nonetheless the devastating sin of adultery. It is that which Paul plainly speaks to in saying, “neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, etc., can inherit the kingdom of God.”
Yes – sin is abundantly forgiven through the gospel of Jesus Christ; yet, we mustn’t forget the ever-so-clear call to repentance. True faith in Christ is demonstrated, according to the apostle John, by a love for God, a love for obedience, a love for the truth, a love for the brethren, and an acknowledgement of one’s sin and subsequent repentance. James calls this true religion, Paul calls this perseverance, Peter calls this being sober in spirit; all of them call this obedience to the faith.
You may not find your email address listed from the recent Ashley Madison hack – but you shan’t escape the snare you have laid out for yourself. It truly doesn’t matter if another exposes you. What is wicked and evil shall be unraveled in due time. Sin has an ugly way of being revealed – and we are experts at deceiving ourselves to thinking we will not get caught up or exposed for what we are.
“The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast” (Pro. 5:22).
I have committed more adultery than I could possibly keep track of. I was exposed to pornography at the ripe, pre-pubescent age of 6. Six. It is only a battle I was aware of once I was plucked from the pit of Hell and brought to faith in Christ when I turned 22. By the mercy of God – it is a battle that has become increasingly easier to fight – but one that will never be done until I die. It requires constant vigilance, blocking, and accountability.
Guess who my accountability is: my wife. There is something so much more shameful, yet relieving of shame all at that same time, when I speak to my wife about my sin against her. There is something unique about going to the person who has covenanted with you and telling them that you have broken your covenant. Why? Because this exposes our sin for what it is and makes the consequences all the more real. Yet if you don’t have a wife, find someone who will faithfully and unabashedly hold you to account.
When the scriptures declare that one in the habitual practice of sexual sin cannot inherit the Kingdom of God – we ought to listen, and tremble. Yet all the more, we ought to turn to the One who can stand in our place and has taken the wrath deserved for adultery. Moreover, we repent, and prove that God is truly at work within us.
This requires radical amputation – that is – you stop it. You stop committing adultery by lusting after a woman who is not your wife, or a man who is not your husband. You stop flirting with the harlot by looking at provocative pictures, artful nudity, movies or shows that indulge this, songs that gratify infidelity, and you avert your eyes. Stop. Destroy the bauble and never look back.
No more excuses; I know how hard it is. From the age of six until I was twenty-two, sixteen years, I bowed to the idol of the woman’s physique without a second thought. For another 4 years I increasingly made excuses and entertained the sin whilst carrying the shame of the scarlet letter. During the first years of my marriage – this was the pattern, excusing my sin in order to justify how I felt dejected by my wife. I wondered, “How many times constitutes a practice?”
That’s not the point. The point is that if you are given to lust – you are equally guilty in the sin of adultery. It may manifest itself in different forms, yet the object of worship in either case is the same. In fact, it is incredibly likely that you will get bored with your current expression of love for that idol, and find increasingly more grotesque ways to extort what you want.
But it doesn’t have to end that way. Paul also says, “…and such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
Heed the prompt of John Owen: Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.
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