Jesus Condemning Adultery
Matthew 5:27-30 (ESV):
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
What God intended as a gift to us as His beloved creatures, sin has perverted, and now, it is being used against us. One of these gifts is the gift of a sexual relationship. Let me quote the words of Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson in his book, The Sermon on the Mount, on how precious this gift is to us:
God made men and women to be attracted to each other, to need each other, and to enter into relationships with each other that have physical, spiritual, and mental dimensions. By God’s goodness, we have the ability to share in the reproduction of other human beings in the context of the closest imaginable human relationship, both physically and spiritually. The gift of a sexu al relationship is unequivocally good. It is God’s gift.
In other words, since God intended humans to reproduce, He gave this gift of sexual relation ship to be enjoyed by people bound together in marriage. However, in our sinfulness, we often find ourselves rebelling against God and abusing His gift, only to suffer miserably because of our own fool ishness.
One great example is how many good families and healthy churches have been destroyed by sexual immorality. Today, it seems that people are no longer shocked or distressed when they hear the news of married couples divorcing because of adultery or pastors and church leaders being ex posed because of extramarital affairs. When was the last time you heard of someone committing im morality? They happen so frequently that people have normalized it in our society, or worse, people are willing to look away, condone, and cover it.
However, for us, as God’s people, this sin should never be treated as normal and acceptable. In the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments are filled with verses where God clearly condemned adultery or sexual immorality. So, we would be terribly mistaken if we continue to take this sin for granted.
As we come to our main text, we would find Jesus taking the time to address this sin also. Last Sunday, we covered the sin of unholy anger, and now, we will find Christ’s explanation of the 7th Com-
mandment, which is the sin of adultery. It is quite obvious that Jesus wants us to have a much deeper understanding of God’s commandments. It matters to Him that we understand these commandments properly. Since He delights in our obedience, He wants to see us obey Him completely. He leaves no room for us to make an ex cuse, “I did not know that this commandment could be applied in this way.” Just like in murder, that applies to unholy anger. Now, for our passage, Jesus extends adultery to lust. Let’s examine our text by dividing it into three sections:
I THE PROHIBITION AGAINST ADULTERY (v. 27)
As we begin to read verse 27, it reads, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.” Once again, we find the Lord Jesus repeating the same way He dealt with the previous com mandment by highlighting how the Pharisees have interpreted the written law. Last Sunday, the pas sage was about the 6th commandment - “Do not murder.” For this morning, the passage highlights the 7th commandment, which is “You shall not commit adultery.”
Again, the Pharisees emphasized the act of committing an extramarital affair. So, as long as you don’t indulge in sexual relations outside your married partner, you have not violated the 7th command ment. But this interpretation is only partly true. Jesus will give a more comprehensive interpretation of it. But before we examine what Jesus had to say. It is worth emphasizing that God wants us to recog
nize the sacredness of our marriage covenant. The fact that God gave this direct commandment to us shows that once we get married, our accountability is not only to our marriage partner; we are also ac countable to God. This accountability is so serious that in the Old Testament, anyone who violates this command can be punished by death.
Leviticus 20:10 (ESV):
10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Listen, God was not joking around when He gave this commandment. He explicitly said that those who violate the marriage covenant should be put to death. Can you imagine, if we are still prac ticing this today, how many people that we know will be put to death? You see, as God’s people, we must seriously protect our marriages from being destroyed by the enemy. And the easiest way for him to do it is by committing adultery.
Beloved, we should take this commandment seriously because it is for our own personal benefit if we keep this commandment. One of the passages I love about obedience is found in John 15:10-11 (ESV):
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's com mandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you,
and that your joy may be full.
Listen, if we do our best to obey the Lord, Jesus said that we will abide in His
love and the love of the Father, and as a result, we will experience greater joy in life. I hope we get this clearly - our fuller joy in life will not come because we have lots of money or because we are so healthy or so successful but because we are intimately abiding in God’s love. Please take this to heart!
II THE PASSION IN ADULTERY (v. 28)
Next, in verse 28, we would read these words of Jesus, saying, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
With these words, Jesus raises the standard on adultery. He emphasizes the fact that this sin begins with the lustful passion found in the heart. To clarify the emphasis, we must highlight the word “looks” in the verse. This is rendered in the present tense to suggest a continuous process of looking. A. B. Bruce, a New Testament scholar, explains:
“The look is not casual but persistent, the desire not involuntary or momentary, but cherished.” Another explanation is from Dr. Kent Hughes. Also, another New Testament scholar:
“Jesus does not mean it is wrong to look at a woman admiringly, but it is wrong to do so lustful ly. He does not forbid the natural, normal attraction that is part of our humanity. What He for bids is deep-seated lust that consumes the inner person.”
In other words, Jesus is speaking of intentional looking with the purpose of lusting over a wom an. It’s not the first look that is sinful; it is the lingering lusting look that leads to sin. Clearly, He lo cates adultery in the eye and heart of a person even before the act is committed. With this emphasis on adultery being committed through our eyes and heart, it would be easy to be guilty of this sin. Adultery is not someone else’s problem; it is our problem. Honestly, with this guilt, I am more grateful and amazed that God would love me despite who I am.
However, at the same time, I hope and pray that we will be more cautious as God’s people. Da vid’s fall into adultery and murder should serve as a strong warning for all of us. Here is how it hap pened:
2 Samuel 11:1-4 (ESV)
1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David re mained at Jerusalem.
2It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beauti ful. 3And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the
daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”4So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.
In one of David’s idle moments, he failed to guard his eyes and heart and
committed adultery. To have a much better picture of what truly happened, we should not just look at the sin. We should also look at the consequences of David’s sin. Let me show two passages:
Psalm 32:3-4 (ESV):
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up[a]as by the heat of summer.
Psalm 51:11-12 (ESV):
11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
David’s sin of adultery affected him physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. For me, the images that stood out are God’s hand being heavy on him and losing the joy in his communion with God. I can’t imagine going through what he went through. And I pray that none of us will ever go through what he has gone through.
Unfortunately, being in a society that glamorizes and promotes sex, we need to be stronger be lievers to remain victorious against this sin. It is possible to flee from lust and honor our holy God. He has provided us with enough support to be overcomers. David also talks about it in Psalm 119:9-11 (ESV):
9How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
What do we need to do? Well, we need to seek to honor the Lord with all our hearts and hide His words hearts. Would this be enough? Absolutely! Remember, Joseph exemplified this victory in his life:
Genesis 39:6-10 (ESV):
6 . . . Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
7And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, be cause you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
10And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
I’m sure that we are all familiar with this story of how Joseph was pursued by
Potiphar’s wife. If you read verses 8-9, Joseph’s loyalty to Potiphar and his commitment to honor the Lord kept him from sexual immorality. So, it is possible to be an overcomer. Let’s not be deceived into thinking that since others have failed, we will also fail. Instead, just like Joseph, we should seek God’s grace and help to overcome the sexual temptations around us.
III THE PREVENTION OF ADULTERY (vs. 29-30)
Lastly, let’s read the last two verses, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown in to hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”
Within the premise of prevention, Jesus gives a radical proposal on what we can do to prevent us from committing adultery - physical amputation. If you think, “That’s too extreme.” This hyperbolic statement of Jesus is meant to drive an important truth - this sin is so serious in the eyes of God that it is far better to lose our eyesight or hands than be judged by God because of this sin.
Examining this suggestion, you will see how great of a teacher Jesus Christ is. He is giving us a very practical recommendation of how we can keep ourselves pure. Literally, He says, If there’s any thing that is causing us to sin, we must act decisively to remove them from our lives. So, let’s make some practical applications. If you have friends who are causing you to sin and move away from God, get rid of them right away. If there are certain places you go to and there you end up sinning against the Lord, then stop going there. For Jesus, it is more beneficial to be deprived of something rather than sin ning against God.
For example, our television, computers, or phones. Today, pornography can be accessed easily. You don’t need to go to Red Light districts to see naked women. They are on our television, computers, or phones. If these gadgets are causing us to sin, getting rid of them might be the best solution for us.
Allow me also to talk to our women here today. Please be considerate of the men around you by clothing yourself modestly. You don’t want to cause them to sin because of your immodest clothes. Re member, Jesus said, “it would be better for people to have large millstone hung around their necks and be drowned in the depths of the sea than cause others to stumble” (Matthew 18:6).
Let me end this sermon by quoting Job 31:1 - “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? Job, a man who lived righteously before God, gives us a hint in this verse on how we can keep ourselves pure before God. His secret is that we should have this covenant with God that we will not use our eyes to look lustfully at women. The truth is that it is only God and you who know exactly the contents of your heart. If there are impure thoughts that can lead to sinning against Him. I trust we will act decisively to address them. God desires for us to delight in Him. But it would be
very tough to do that if we continue to indulge in any impurities. May God graciously help us to be overcomers!
August13, 2023/Bishop Jerry Lepasana