The Blemished Bride
Spiritual Adultery
"HUSBANDS, LOVE YOUR WIVES, EVEN AS CHRIST ALSO LOVED THE CHURCH, AND GAVE
HIMSELF FOR IT" (Ephesians 5:25). Many times the Bible compared the husband-
wife relationship to the relation between Jesus and the Church. Christ
considered the love and harmony between husband and wife so great that He used
it to compare His love for us. Of course, Christ loves the Church far more
than husband and wife could even begin to love each other. But no greater love
was there on earth for Christ to compare His love than that of the union
between man and woman.
The union of man and woman is strong. If the marriage is centered around
Christ, it can endure all things. But there is one thing that will try a
marriage more than any other and that is the sin of unfaithfulness of one
mate against the other mate. That is the sin of adultery. It is the one
thing that seems impossible to forgive and even harder to forget. Only through
Christ can this sin truly be forgiven and forgotten. From a legalistic point
of view adultery would seem like a very simple thing to over look. After all,
no one is hurt. There is no physical damage. There is nothing physically taken
from anyone. Still, this sin tears both sides of a marriage. The one who
commits adultery is eaten up with guilt. The other one feels defiled by a
foreign entity being in union with that which is theirs, and theirs alone.
Other things can be forgiven with ease, but in the case of adultery, only in
the name of Jesus can all things truly be forgiven. It is probably the worst
sin we could commit against our mate. In the same sense, Spiritual Adultery is
probably the worst sin we could do to our God.
Spiritual Adultery? What is that? I've never read anything about Spiritual
Adultery in my Bible, Sure you have. Exodus 20:3..."Thou shalt have no other
God before me." It's the first commandment. Is it the first because it just
happens to be first? Maybe, but I seriously doubt it.
"For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is
a jealous God " (Exodus 34 ; 14).
Just as a husband or wife is jealous when their mate commits adultery, so is
our God jealous when we commit SPIRITUAL ADULTERY. Just as we grieve our mate
by this act, so do we grieve God.
Spiritual Adultery is putting something above God. We all know that much. But
we need to dig a little deeper. Go back to the husband-wife relationship for a
minute. When you commit adultery in the flesh, you don't necessarily put
someone else before your mate. But, if only for a few minutes, you do put
someone on the same level or in place of your mate and by the very act of
adultery you allow someone else to take care of the needs that your mate has
vowed their life to fill. This is the very reason your mate will be so hurt by
the, act.
In the same respect, Spiritual Adultery is not only putting something above
GOD, it is also putting something or someone in addition to, even with, in
opposition to, or in place of God. Reading the horoscope out of the morning
paper is Spiritual Adultery. It is having a god in addition to your one God.
You might say, "I really don't believe in it. I just read it for fun." This is
probably very true. You don't really believe in it. But how do you think God
feels when He sees you bringing a pagan god into your life?
"It's just for fun, God. I really don't believe in it" Go out and commit
adultery in the flesh, then come home, smile at your mate and say, "Honey, I
just committed adultery, but don't worry about it. I really didn't mean it.
You know how it is, I just did it for fun." It will be a small consolation that
you "just did it for fun." The fact remains that you defiled your body and
your relationship which belongs to your spouse. No matter why it is done,
their heart will still be broken, That's just how God must feel.
Your mate might say in tears, "I'm a failure. I can't fulfill all of your
needs. Am I not good enough to do that �or you?" God might say, "What's wrong
my child? Why do you allow a pagan god to be a part of you life? Am I not a
big enough God to fulfill ALL your needs ?"
It's easy enough to picture how your mate might feel. Try to picture how God
must feel when you cheat on Him. He sent His only Son, then He sent His Holy
Spirit. He gives power to tread on the devil. He gives us authority to use
Jesus' name. And to top it all, He freely gives us love that we can't even
begin to comprehend. And what do we do but start off every day by bowing to a
pagan god, "just for fun."
We aren't the first generation to defile God with Spiritual Adultery. The Jews
did it when they were just six weeks out of bondage. God delivered them from
the hand of their captors. He opened the Red Sea in their famous exodus from
bondage. What a feeling that must have been to stand on the floor of the sea
with the power of the Living God literally holding back a wall of water. Then
going into the desert and having their food fall from heaven like rain. Yet
with these things still fresh in their minds, what do they do? They built a
pagan god and bowed their knees and worshiped it. How did God feel about their
Spiritual Adultery? He came very close to destroying them all. This is how God
felt. How does God feel when He is not first in your life - About Spiritual
Adultery? Read about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness 40 years. Read
about Sodom and Gomorrah or the sins of mankind before the flood or even the
Tower of Babel. Read I Samuel 28:5-19. Saul was told, while using witchcraft,
that he would die because he did not obey the voice of the Lord. Whenever man
walked away from God and turned to something else, he incurred the anger of
God. God wants our fellowship. Yes, God is a Jealous God. Therefore, it
behooves us to learn from the mistakes of others. As children of God, we have
no other choice, no other options are open to us. We are to serve Him and Him
alone. We need not and should not dabble with horoscopes, mediums, fortune
tellers, palm readers, hypnotism, drugs, charms, or any other type of
divination.
Adultery, whether marital or spiritual, is a betrayal of a committed love.
Those things that would tempt us to commit Spiritual Adultery will lose their
appeal IF we put God first and allow Him to permeate every aspect of our lives
and fulfil every need as they arise. "For we are members of His body, of His
flesh, and of His bones " (Ephesians 5:30).
Roger A. Waagner
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