You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.”

 

You have heard that it was said, “You shall

not commit adultery.”

 

Matthew 5:27-28 “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart..”

In Exodus 20, the Ten Commandments were given, and in verse 14, it was said not to commit adultery. Accordingly, when adultery was committed, Deuteronomy 22:22-24 states, "If a man is found lying with a married woman, both of them shall die, the man who lay with her and the woman. You shall purge the evil from Israel. If a virgin woman is betrothed to a man, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, you shall take them both out to the gate of your city and stone them to death. The virgin, because she did not cry out while she was in the city, and the man, because he humbled his neighbor's wife. Thus you shall purge the evil from your midst."

Based on this content, the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and tried to trip Jesus up. Jesus said that having lust in one's heart is adultery. The reason for having lust in one's heart is fundamentally because there is greed in one's heart. He defines greed as an idol. Colossians 3:5 "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."

Greed means wanting to be like God. Therefore, greed is rooted in the old man as sin. The old man is the body of sin, but greed is sin that resides in the body of sin. Therefore, the old man must be removed. Romans 6:3-4 says that the old man must die in order to be born again. Those whose old man does not die are those who are under the wrath of God. Those whose old man does not die are those who are imprisoned under the law. “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so we too should walk in newness of life.”

Second, in Deuteronomy 5:18, it says not to commit adultery. Moses went to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, but did not come down for 40 days, so the people made a golden calf and worshiped it as God. When Moses learned of this, he broke the two stone tablets. Then he polished the stone tablets again and received the commandments from God, which is the content of Deuteronomy 5:18. The judgment of adultery at this time was to be stoned as specified in Deuteronomy 17:2-7.

Deuteronomy 17:2-7, “If there is a man or a woman among you in one of your gates that the LORD your God is giving you, who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God and transgresses His covenant and goes and serves other gods and bows down to them or to the sun, moon, and all the host of heaven, which I have not commanded you, and it is told to you, then search carefully and see if the thing is true, if the thing and the word are true—if this abominable thing has been done in Israel—then you shall bring out to your gates the man or the woman who has done that evil and stone that man or woman to death. On the testimony of two or three witnesses, the one who is to be put to death shall be put to death; the hand of the witnesses shall be against him before the hand of all the people. Thus you shall purge the evil from your midst.”

The man and woman who committed evil are speaking about the obscene acts committed in the process of idolatry. In order to be careful, it is said that the person who is to be put to death will be put to death on the testimony of two or three people. The evildoer is to be stoned to death, but he is to be put to death on the testimony of two or three people. This is because the testimony of one person can be wrong due to intention or mistake. The reason why evil must be thoroughly eliminated in this way is because, just as a little yeast spreads throughout the loaf of bread, the evil deeds that begin from one person affect the whole. On the surface, it speaks of adultery, but fornicators who are involved in idolatry are those who commit spiritual adultery.

God regenerates the old man who died with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Sinners who were subject to the law are now treated by the law of the Holy Spirit. However, those who say they follow the Holy Spirit in the church community but also keep the law are committing spiritual adultery. Those who are born of the Holy Spirit have a husband who was the law all their lives, but when I die to the law, my husband releases me. That is why I can go to the resurrected Jesus. My husband changes. My new husband is the resurrected Jesus. This is rebirth. Many people think that they have Jesus in them because they have accepted everything while they are under the law. However, those who say they follow the Holy Spirit but keep the law are not those who died with Jesus.

Romans 7:6 says, "But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the newness of the Spirit, not in the oldness of the letter." We must serve in the newness of the Spirit to be saved. The law is a husband who never lets go. However, there is a stage where the law does not let me go, and then comes the stage where I think, "The law is good." I find myself unable to escape because of the law, and I think that way until I die. The more I try, the more bound I become by the law. I am caught up in legalistic thoughts until I think, "I can't do it." That is why I realize it through the law, and it seems good to go to the One who is alive from the dead.

If a saint is not one who has died to the law, he has never gone to the resurrected Jesus. He must lay down all his efforts, his righteousness, and his goodness, because everything is legalistic. He must repent and say, “I am not a being who can go by my righteousness at all, I am a being who must die,” in order to be free from the law. He cannot enter the path of self-denial unless he realizes that he is a being of total depravity. Before he realizes that he is a being of total depravity, he cannot even know that his husband is the law. A being of total depravity will not be released until the law, which is his husband, dies. That is why he must repent and deny himself. Denying himself is the way to be released from the law. Denying himself through repentance is the way to enter the cross of Jesus. It is the way to die to the law, to sin, and with Jesus.

All who do not repent and enter the path of self-denial are under God's judgment. This is because the husband is the law. Until one dies to the law, one cannot escape from its shackles. Therefore, those who do not enter the path of self-denial cannot say that the resurrected Jesus is their husband. If the resurrected Jesus does not become their husband, they cannot help but go to Hades. Those who do not die to the law are adulterers and prostitutes.

The one who is not dead is the old man. The husband of the old man is the law. However, many people think that they are free from the law. Thinking like that without repenting of their denial is nothing but self-righteousness. The Lord will say, "Your husband is the law, but I say that your husband is the resurrected Jesus. I do not know you." Jesus is talking about spiritual adultery.

The saint is the resurrected Christ, the husband. Therefore, the saint also becomes one who believes in the present resurrection. If not, she is still under the law and commits spiritual adultery. Her husband is still the law. However, she says that her husband is Christ. Therefore, when Jesus judges those who are under the law, he says, “I do not know you.” Therefore, believers must turn away from spiritual adultery.