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How do we know if something is right or wrong? Is there
absolute truth of what is moral and good from what is
immoral and evil? Is what is right or wrong different
for different people?
The Holy Bible is a collection of writings compiled by
men, but inspired by an all-powerful, eternal Being who
calls Himself our God,
and our Creator.
According to the Bible, God's written Word, He
alone determines
what is right and just, good and evil. And says that all
will be judged not
by what they think is right, but by what He
says is right and wrong as given to us in His Book,
the Bible.
All that have ever lived and died will one day be
resurrected to face Jesus who suffered
and died for them, and they will be judged by how
they lived they lives, the STANDARD by which judgment
will be made are the Books of the Holy Bible. Notice Revelation
20:11-12, -"And I saw a Great White Throne, and Him that
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled
away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw
the dead, small and great, STAND BEFORE GOD; and the
BOOKS (of the Bible) were opened; and another Book was
opened, which is the Book of Life, and the dead were
JUDGED OUT OF THOSE THINGS WHICH WERE WRITTEN IN THE
BOOKS, according
to THEIR
WORKS."
God tells us in verse
15 that
the people whose lives did not match up with the Books
of the Bible will be cast into a burning Lake of Fire!
The Holy Bible is very plain spoken on the subjects of
ADULTERY, FORNICATION and IMMORALITY, and we will
examine just what it says about them momentarily, but
first let's look at the common accepted definitions of
them in an ordinary secular Dictionary, -The WORLD BOOK
DICTIONARY.
ADULTERY: "Unfaithfulness
of a married man to his wife or his wife to him;
Voluntary sexual intercourse by a married man with a
woman not his wife, or by a married woman with a man not
her husband."
ADULTERER: "A
person, especially a man, who commits adultery."
ADULTERESS: "A
woman who commits adultery."
FORNICATION: "Voluntary
sexual intercourse between unmarried persons. In the
Bible -a. Adultery, b.Idolatry."
FORNICATOR: "A
person who commits fornication."
IMMORALITY: "Wickedness;
Wrongdoing. Lewdness; Lack of Chastity. Unchastity
(impurity through sexual intercourse with someone who
you are not married to). An immoral act or practice."
IMMORAL: "Morally
wrong; Wicked; Unchaste;(not keeping sexually pure) Lewd
(not decent, obscene, lustful, vile and wicked).
1 John
3:4 tells
us God's definition of what SIN is, -"Whosoever
committeth SIN transgresseth (disobeys) also the
LAW; for SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW." This
Scripture tells us exactly what SIN is, it is
disobeying the COMMANDMENTS of God.
Romans
6:23 tells
us what the penalty of Sin is, -"The
wages of Sin is DEATH." Death
is what we earn by refusing to REPENT and CHANGE our
behavior to match what God desires of us.
Let's look of the account of God thundering the TEN
COMMANDMENTS to His people from Mt.
Sinai.
Exodus 20 -"And
God spake all these words, saying, I AM THE LORD THY
GOD which have brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
(1) THOU SHALT
HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.
(2) THOU SHALT
NOT MAKE UNTO THEE ANY GRAVEN IMAGE, or any likeness
of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in
the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
VISITING THE INIQUITY (SINS) OF THE FATHERS UPON THE
CHILDREN UNTO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION of
them that hate Me. And showing MERCY unto thousands
of them that love me, and KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.
(3) THOU SHALT
NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN; for
the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his
name in vain.
(4) REMEMBER
THE SABBATH DAY, TO KEEP IT HOLY. Six days shalt
thou labor, and do all thy work; But the Seventh Day
(not the first) is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son,
nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy
maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that
is within thy gates; For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,
and rested the Seventh day; wherefore the Lord
BLESSED THE SABBATH DAY and HALLOWED IT.
(5) HONOR THY
FATHER AND MOTHER; that thy days may be long upon
the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
(6) THOU SHALT
NOT KILL.
(7) THOU SHALT
NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.
(8) THOU SHALT
NOT STEAL.
(9) THOU SHALT
NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS (LIE) against thy neighbour.
(10) THOU SHALT
NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOUR'S HOUSE, THOU SHALT NOT
COVET THY NEIGHBOUR'S WIFE, NOR HIS MANSERVANT, NOR
HIS MAIDSERVANT, NOR HIS OX, NOR HIS ASS, NOR ANY
THING THAT IS THY NEIGHBOUR'S."
We have already seen the definition of ADULTERY but what
about COVETNESS? To Covet is to desire what is not
lawfully yours in the sight of God, it is an UNLAWFUL
DESIRE. God's COMMANDMENT for a man not
to COVET or DESIRE another man's wife means also that a woman should
not COVET or DESIRE another woman's husband. The man is
still her husband until a writ of Divorce is given.
Notice what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the
well,
John 4:17-18,
-"He (Jesus) said to her, "Go call your husband, and
come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no
husband." Jesus said to her. "You have well said, I
have no husband' for you have had five husbands; and
the one whom you now have is not your husband; this
you have said truly."
Jesus acknowledged that she was living with a man, but
that she was not married to him.
Scriptures on the Subject
Proverbs
6:32, -"The
one who commits ADULTERY with a woman is lacking in
understanding; he that does it DESTROYS HIS OWN
SOUL."
1
Corinthians 6:18-20, -"FLEE
FORNICATION! Every SIN that a man doeth is without
the body; but he hat committeth FORNICATION SINNETH
AGAINST HIS OWN BODY. WHAT! Know ye not that your
body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are NOT YOUR OWN?
For ye are BOUGHT WITH A PRICE; therefore glorify
God in YOUR BODY, and in your spirit, WHICH ARE
GOD'S."
Notice how the Living Bible
renders this passage,
"That is why I say to RUN FROM SEX
SIN. No other SIN affects the body as this one does.
When you SIN this SIN it is against your own body.
Haven't you yet learned that your body is the HOME
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT God gave you, and that he lives
within you? Your own body DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU.
For God HAS BOUGHT YOU with a GREAT PRICE. (Blood of
His own Son) So use every part of your body to give
glory back to God, BECAUSE HE OWNS IT."
John
8:3-11, "And the Scribes and Pharisees
brought unto him (Jesus) a woman taken in ADULTERY;
and when they had set her in the midst, They say
unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in ADULTERY,
in the very act.
Now Moses in the Law commanded us,
that SUCH SHOULD BE STONED; but what sayest Thou?
This they said TEMPTING Him, that
they might have to accuse Him, but Jesus stooped
down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as
though He heard them not.
So when they continued asking Him,
He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, "He that
is without SIN among you, let him first cast a stone
at her." And again He stooped down, and wrote on the
ground.
And they which heard it, being
convicted by their own conscience, went out one by
one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last;
and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in
the midst.
When Jesus had lifted up Himself,
and saw none but the woman, he said unto her,
"Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man
condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus
said unto her, "Neither do I condemn thee, GO AND
SIN NO MORE."
How truly beautiful this passage
of Scripture is. Jesus showing compassion by forgiving
her SINS. But notice also that Jesus told the woman to
"GO AND SIN NO MORE".
Jesus expected her to repent of
her SIN and change her behavior after her encounter with
Him.
His reaction would certainly be
much different if the same woman were brought to Him
again with the same SIN, wouldn't it?
The SIN of ADULTERY or FORNICATION will destroy your
soul, but ALL SIN will do the same. Though evil,
ADULTERY is not a greater SIN than STEALING, FALSE
WITNESS, and MURDER, but God does list these all
together, doesn't He? PRACTICING any SIN will cost you
your ETERNAL LIFE! God places WILLFULLY SINNING in a
different category than OCCASIONALLY FALLING INTO SIN.
Christians SIN, but they don't
PRACTICE SIN as a WAY OF LIFE. They may slip and fall
occasionally, but they try hard to be obedient to God.
Notice what Hebrews
Chapter 10:26-31 says about LIVING IN SIN, -
Hebrews 10:26-31 "For
if we go on SINNING WILLFULLY (on purpose) after
receiving the KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH (after you know
better) there no longer remains a sacrifice for
SINS, but a certain TERRIFYING EXPECTATION of
JUDGMENT, and the FURY OF A FIRE (HELL) WHICH WILL
CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside
the Law of Moses DIES WITHOUT MERCY on the testimony
of two or three witnesses. How much SEVERER
PUNISHMENT do you think he will deserve who has
TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT THE SON OF GOD, and has regarded
an unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was
sanctified, and has INSULTED THE SPIRIT OF GRACE?
For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL
REPAY", and again, "The Lord will JUDGE HIS PEOPLE."
It is a TERRIFYING THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF
THE LIVING GOD."
In our age today, the Devil has successfully
convinced many that God will not exercise judgment.
That the rules are somehow different today, but
God says "He changes not"(Malachi 3) and that "He is the
Same Yesterday, Today and Forever."(Hebrews 13)
It's important to understand that we worship and
serve the same Creator that Destroyed the world with a
flood,
that rained fire and brimstone on the sexually
perverse and wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,
that didn't spare the Angels that sinned, but
will cast them into outer darkness forever at His
return,
the same God that killed all the first-born of
Egypt when the Pharaoh refused to obey Him,
the God that took the Holy Spirit from King Saul
because of disobedience giving him a evil spirit to
terrify him,
the God that caused ancient Israel to be
slaughtered by the Assyrians and the survivors enslaved
because of disobedience,
the same God that opened the ground at the foot
of Mt Sinai and swallowed up thousands of men, women and
children because of their disobedience,
the same God that sent ancient Babylon to
conquer and destroy His people the Jews because they
refused to obey Him even after He warned them through
His Preachers, as you are being warned at this moment,
and God knows this and is watching to see what
you do.
Don't let Satan deceive you my friends, you will reap
what you sow. If you sow SIN you will reap DEATH. RUN
FROM SIN AND TO YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER, WHO IS EAGERLY
WAITING FOR YOUR REPENTANCE! Your life will be
SAVED,fulfilled, happy and blessed, and you will have
the assurance of ETERNAL LIFE
Notice what God says about even the prayers of the
unrepentant, -
Proverbs
28:9, -"He
who turns away his ear from listening to the
law.(Commandments) Even his prayer is an
abomination." God will not listen to the prayer of
one who refuses to obey His Law. But if we turn from
PRACTICING SIN, and PUT IT OUT OF OUR LIFE, God is
faithful to forgive us of our SINS.
Notice what Jesus said
in Matthew 5:27-29,
-
Matthew
5:27-29 "You
have heard that it was said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT
ADULTERY; but I say to you, that every one who looks
on a woman to LUST AFTER HER has COMMITTED ADULTERY
with her already in HIS HEART. And if your right eye
make you stumble (lust after another) tear it out,
and throw it from you; for it is better for you that
one of the parts of your body perish, than for your
WHOLE BODY TO GO INTO HELL!"
Galatians
5:19-21 "Now
the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these, ADULTERY, FORNICATION, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings,
and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I
have also told you in time past, THAT THEY WHICH DO
SUCH THINGS SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD."
Notice that God Almighty puts the SIN of ADULTERY and
FORNICATION in the same category as "witchcraft",
"hatred" and "murder".
Jeremiah
23:14, -"Also among the prophets of
Jerusalem I (God) HAVE SEEN A HORRIBLE THING; the
COMMITTING OF ADULTERY and walking in falsehood; And
they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that NO
ONE HAS TURNED BACK (repented) FROM HIS WICKEDNESS.
All of them have become TO ME LIKE SODOM, and her
inhabitants like GOMORRAH."
Did you see that God
called COMMITTING ADULTERY a "HORRIBLE THING?"
Without our repentance and
forgiveness from God we all destined for the Lake of
Fire.
In Jeremiah
5 God
asks those seeking forgiveness WHY HE SHOULD PARDON THEM
WHILE THEY ARE STILL LIVING SINFULLY? Notice Verse
7, -"WHY SHOULD I PARDON YOU? Your sons have
forsaken Me and sworn by those who are not gods. When I
had fed them to the full, THEY COMMITTED ADULTERY."
James 2:11-13,
-"For He who said, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY", also
said, "DO NOT COMMIT MURDER", Now if you do NOT
COMMIT ADULTERY, but do commit murder, you have
become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so
act, as those who are to be judged by the law of
liberty. FOR JUDGMENT WILL BE MERCILESS TO ONE WHO
HAS SHOWN NO MERCY; mercy triumphs over judgement."
Hebrews
12:15-17, -"Looking diligently lest any
man FAIL of the grace of God; lest any root of
bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby
many be defiled; Lest there be ANY FORNICATOR, or
PROFANE PERSON, as Esau, who for one morsel meat
sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing, he was
REJECTED; for he found no place of REPENTANCE,
though he sought it carefully with tears."
Ephesians
5:3-6, -"But DO NOT LET IMMORALITY
(fornication) or any impurity or greed EVEN BE NAMED
AMONG YOU, as is proper among saints; and there must
be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting,
which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
For this you KNOW WITH CERTAINTY, that NO IMMORAL or
impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater,
HAS AN INHERITANCE IN THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST AND GOD.
LET NO ONE DECEIVE YOU WITH EMPTY WORDS, for because
of these things the WRATH OF GOD COMES UPON THE SONS
OF DISOBEDIENT." What did God mean when He said "LET
NO ONE DECEIVE YOU WITH EMPTY WORDS?" He is saying
"I AM GOD, I GAVE MY ONLY SON FOR YOU, SO I MAKE THE
RULES OF SALVATION!" No other person holds the keys
to your eternity, not your father, mother, husband
or wife, only God the Father and Jesus the Son. God
is warning you to not let someone convince you that
you can enter into ETERNAL LIFE without repenting of
SIN. It simply does not matter what a person says,
we will be judged by what God says.
1
Corinthians 6:9-11, -"Or do you not know
that the UNRIGHTEOUS shall not inherit the Kingdom
of God? DO NOT BE DECEIVED; neither FORNICATORS, nor
idolater, nor ADULTERERS, nor effeminate, nor
homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the COVETOUS, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall
inherit the Kingdom of God. 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 God."
Romans
1:18 ,
-"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men
who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. . . verse
24, Therefore,
God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to
impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored
among them. . . verses
26-27, For
this reason God gave them over to degrading
passions; for their women exchanged the natural
function for that which is unnatural, and in the
same way also themen
abandoned the natural function of the woman and
burned in their desire toward one another,
men with men committing indecent acts and RECEIVING
IN THEIR OWN PERSONS the DUE PENALTY OF THEIR
ERROR."
Notice that God says that those
who practice homosexuality "receive in their own
persons the PENALTY of their ERROR!" As we saw in 1
Corinthians 6:9-11, those who practice such things
shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. But praise God
that He is willing to wash and sanctify those who
are willing to repent and put that impure lifestyle
behind them.
READ 1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 5 It
is too long to include in this paper. It shows
what the Apostle Paul taught concerning living together
while unmarried. The
man was a baptized member of the church but the woman he
was living with wasn't. Because the man was baptized and
had accepted Christ, yet was living in sin, Paul
commanded he be removed from the assembly until
repentance. No such judgment was made for the woman,
because she was not a baptized member.
Our Savior gave all to save you and me. He
endured beating, suffering, He was slapped and spit on
and mocked, then nailed to a cross and left to die for
YOUR SINS and MY SINS.
He wants to WASH YOU and SANCTIFY YOU with the
cleansing BLOOD OF HIS SON, but you must first recognize
the evil of your SIN and REPENT.
You will have passed from DEATH to LIFE ETERNAL.
There will be singing and shouts of joy in
Heaven when you do, and your Heavenly Father will warmly
embrace you in His arms.
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