A friend called my attention to a thread about what adultery is (and isn’t) in a Christian forum. I found it interesting that people droned on regarding the subject for 11+ pages and came to no real consensus. There are many opinions regarding adultery.
One person quoted Jesus and said, “If you look at someone lustfully…you’ve committed the sin.”
Another person said, “Adultery is sex. If there’s no sex, there’s no adultery.”
Yet another said, “Suppose spanking occurred…but no sex… that would not be adultery.”
WHAT?
As I pondered this, the Holy Spirit reminded me (again) that asking the “is this sin” question is the wrong question. When we ask, “Is this sin?” we tend to be asking from the motive of, “Can I do it?” (or…” is it a small enough sin that I can get away with it?” and “is there a loophole?”)
Instead we should ask,
“What is holiness?”
“What pleases You, Lord?”
and say,
“I want to walk in deeper and deeper levels of intimacy with You.”
When our heart is for Him … and not for “what can I do?” … the “what can I do”‘s tend to not become issues.
ADDENDUM – it just occurred to me (duh – need a second pot of coffee today!) that when satan tempted Eve in the garden, this was his tactic.
Did God really say…? Is this really sin?
Justification followed…
Great read. Thank you.
So gluten is the opposite of holiness, right?
Wayne Gruden defines sin as any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature. While Adultery, by definition, requires sex, sin does not. This reminds me of folks that try to find the name of a demon before they address it. I cover all the bases by commanding every unclean spirit to leave.
Holiness is not the absence of sin, it is the taking on of God’s nature.
I agree we will not have to worry if we are walking in His will.
I’m not sure I agree with that – based on what Jesus said about looking lustfully – BUT – I do agree with the central point. Sin is sin, and holiness is taking on God’s nature, and if we’re walking in His will, we don’t have to worry about it.
I’ve said on another site, if it had been me in the garden, upon receiving the prohibition, I would have reached up, plucked the fruit, and grinned at God as I ate, with the juice running down my chin. I wonder how framing it as an open and unashamed expression of dissent would have changed things.
I’m not sure about that, Cat.
If you really knew Him – you’d love Him.