Ten Words #7: Marriage, Sex & God's Justice

The 6th & 7th commands are perhaps the most well known: Don’t murder & don’t commit adultery. But does the fact that they are easily identified mean that they are easily lived out?

 

Just as murder violates one’s neighbor and destroys the social fabric of the community, adultery is also a severe violation of the trust and wellbeing between neighbors. It has a chilling effect beyond the individual actors, damaging the loyalty and affection of the entire community. Loyalty and affection are the primary building blocks of each family, and families in turn are the primary building blocks of a society. Tearing the family through sexual infidelity, therefore, is an attack on the whole community.

For Israel, the commandment was clear, but the penalty for breaking it was applied unevenly or not at all. Some texts state that both parties were subject to the death penalty (e.g., Lev 20:10). But it’s not hard to find examples where this was ignored or applied harshly only to those without powerful protectors.

For the Christian community of faith, there is equal if not greater concern for sexual purity. Jesus said, “You’ve heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ but I tell you that whoever lusts after another woman has already committed adultery in his heart” (Matt 5:27-28). Jesus says that lustful hearts are the real problem, just as hatred lies underneath murder.

So if the bar is even higher for Christians, how severe is the punishment for failing to live up to it? In contrast to the inequitable and often one-sided application of justice in ancient Israel, the people of faith today are not focused on meting out human versions of justice for sexual mistakes. Yes, sexual sin is destructive. Yes, sexual sin demolishes families, churches, and communities. Yes, sexual sin produces consequences that are not easily dismissed: STDs, unwanted pregnancies, broken relationships, and ruined reputations.

But for the people of faith, God’s fair justice is revealed in the grace & mercy of Jesus. God’s justice is that, even though no one is perfect, we can all share in God’s righteousness. That’s everyone. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. Through faith in Jesus, God makes all of us right even though all of us have done wrong. This is the only path to fair justice: grace & mercy equally available to all.

That's what the story of the woman caught in adultery is all about (John 8). For people trying to enforce the human justice of Israel, the focus was on punishment: Stone her! The story, however, highlights their unjust application of justice in ancient Israel: Where was the man?

For Christians today, the 7th Word is an invitation to receive the gift of God’s justice (grace!) and to start living worthy of that great gift. For Jesus, the question wasn’t about punishment for past sin. It was about freedom from the past in order to experience the opportunity of the future: “Go your way and sin no more.”