Table of Contents
Meaning of spiritual adultery
Adultery is infidelity; it is the unfaithful act of having extramarital sex. While adultery is mostly regarded as a marital problem, some inspired prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel used the term adultery often to describe Israel’s spiritual state of unfaithfulness to God. Israel was unfaithful to God because, while still being the people of God, they embraced idolatry and all the practices that came with it from the nations around them; just like how an adulterous woman, while still married to her husband, has an affair with other men.
Spiritual adultery does not exist in name in the Bible. What we have in the Bible is adultery. In the situation where the term adultery, as used in the Bible, does not refer to marital unfaithfulness but rather religious unfaithfulness, we term that as spiritual adultery. Generally, as far as the Bible is concerned, spiritual adultery is unfaithfulness to God. It is a situation where the people of God embrace foreign religions or render their acts of worship to foreign deities.
Apart from the Israelites, the other nations such as the Ammonites, the Philistines, etc. did not know God nor serve Him. They were devoted to and offered their acts of worship to deities such as Molech, Baal, etc. However, whatever these pagan nations were doing for religion was not described by the prophets as adultery for they were on their own and worshiped whatever they chose.
But when the people of God, Israel, turned to embrace foreign religions, accept foreign deities, or make idols and serve them, then the prophets termed it as adultery for it was like a married woman having an affair with another man. Any act of worship offered to foreign deities such as burning incense, offering sacrifices, practicing rites and rituals, and building high places and shrines in the name of or to the glory of other gods are all tantamount to spiritual unfaithfulness or religious unfaithfulness. Hence, it is termed as adultery or spiritual adultery.
Bible verses about spiritual adultery
The instances where adultery is used in the context of spiritual adultery, that is, unfaithfulness committed against God are as follows:
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
(Jeremiah 3:8)
And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
(Jeremiah 3:9)
How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
(Jeremiah 5:7)
That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
(Ezekiel 23:37)
Examples of spiritual adultery in today’s Christianity
Today, Christians are the people of God. We belong to God and we are His children and He is our God and Father. We Christians can be just as guilty of spiritual adultery as the Israelites of old even though we may not be deliberately following other deities. A Christian will be guilty of spiritual adultery if he embraces or endorses other beliefs, doctrines, and religious practices that are contrary to biblical teachings.
In the past, spiritual adultery was too obvious; you could easily tell that the people of God were committing adultery on God through their unfaithful deeds of idolatry, serving strange gods such as Baal, Baal Peor, Ashtoreth, etc., and practicing the strange rituals that came with idolatry such as child sacrifice, etc. Today, spiritual adultery comprises habits that suggest disregard and unfaithfulness to God plus what it used to be in the past. Examples:
- Spiritual adultery consists of involving one’s self in or seeking after divination, shamans, witches, wizards, enchanters, fortune tellers, astrologers, etc. for whatever reason, be it out of sheer curiosity about the future, or to seek answers, or help, etc.
- Spiritual adultery consists of involving one’s self in secret societies, secret cults, fraternities, etc. for whatever reason; be it for prosperity, fame, help, protection, or out of sheer ignorance.
- Spiritual adultery consists of involving one’s self in or practicing strange rites or rituals that are not of God for reasons such as healing, protection, success in career, etc.
- Spiritual adultery consists of embracing other opinions such as human philosophies and doctrines of other religions other than biblical teachings.
- Spiritual adultery consists of loving the world and the things in the world.
- Working is ordained by God; it was God who committed man to make a living by working; hence, it is very important to work. However, in the situation where you credit your job with all your time such that you utterly forget or neglect your spiritual life of daily prayer, daily Bible reading, fasting, fellowshipping, etc., you are in a state of spiritual adultery.
- Spiritual adultery consists of loving worldly pleasures. Some professing Christians buy entertainment at the expense of their spiritual life. They would spend hours at concerts, at the movies, at the museum, or watching their favorite TV shows, etc. However, they hardly read their Bibles or remember to spend even an hour praying. In this present time, entertainment and other pleasures of the flesh are easily used to replace God; better said, worldly pleasures take the better part of us, leaving very little attention, time, or love for God, and this fulfills the end time prophesy that ‘… because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (Mt 24:12)’
Many professing Christians of today have alternative gods that contest with God for their time, attention, and loyalty. There are many professing Christians out there who profess to believe in Jesus, they have not as yet denied Him or renounced their faith, but the truth is that they serve Him and other gods. Most often, the other gods would take the better part of their time, attention, love, resources, and commitment such that they would have very little to do with God. This fulfills Jesus’ teaching that you cannot successfully serve two masters; certainly, you would give more credit to one than the other (Matthew 6:24).
What am I to do?
God commanded us in Exodus 20:14, saying, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” period; whatever the adultery is; be it adultery on a wife, or adultery on a husband, or adultery on God, which is spiritual adultery. The quest for fame, wealth, riches, stardom, superstardom, power, protection, etc., and sometimes, sheer ignorance and curiosity has led untold numbers of professing Christians, young and old alike, into the occult, witchcraft, secret fraternities, secret cults, etc. which are directly or indirectly connected to satanic worship, etc. Do not join yourself to them.
A balanced life: A happy life require that we work for a living, enjoy some entertainment, build and maintain healthy relations, etc. However, whatever your daily schedules are, it is of utter importance that you fix a time with God; work out your salvation; and share quality time with God by reading and meditating on His word, praying and fasting, and fellowshipping with other Christians. It is not an option. It is compulsory if only salvation is important to you for if there is anything or anyone more important to you than your relationship with God, then you are not worthy of serving Him – Matthew 10:37.
Stick to the biblical teachings on all matters related to theology. Do not profess Christianity yet be a follower of evolution or Darwinism, etc. On all matters related to theology and morality, let the Bible be your only point of reference.
Conclusion
A lot of things surrounding us today contend with God for our time, attention, and commitment. Many things interrupt our faithfulness to God; Christians are committing spiritual adultery day in and day out without realizing it. Daily devotion is fading away; prayer time for most believers is either shortened or forgotten; rather, much time is allocated to entertainment such as watching movies, attending concerts, etc., and all manner of pleasures take much of the attention and time to the neglect of God and those deeds that draw us closer to Him.
The quest for money has made matters worse; the Christian’s faithfulness in keeping up with spiritual things is more and more intercepted by the quest for making more money, leading to the situation where his time, attention, and faithfulness are more skewed towards his job, leaving little or no time for God in prayer, Bible study, fellowshipping. Hence, he is living in spiritual adultery, which is apostasy.