What does the Bible say about adultery?

In preparing a sermon about adultery, we can turn to passages throughout the Bible that present definitions of adultery, commands against adultery, and commands about how to love others. 

Commands about adultery

• Exodus 20:14, you shall not commit adultery
• Deuteronomy 5:18, you shall not commit adultery
• Leviticus 20:10, punishment in the Old Testament for adultery

Other thoughts in the Bible about adultery

• Psalm 51:1-17, a psalm of confession; a prayer for cleansing and pardon 
• Proverbs 2:16-19, adultery is forsaking covenant
• Proverbs 6:32, adultery is destructive
• Hosea 1-14, a rebuke for Israel's infidelity, a call to repentance, a promise of God's compassion
• Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus talks to the woman at the well about adultery
• Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus speaks about divorce and adultery
• Matthew 19:9, Jesus speaks about divorce and adultery
• John 8:4-11, Jesus refuses to condemn
• Romans 13:9, love your neighbor as yourself
• 1 Corinthians 7:4, authority over one another in marriage
• Ephesians 5:5, inheriting the kingdom of God
• Hebrews 13:4, honoring marriage

Sermon ideas about adultery

How is adultery a form of pollution? 

Sermons about adultery could draw a connection between adultery and pollution or defilement. To pollute an entity is to introduce a foreign element into it, thereby weakening it. Idolatry pollutes our relationship to God, and adultery pollutes our relationship to our spouse. The book of Hosea suggests that idolatry and adultery are emblems of each other. Each introduces a rival into an exclusive relationship. 

How is adultery a form of injustice?

Sermons about adultery could also show the connection between adultery and injustice. 1 Corinthians 7:4 states that married people have conjugal rights, suggesting that adultery, besides all else, is a form of injustice. Each partner has exclusive sexual rights to the other; adultery violates those rights. 

Faithfulness in relationships

Though adultery deals specifically with unfaithfulness in the marriage relationship, the topic extends more broadly to faithfulness in all human relationships. As we read beyond the seventh commandment and into the rest of the Bible, we see applications that extend far beyond marriage in faithful, grateful living. Sermons about adultery can explore these applications. 

Excerpts about adultery

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org sermon resources about adultery: 

"Readers of contemporary Bibles are often surprised to learn that the story of the woman taken in adultery was probably not placed within the Gospel of John until sometime after the Gospel was already circulating without it." Article about Scripture by Jennifer Knust from Bible Odyssey 

"Regardless of the admonition to not let this specific sin reign over the mortal body and be its master, adultery and its cronies continue to be perhaps the most popular and the least resisted sins in our world." Sermon Preparation or Illustration by Victor Raj from Concordia Theology

"In his painting of the encounter of Christ and the woman taken in adultery, Tintoretto provides a literal depiction of the biblical account (in John 8:1-11)." Artwork by Jacopo Tintoretto from Web Gallery of Art

"Time and again, Jesus is pointing out the painful reality of broken relationships and the things that can undermine relationships." Scripture Meditation or Sermon by Randy Harris from Day 1

"Jesus shifts the perspective away from defining the permissibility of action to recognizing the humanity of the persons involved. He asks the accusors to first examine their own life and actions. He reminds each of them of the ways in which they all have been in need of the mercy and grace that they want to deprive the women before them." Scripture Meditation or Sermon by Billy Kangas from Patheos

"Say her name. The very title of this Bible story, 'A Woman Caught in Adultery,' found in the heading for John 8: 1-11, primes the pump in all the wrong ways. It tells us to focus our gaze upon the accused—(and presumed guilty) woman. On her sins, her failures, her shame. Yet, the story unfolds quite differently." Scripture Meditation or Sermon by Susan McGurgan from Preaching Hope

Worship ideas about adultery 

Following is a sample excerpt from Zeteosearch.org worship resources about adultery: 

"Merciful God, we each of us have the stains of sin in our life, in our minds, and in our hearts, because of our selfish and thoughtless actions. Loving God, we want to be cleansed of these stains. Some of those sin-stains are deeply ingrained through years of sin and selfishness. Forgive us of that pain-filled sin, as the memories of them linger, and they come between us and our God. Purify each of us from that ingrained sin that comes between us and God." Prayer of Confession by Joan Stott from the Timeless Psalms