The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
Psalm 145:8 - 9
Unless otherwise indicated, all bible quotations are from The English Standard Version © 2001, Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Cure for Spiritual Adultery
Posted by Kyle on May 24, 2008
“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4
The world is a strange woman, an adulteress, seeking to seduce me, to draw my affections away from Christ, much like the adulteress in Proverbs 7. I have been joined to Christ and and the world is His rival…His enemy, and as such should be mine also. What we mean by the “world” is the system that seeks to conform us to it’s mold (Rom. 12:2). It is the system that is opposed to God. You feel it’s pressure through various things, especially the media. It is “arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.” (2 Cor. 10:5). The world appeals to the evil principle within me and seeks to make me a slave to my former master: sin.
To have a spiritually adulterous heart is to go to bed with the world; to be lured in like the foolish young man in Proverbs. How do I stay true to Christ? Just as I would stay true to my wife. I must know the pitfalls of adultery and the wiles of the seductress. I must know my own weaknesses. But, most of all, I must have an exciting and growing relationship with Christ. In Proverbs 5:18 it says, “rejoice in the wife of your youth” and then goes on to describe what that means. This is the greatest deterrent to infidelity in marriage. In Philippians 4:4 it says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” This, I believe, is the greatest deterrent to spiritual infidelity. This is more than just singing a hymn all day. It is a rejoicing, similar to rejoicing in one’s wife. I must know His worthiness in the depths of my being and be totally satisfied with Him. I must experience Him and His joys daily, so much so, that the world appears as something completely repulsive compared to His beauty and splendor. He must be my greatest pleasure. I must be able to gush and sing as the Psalmist:
“…in your presence there is fullness of joy;at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11
