Proverbs 2:19

Adultery is fatal. It is a terminal sin. There is no recovery from adultery. Solomon warned his son about the strange woman – a whorish woman that will have sex with a man other than her husband (Pr 2:16-18). In an effort to frighten his son against adultery, he gave a general rule that is confirmed by Scripture and experience – adultery is fatal.

Parents and pastors must warn against adultery, and they especially must warn young men about its temptations and dire consequences (Pr 6:20-26). The deceitful hearts and raging hormones of young men are very vulnerable to it (Jer 17:9; I Cor 7:9). Youth is a time of vanity and much temptation toward this sin (Ps 25:7; Eccl 11:10). Therefore, the inspired book of Proverbs has much to say about sexual sins to protect young men.

A whorish woman will never tell the truth about the consequences of touching her (Pr 6:29). Instead, she flatters her victim to his ruin (Pr 2:16; 7:21). She describes in the most glowing terms the pleasures that she can give and the certainty of not getting caught (Pr 7:13-20; 9:17). She does not tell that her other victims are in hell (Pr 5:5; 7:27; 9:18).

The world will not help young men. It glorifies and protects adultery by television programming, movies, music, magazines, books, legislation, birth control, popular opinion, peer pressure, immodest clothing, coed dorms, and other inventions. The world has been committed to adultery from the beginning (Eph 4:17-19; I John 2:15-17).

There are many ways to die, and adultery will help you discover and experience all of them. Samson found one way – suicide as a blind man! But there are more! In a nation enforcing righteousness, like Israel under the Law of Moses, adultery was a capital offence, even for women that kept it hidden (Lev 20:10; Num 5:11-31; Deut 22:22-24). Or you can die at the hands of a jealous husband (Pr 6:34-35) or by sexual diseases.

But there are worse ways to die by adultery. This heinous sin will destroy your reputation and soul. Men understand some sins, but they do not allow mercy or understanding for adultery (Pr 6:27-33; Song 8:6). It violates one of the most intimate bonds and trusts in human relationships. It is a heinous sin and should be judged severely (Job 31:9-12).

Adultery will destroy your soul (Pr 6:32). First, it will bring guilt and shame like never before (Pr 5:8-14). It will bring God’s chastening punishment and the removal of His Spirit from your life (Ps 51:7-12). And it will make you a bond slave to sexual fantasies and further sins (Pr 5:20-23; Eccl 7:26). You cannot save yourself. Adultery is terminal.

But where things are impossible for men, they are possible with God (Luke 18:25-27), even as Paul gave thanks for deliverance from the bondage of his sin of concupiscence (Rom 7:7-8,24-25). Adultery is terminal as a general rule, where the exceptions are those delivered by the superabundant grace of God in Jesus Christ (John 8:1-11; I Cor 6:9-11).

Why are you told the details of David’s horrible sins of adultery and murder? So that other such sinners might find comfort in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. God freely forgave David and still honored him as the greatest king in Israel and the namesake father of Jesus Christ (I Kgs 11:4; 14:8; 15:3-5; Matt 1:1; Rom 15:4; Rev 5:5; 22:16).

God chose David in Jesus Christ by sovereign election before the world began (Eph 1:3-12). Jesus died for each of David’s sins, including his adultery and murder (Is 53:4-12; II Cor 5:21; I Pet 2:24; Rev 1:5). David took enormous confidence in this great salvation by God’s free grace in Jesus Christ (II Sam 23:1-5; Ps 32:1-2). Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect, including David? It is God that justifieth (Rom 8:33)!

But God’s practical mercy for adultery requires full confession and repentance, which David gave freely and fully (II Sam 12:13; Ps 51:1-19). God is faithful to forgive confessed sins, and Elihu described confession well, “He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light” (Job 33:27-28).