by Harry Osborne
Over the past week, statistics released from the federal government confirmed what any rational person already knew -- fornication and adultery has been on the increase over the past decade. As a matter of fact, the increase has been dramatic. The number of couples living together outside of marriage has gone up 71% since 1991. Many of those have been previously married, but are now merely "shacked up" with someone else. The overwhelming evidence from other studies regarding drug abuse, crime, violence, homelessness and poverty suggests that a common factor is the leading cause for these social ills -- the breakup of the family. Furthermore, studies regarding the breakup of the family show that marital infidelity, or adultery, is present in the majority of those marriages which end in divorce. The evidence is both overwhelming and indisputable that sexual promiscuity and infidelity are pandemic in our culture.
We really do not need studies to expose the obvious. Open eyes and common sense tell us the same thing. The American family is in deep trouble and has been for some time. A younger generation is not learning about commitment and trust when they see mom and dad show the opposite to each other by breaking the commitments of marriage and betraying its trust. Is it any wonder that many of them are sexually promiscuous in ever more shocking ways?
Sexual purity is viewed as a vice in this society rather than a virtue. Some schools now teach curriculum advocating the right of teens and pre-teens to be sexually active. It condemns those who restrict sex to marriage. Humanistic propaganda claims that we shackle children and deprive them when we forbid sexual conduct satisfying any desire. However, they fail to say what their so-called "freedom" and "pleasure" bring. The "free love" movement brought us AIDS, rampant venereal disease, girls heart-broken from unwed pregnancy, boys in fear of early fatherhood, grandparents forced to raise a new family, the murder of 1.5 million unborn children each year, single parent families trapped in poverty, broken homes, shattered trust, tears beyond number and the list could go on. God was right about fornication (1 Thess. 4:1-7).
This country is in need of a restoration of faithfulness and fidelity in the home. The most effective tool to return moral values into our society is to instill the solemn commitment of honor in God-ordained marriage and the sanctity of that relationship. Fidelity to the sacred promises made in marriage and the loving bond of trust found in such families are the solid foundation upon which all other societal structures can be built.
"Do you take this man/woman to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health? Do you promise to him/her your undying love and life-long devotion? Do you promise to honor and cherish him/her? forsaking all others, will you keep yourself for this one and this one alone until death severs the tie that binds?"
If you are married, do you remember taking a vow like that? Do you remember answering something like "I do" to these questions? That was a lifelong commitment! It was a solemn promise. To betray it would make one, in simple words, a liar.
Breaking that commitment of fidelity in adultery not only makes one a liar to the spouse and the people before whom the promise was made at the wedding, but also before God. God was a witness to the promise as well (Mal. 2:14). God demands that vows made before Him must be kept. Notice what He says:
"If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth" (Numbers 30:2).
The context following the above passage shows a woman has the same obligation. The New Testament notes that we are obligated to keep our promises whether by vow or simple affirmation (Matt. 5:33-37). Simply put: God expects us to keep our word.
"Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge" (Hebrews 13:4).
That makes it pretty plain. God does not condone sexual activity outside of the marriage relationship. The only place where such union can take place is within a God-ordained marriage (1 Cor. 7:2-5). Shacking up may be common in our time, but it will bring God's judgment on all who participate. Neither will God tolerate adultery in any form. Even the common practice of divorce and remarriage does not give one the right to another sexual union in God's eyes. Here is how He views the practice:
"For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man" (Romans 7:2-3).
God does not even approve of sexual relations with a second person if we divorce the first mate and marry the second. It is still called "adultery" by God. Why? Because He views seriously our lifelong commitment made in the first marriage and He will hold us responsible for it. The only exception permitted by God for divorce and remarriage reinforces His disdain for adultery:
"And I say to you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and he that marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery" (Matthew 19:9).
Instead, let us show and teach respect for marriage and its commitments. In doing so, we will lay the groundwork for marriages that are severed only by death in our own lives. Our children will learn most of what they know about fidelity and commitment from seeing our actions. We may also show the light of truth and godliness to a world increasingly given to immorality and cause them to return to God. Whether we help to cause a spiritual revival in our society or not, remember that the God who is witness to our actions demands trustworthiness to our vows and purity in our lives.