BIBLE TOPIC STUDY MT 5:28- "LUST & ADULTERY"

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Matthew 5:28

I decided to write an article on this verse, as I have found it to be one of those Bible passages that many seem to misunderstand. There are only a few Bible passages out there that are quoted regularly, yet are not understood fully. So, I figured why not write an article to clear up the misunderstandings people often have with this scripture.

First thing I would like to point out is that there are some terms that are within scripture that are often misunderstood. For instance, the term adultery. Webster's dictionary says adultery is: "voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse." Now, that is the secular definition of the term "adultery". What is the Bible's definition of adultery? Well, according to Strong's Concordance (along with virtually all others), it means: "to have unlawful intercourse with another's wife."

As you can see with this term, there is a difference between the common legal understanding of adultery today and the Bible's definition of adultery. Now, if we take the Bible's definition of the term adultery and apply it to Jesus' quote, we find that it says:

One day, about five years ago, I realized, that it is very possible to change the whole meaning of scripture simply by defining the words incorrectly. So, from this realization, I noticed, that many Christians, often unwittingly, understand some scriptures incorrectly, due to the fact they are using society's definition of certain words, rather than the Bible's definition. And, I believe some, over the decades, have intentionally or unintentially, imposed doctrine onto scripture by putting their theological spin on certain english words.. This realization led me to study various topics to see if maybe, I had been "indoctrinated" by word changes. Yes, I know, it sounds conspiratorial, however, you will find, this is actually quite serious once you think about it.

Considering that adultery is defined unlawful intercourse with another's wife, it would logically have to mean "wife" or atleast have the ability to mean "wife" on the term "woman" within the passage. So, I did some investigating and not long after, I realized that the term as understood in greek, applies as either "young wife", "woman" or "wife" as you can see within Strong's Concordance again: King James Word Usage - Total: 221 women 129, wife 92. So, it is saying that almost 50% of the time, the greek term is denoted as "wife" instead of "woman". And, logically, the verse would only make sense if it meant "wife", seeing that the term adultery means: "stealing another man's wife, be it through sex or some other means". You see, adultery doesn't just mean sex, it can mean also stealing someone else's wife. Could be you think she is ideal in many other ways other than sexually and you 'covet' her and bring forth the sin by taking her (something not rightfully yours).

I am hoping this logical progression is staring to make some sense. Well, believe it or not, we are just starting, and there is more.

OK, I have something bigger for you to consider.

What is "lusting"? Most of you have this definition coming to mind "any sexual thought for the opposite sex". And yes, I used to have the same definition, until, again, I actually studied scripture and greek to decipher what the term actually meant fully.

The term means to "covet" or "desire with intent to steal" plain and simple. Do you remember which of the Ten Commandments mentions this? Yes, it is the 10th commandment. So, Jesus was quoting the "thou shalt not covet .. thy neighbor's wife". Why haven't you ever heard that before? Doesn't that make a lot of sense, seeing God is the same, yesterday, today and forever? So, quite literally, Jesus first stated the 7th commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery", then he explained the theology behind the 7th commandment with the 10th commandment, "Thou shalt not covet .. thy neighbor's wife". He was showing how the people of the day were not looking at the intent behind the 7th commandment.

So, revisiting Jesus' statement, we see that woman is "wife", lust is "covet" and adultery is "unlawful intercourse with another man's wife". It makes it very clear, he is quoting the 7th and 10th commandment and if you think about it, this makes sense. Jesus did not just make up commandments randomly. He quoted the only scripture of his time, namely, the Old Testament. We seem to forget such things:

This is the viewpoint I have come to after years of careful study on this topic and many others related. I wanted to have a viewpoint that was square with scripture. Before, I found the common viewpoint on this passage to be incorrect, yet I just couldn't untangle what was wrong with it. For many years, I just believed the popular viewpoint on the passage, but was never fully convinced it was correct.

Now, this will probably shock you, but I am going to prove right now that "coveting" is not a sin, unless there is an decision component to it. I will prove it without a shadow of a doubt.

If you look at the greek term in Matthew 5:27-28 for "lust" you will discover that the term requires a "decision" to be a component of it. And, I am guessing you have heard this definition, but really have not considered its true meaning. Lust most properly translated in the verse means to "earnestly desire". Now, here's something you might not have thought about. What does "earnestly" mean? Well, if you look it up in the dictionary, you will discover it means: 1. serious in intention, purpose, or effort; sincerely zealous: an earnest worker. 4 full seriousness, as of intention or purpose: to speak in earnest." Now, ask yourself, are you being serious in intention to desire a woman when you look at her walking down the road? The answer to that is no. When are you serious in your desire? It would be when you are wanting to act on that desire and take her for yourself. So, to sum it up, Jesus is saying, if you are thinking about stealing someones wife or seriously thinking about trying to get her in bed, you have already sinned. Meaning, you literally make a decision in your heart to be in her life in some way, shape, or form. That leaves a wide gap doesn't it? Now, you don't feel like you are a slave to your "nature" anymore. Isn't it interesting, as Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And if you are guy, you know it is not exactly easy not to notice beautiful women.

In the Old Testament, it is made clear that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Hebrews 9:22 & Leviticus 17:11. So, obviously, if something is a sin, God will require shedding of blood within the Old Testament to cleanse the person of their sin. And likewise, if no shedding of blood is required, it is not a sin. Of ALL the Ten Commandments, only one of them does not require shedding of blood. The Tenth Commandment. All the other commandments have examples in scripture where the person was either stoned to death or had to have some sort of sacrifice to pay for his sin. If you think you know of a place in the Old Testament where someone was stoned or had to make an offering to the Lord for coveting, please write me and show me where. You will find I am correct.

And to quote James 1:15 in the New Testament, "1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." As you can even see here, it is clear that lust has to "conceive" to bring forth sin. If it was "lust" alone that was the sin, the scripture would have likely said this instead: Lust bringeth forth sin and when it is finished, brings forth death. But, it doesn't say that, does it?

Back to the topic of "lust", or better translated "covet". I want to give you a few examples to show you how distorted the church's understanding of "lust" is. These will show you through internal inspection a contradiction within the common understanding of the term lust. Look at Exodus 20 again. Now, notice the 10th Commandment again. Remember, God is the same yesterday, today and forever, yes? Also, remember that Jesus is paraphrasing this commandment in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:27-28. OK, notice in the 10th Commandment all the other items mentioned other than another man's wife. The total list includes: house, wife, manservant, maidservant, ox and ass. What is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of all of these things? Materialism? Keeping up with the Jones?

Isn't it interesting when you look at that, you do not think that it is talking about sex, do you? You think, rather, of people being selfish, being jealous and wanting more and taking what belongs to others. Atleast, that is the first thing that comes to my mind. Yet, those things are often OK in our society. On the flip side, I am not detracting from the seriousness of this topic, but clarifying how people ignore materialism, but then axe anything erotic, which is a double standard.

Now, lets take the common idea of "lust" and apply it to all the OTHER things on this list. Lets see if this definition changes when it comes to your neighbor's house, property, etc. Now, ask yourself, do you consider it a sin to "look" at your neighbor's house and think it looks nice? Is it a sin to go over to his house and watch the ball game? They sound like pretty silly questions, wouldn't you say? Yes, but that is how you view the term covet when it comes to another man's wife, isn't it? So the moral is it is not the look, it is the look with intent to take.

OK, so what am I saying? I think its as simple as this. Jezebel, counseled her husband (King Ahab) to steal another man's garden, because he wanted it and the man would not sell it to him. Remember that episode in the Old Testament? I believe that is a perfect example of coveting your neighbor's property. He wanted the property and he tried to buy it, but the man refused to sell it. His wife, being devious, came up with a plan to get the man killed so he could take the property. When King Ahab agreed to this, at that moment, he had sinned in his heart. However, before that, he was just tempted. Do you see the difference? Now, what if he would have just admired the other man's garden and had asked him if he could sometimes walk through it. Do you think that would be a sin? The sin was in the theft of the other man's property, not in admiring his property.

Or, a more close to home example. How about the most famous adultery example in the whole Bible? King David taking Bathesheba from another man. Where was it that King David, sinned in his heart? Was it when he saw Bathesheba nude washing herself, while he was on the roof of his palace? Or could it be when he decided to go down to her and take her to have sex with her? Do you think if he would have decided not to go down, he would have been free from sin? I believe he would be. If he would have restrained himself and weighed his motives, he could have avoided the sin. If it required for him to never go to his roof, then so be it. He was obviously tempted to take her, however, he could have also just made a decision not to go down to her.

Another factor to all of this is understanding that there is good lust and bad lust. Good lust is a desire that does not violate God's commandments. And yes, the exact term that is used to represent bad lust in the Old Testament is also used for situations where good lust is condoned. Here are just a few passages where the Hebrew words for lust are used in a good way (#8378 ta'avah, #0185 avvah & #0183 'avah): Psalm 21:2, Psalm 132:13, Proverbs 10:24, etc. A bad lust, obviously, is a desire that does violate one of God's Commandments. So, if you desire to take your neighbor's property, you are obviously sinning at heart. However, if you are admiring a new sports car your friend bought, you are not sinning (same goes with his girl, business, etc). But, lets say you really liked something he owned and you fantasized about it. Couldn't that lead you to sinning? Stealing it in some manner? So, God doesn't want you to go down that road of fantasizing about your neighbor's wife or property, as it will lead you to the sin eventually. And since you love God and want God's will, it would follow you should not allow yourself to go down that road.