The question of adultery is probably one of the most frequently discussed subjects among Primitive Baptist when brethren are discussing those things that commonly cause trouble in the household of faith. Generally, some "hard case" is brought up and brethren are asked to give their advice on the particular case in point. Before going further into this subject, it should be emphasized that the true Baptist Church (Primitive Baptist) will follow no other pattern or rule on adultery than that which is set forth in the Holy Scriptures. It will [not] be our purpose to deal with spiritual adultery in this article. Suffice It. To say that when a member of one of our churches joins (marries) up with any church of the world, they have committed spiritual adultery and have excluded themselves from the fellowship of the true church in as much as they have taken unto themselves a strange wife.

First of all we must understand the definition of adultery. Adultery is a sinful way of married life and therefore is a living condition. Jesus gives us the definition of this sinful living condition in Matthew 19:39. Notice the 9th verse when Christ plainly states," ... Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and who so marries her which is put away doth commit adultery." From this explanation it is obvious that in this context there must always be an illegal (unscriptural) marriage before there can be the sin of adultery. The Sin of fornication can be identified as illicit sexual conduct between two people both of which may be single or either of which may be married.

Fornication is an act by itself. Adultery is the resultant condition when a man or woman puts away their companion without the cause of fornication and marries another. Both sins will cause an individual to lose his inheritance in the church.

Now let us observe what prompted Christ to respond as He did as quoted above. Beginning in the third verse of Matthew 19: the Pharisees had asked Christ, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?" In verse 4, Christ answered them and said, "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5. And said for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh. 6. Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Marriage was and is instituted by God. He married Adam and Eve. In Genesis 5:2: "He called their name Adam." (The woman is to be called by her husband's name!) God has never had but one law as respecting marriage. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." The Apostle Paul instructed the Corinthians in I Cor. 7:27 and 28: "Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. 28. But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned." A man is not to seek to be loosed from the wife to whom he has been joined together. And in fact there is but one thing that will loose him from his wife and that is the sin of fornication. If a man puts away his wife for any reason except fornication, he has no right to marry another. Neither then does he have the right to court another. On the other hand, if a man puts away his wife for the cause of fornication, he has the right to marry another, in the Lord. In I Cor. 7:39: the Apostle Paul states that "the wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth: but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord." Very seldom will one find a question about the right to remarry when a companion is dead. Oft times a question is raised when the companion has been divorced and is still alive. If the wife has been put away for fornication, then so far as her husband is concerned, she is as dead to him as though she were buried and in the grave. He thus would have the right to marry again in the Lord and be qualified for church membership. In such a ease, the faithful husband should tell the church before he were to decide to marry another, that he has put his wife away for fornication, and ask the church to consider the evidence so there would not be a misunderstanding in the event of his second marriage.

In many instances, husband and wife separate when neither has been unfaithful to the marriage vow. The Scriptures are very plain on this subject. I Cor. 7:10-11: "And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife." Husbands and wives are to live together in the sight of God "as being heirs together of the grace of life." If it so be that they have separated, without the cause of fornication, they are in violation of every Scriptural rule on the relationship between husband and wife. And as such they are to remain unmarried and should be striving to be reconciled to one another. If one of them begins to court and commits fornication, by remarrying, the other is freed from the Scriptural injunction to be reconciled. Fornication is the one sin that will sever the marriage vow in God's sight. Therefore, the sin of fornication will sever the living relationship between husband and wife before or after any separation. This is an important principle to understand. For it would appear that most of the "hard cases" have resulted from the situation where husband and wife have separated without a charge of fornication on the part of either. We must remember that in such a case, both are to remain unmarried or be reconciled to one another. The church is charged with the responsibility to teach her members this, and in the event that one violates this principle and becomes a fornicator or marries another, the faithful remaining husband or wife is freed from the marriage vow and is free to marry again, in the Lord.

Sometimes the question is asked, "What if a brother has married in adultery before he was born again, then receives the new birth, and wants to join the church. Can the church receive him'?" The answer to this question is a plain no. This is sometimes referred to as "regeneration taking a man out of adultery." If a man is living in adultery before regeneration, and then in the darkness of night is born again, he is as much in adultery at the dawning of the next day as he was at the sunset of the previous. Some would say that a man is not accountable for what he has done before his new birth. All men are under the moral law of God and one of the moral commandments is, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Sometimes the Scripture in I Cor. 6:911 is quoted to try to support this idea of regeneration taking a man out of adultery. This Scripture states, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Paul is not herewith telling the Corinthians that some of them were such and then were born again. He is telling them that the church at Corinth had had members in the past who were living in some of the various sins listed, and that now they had been excluded from the fellowship of the church.

If a man can keep his adulterous wife after the new birth and join the church, so can a drunk keep his bottle, and a mule thief keep the mules he has stolen. The church is in no position to receive a man who steals a good brother's mules on Friday, gets saved on Saturday, and then wants to join the church on Sunday, but wants to keep the mules because he stole them before regeneration and can't be held accountable. If the new birth will let a man get by with adultery, it will also let him get by with stealing mules! The church is not to be afraid to make Scriptural judgments. Either a person is living in adultery or he; is not. The church must investigate each particular case and base her judgment upon the evidence as revealed. The question must always be asked, "Was the husband or wife put away for fornication?" If so, the remaining partner has the right to remarry so long as they marry someone who also has the right to marry. If fornication has not been committed, then any subsequent remarriage is adultery and the person so committing is to be excluded from the church. Often the question is asked, "Can adultery be repented from?" Some would further ask, "Is adultery a sin unto death'?" First of all, to repent from something means to turn away from and to cease from continuing in the same. Repentance does not mean just to merely feel sorry for. It would then follow if a person has once been living in adultery, and has repented from that, that is, has put the person away from them with whom they have been living, the church is in the position to judge the individual case and let the brother or sister prove by their future walking that they have repented from living in adultery. Secondly, any sin that causes us to lose our home in the church is a sin unto death, and therefore adultery would be classified as a sin unto death. This should not be interpreted as meaning a sin until you die and are buried in the ground.

The true Baptist Church has always considered adultery, fornication, lying, stealing, etc., sins unto death, and therefore have excluded from her fellowship those that were living in such conditions. In order for the church to maintain her identity as the true followers of Jesus Christ, she must continue to do the same. It is so important in the permissive society that we live in that the church knows the marital situation of her members and those who ask for membership amongst her. Therefore, the church must inquire as to whether her members have the right to marry again and not be afraid to apply Scriptural judgment in any and all cases.

In concluding this article, it should be pointed out again that God has only one law as respecting marriage and remarriage. Therefore, the Church has only one law on marriage and remarriage. With this in mind, every "hard case" that can possibly be considered must face the same question, "Has fornication been committed?" If it has, then a man is loosed from his wife (or conversely a wife from her husband) and is free to marry again in the Lord. If fornication has not been committed, the man has not been loosed from his wife and therefore has no right to marry another. The church should not permit any case under consideration to become clouded with much "surrounding circumstances." Remembering that Jesus said, "whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." This rule applies to ministers and lay members alike. God did not make one law for lay members and another for preachers. A man does not have "two living wives" if he put the first away for fornication. A woman does not have "two living husbands" if she put the first away for fornication. A husband or a wife who has been put away for the sin of fornication is as dead as though they had been buried in the ground.

The true Baptist Church must stand boldly upon her strict discipline and insist upon her members living clean, God fearing lives. Elder John E. Robbins