Jesus said, "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." (Matthew 19:9) Jesus made it clear that "whoever" divorces for a reason other than the sexual immorality (fornication) of one's spouse, and then marries another person, "commits adultery." That being the case, what is required of the adulterer if he wants to become a Christian? What does repentance demand of him, in his adulterous marriage, in order to be saved? Must he cease the sinful relationship to truly repent of his adultery, or may he stay in the remarriage in which Jesus said he is committing adultery?

Some brethren advocate that such a person need not end his adulterous remarriage in order to repent and be forgiven. Instead, they define adultery as the "treacherous treatment" of the marriage covenant, i.e., divorce and remarriage. In order to repent, they teach, one need not end the second marriage, but merely "repent" of the divorce (having treacherously dealt with their marriage covenant) by determining to stay in the second marriage and no longer divorce. By redefining adultery they allow the remarriages of fornicators to stand while consoling them that they have fully repented of their sins by agreeing never to again divorce. (Adultery is a sexual sin, John 8:4, Revelation 2:20-22; Hebrews 13:4. Those who are redefining adultery to mean "divorce and remarriage" are twisting God's word to their own destruction, 2 Peter 3:16!)

Now, back to repentance. What is taught to the thief who made himself rich at the expense of his victims? Would he not be taught to return the stolen goods? Or, what about the homosexual? Can he continue in his unholy relationship upon being baptized, or must he repent and cease his sin? Or, what about polygamy (which is adultery, Romans 7:2; Matthew 19:4-6)? (Those who redefine adultery should answer this question without ambiguity: Is the polygamist today committing adultery by having plural wives? If so, is his adultery a sexual or non-sexual sin?) May the polygamist, upon believing and being baptized, retain his extra "wives" so long as he "repents" of taking any new ones? Or, must be put away his sinful relationships with all women except the one to whom God joined him (Matthew 19:6)? When the polygamist commits adultery by taking extra wives but later repents of his sin, he must cease his adultery. The same holds true of adultery that is the result of unlawful remarriage (Matthew 19:9). To bring forth fruits worthy of repentance one must cease his sin - whether that sin is a sexual nature or of some other sort (Luke 3:8; Acts 26:20; Revelation 9:20-21). One must bear this fruit of repentance in order to be saved from his sin (2 Corinthians 7:10; Colossians 3:5-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

But, some brethren argue, "You cannot commit adultery with your spouse." The apostle Paul said that such can occur: "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 7:3) Jesus said you can (Matthew 19:9). 'Nuff said! Another related issue is whether the alien sinner is subject to Christ's teaching on marriage, divorce and remarriage. In fact, since some brethren are now advocating that they are not, this becomes their basis for redefining adultery and repentance. Of course, marriage was given to all men from the beginning, and all men are today under the authority of Christ on it and all other subjects (Matthew. 19:4-9; Genesis 2:24; Hebrews 13:4).

Truth will answer this emotional and controversial subject. We can "understand what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17). Let us pray that God's truth will be glorified rather than perverted by the wisdom and will of men (Galatians 1:6-11; 2 Thessalonians 3:1).