What Does The Bible Say About Adultery In The Church? (35 Bible Verses)
Adultery within the church is a topic that the Bible addresses with a focus on integrity and purity within the community of believers. Understanding these teachings can help guide the church in maintaining a holy and supportive environment. Let’s look at what the Bible says about handling adultery in the church.
What Does The Bible Say About Adultery In The Church
Exodus 20:14 – The Seventh Commandment
“You shall not commit adultery.”
Matthew 5:27-28 – Lust and Adultery
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 – Flee Sexual Immorality
“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Hebrews 13:4 – Marriage Bed Undefiled
“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”
Matthew 19:9 – Divorce and Adultery
“And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
Proverbs 6:32 – Adultery Destroys
“He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.”
Galatians 5:19 – Works of the Flesh
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality…”
Mark 10:11-12 – Adultery and Remarriage
“And he said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
2 Timothy 2:22 – Flee Youthful Passions
“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
Proverbs 5:15-20 – Be Satisfied with Your Own Wife
“Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.”
1 John 2:16-17 – Worldly Desires
“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
Proverbs 6:24-29 – Adultery Will Cost You
“To preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life. Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?”
Matthew 15:19 – Adultery Comes from the Heart
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
1 Corinthians 7:2 – Avoid Sexual Immorality
“But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.”
Proverbs 2:16-19 – Delivering from the Adulteress
“So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words, who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed; none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 – God’s Will: Sanctification
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.”
Proverbs 30:20 – The Way of an Adulterous Woman
“This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have done no wrong.’”
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 – Inherit the Kingdom
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Proverbs 5:3-4 – Smooth Words of the Immoral Woman
“For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.”
1 Peter 2:11 – Abstain From Passions of the Flesh
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”
Malachi 2:14-16 – Faithfulness in Marriage
“But you say, ‘Why does he not?’ Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. ‘For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.’”
Proverbs 23:27-28 – Adulterous Woman a Deep Pit
“For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.”
1 Corinthians 10:8 – Do Not Indulge in Sexual Immorality
“We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.”
Proverbs 7:21-23 – With Seductive Speech She Persuades
“With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.”
1 Thessalonians 4:2-4 – Sexual Purity and Holiness
“For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor…”
Proverbs 22:14 – Mouth of Adulterous Woman is a Deep Pit
“The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit; he with whom the LORD is angry will fall into it.”
1 Corinthians 6:15-18 – Flee Sexual Immorality
“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”
Proverbs 9:16-18 – Stolen Water is Sweet
“‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’ And to him who lacks sense she says, ‘Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’ But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”
Proverbs 5:8-10 – Keep Away from the Immoral Woman
“Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner.”
Matthew 5:32 – Divorce and Adultery
“But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
Proverbs 6:26-29 – Price of a Prostitute
“For the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life. Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished.”
Hebrews 13:4 – Unfaithfulness to the Marriage Bed
“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”
Job 24:15 – Adulterous Eye
“The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he veils his face.”
Proverbs 23:26-28 – Beware of the Adulterous Woman
“My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.”
James 4:4 – Friendship with the World
“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Proverbs 2:16-19 – Rescue from the Adulteress
“So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words, who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed; none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life.”
Colossians 3:5 – Put to Death Sexual Immorality
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
Proverbs 6:32-35 – Adultery Brings Ruin
“He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away. For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge. He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts.”
1 Corinthians 5:9-11 – Sexual Immorality in the Church
“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”
Proverbs 30:18-20 – The Way of an Adulteress
“Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin. This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have done no wrong.’”
Hebrews 12:14 – Strive for Peace and Holiness
“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”
Proverbs 9:13-18 – The Foolish Woman
“The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, ‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’ And to him who lacks sense she says, ‘Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’ But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”
2 Timothy 2:22 – Flee Youthful Passions
“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
Proverbs 7:6-23 – The Adulteress and Naive Young Man
“For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice, and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart…’
