Paul, speaking to the Christians at Corinth, specifically mentioned the sin of adultery as one of the sins which had been forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ
(I Corinthians 6:9-11).
   How could we then conclude that adultery is not a pardonable offense? As if what Paul said is not enough we also have the case of David and his adultery with Bathsheba in addition to murder. (2 Samuel 11 & 12) When David acknowledged his sin and showed repentance Nathan said to him, “The Lord has put away your sin.”
(2 Sam. 12:13).
   In the face of these specific Bible examples, how do men conclude that one who commits adultery today in putting away a wife and marrying another has a non-cleansable sin? Some make a mistake by changing what the actual sin is. Instead of accepting the text of Matthew 19:9 that adultery is committed in the two acts of putting away and marrying another, they say that “adultery” is a sex act and therefore it is
committed later in the sexual activity of the subsequent marriage and therefore
is a continuing sin not repented of. That is a gigantic mistake. Jesus was very specific about it that when a man puts away his wife, except for fornication, and marries another, he “commits adultery.” 
   This change originated historically with the Roman Catholic Council of Trent in the 16th century. They ruled that marriage is a “sacrament” and therefore unbreakable. Thus the divorced person is still married to the first spouse in the eyes of God and the next marriage is “an adulterous relationship.” That contradicts the Bible text.
   It is important to understand that man’s theories and opinions cannot over rule the word of God. The facts are as the Bible states them. The adultery occurs as Jesus said it does when a man is disloyal in putting away his innocent wife and going to another. At Mark 10:11 the Lord said that man who does that “commits adultery against her.” So He was talking about a sin committed against the wife put away, not a sin committed WITH the next wife. 
   So can the adultery be stopped? This is not the same to as ask “Can the adultery be undone?” No, it cannot be undone any more than any other sin. But any sin can be repented of and forgiven and not repeated in the future. The only answer to it is repentance and a change of behavior and forgiveness by the grace of God for the Christian. When God said “I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and lawless deed I will remember no more,” and then His word gives examples where this particular sin was forgiven in that way, there is no reason to have anymore questions or doubts about the matter. Adultery is a forgivable sin. If one who was  divorced has now
become one who is committed to one mate for life and is penitent about his former sins, that person has come from the wrong way to God’s way. Such a person can rest assured that God will keep His promise to forgive. Yes, there will be people in hell that God loves. But there will not be anyone in hell whom God has forgiven. For those outside Christ, who come to Jesus by faith and repent of sins, and are immersed into Christ, (born of water and the Spirit, John 3:3-5), they are forgiven of every sin… even divorcing and move forward from that point on, growing in grace and the Holy Spirit.
   “Amen walls!”

   Does God’s GRACE cover (a) ALL (b) SOME (c) IT DEPENDS ON WHICH ONE (d) NONE, of our sins?  
   We  must learn to avoid extremes when studying the Bible.
Push any truth to an extreme, where it receives more attention than other
truth, results in a loss of Biblical balance. “Once saved always saved” is no
more correct than “once saved never saved or maybe saved”. One lady told dad “I
just cannot accept what you are saying on (grace).” She continued, “Every day
from morning till night, I say to myself, forgive me Lord, forgive me Lord.”
She lacked the confidence of her own salvation.  
   Now you may be thinking, “We don’t teach that!” No, not in so
many words, but we have the results which have to come from our Bible classes,
and pulpits where inferences, and assumptions have resulted in guilt,
performance, and merit in Christians.
   We simply must strive to find balance in our teaching on LAW, SIN
AND GRACE. 
   We need to realize that grace is a divine concept, not a human concept. Grace is a general term meaning the ‘undeserved gift’ of God’s favor. That’s great, but is not specific until applied to man’s sin problem. The specific application of it is seen in God’s word. Here we find what God has said about it and why it is so important.  In order to have real confidence (that Christians are saved from all sin) we need to look to the
grace and promises of God.
   God included both grace and law in His New Covenant offer to man.We have to consider both (‘law’ providing guidelines and ‘grace’ providing continued forgiveness and ‘room for growth’). In Hebrews 8:10 He said “I will put my laws in their minds and will write them on their hearts.” His laws are immutable, and provide important, necessary guidelines (while law keeping does not save), grace/faith does. God then says  “And I will be merciful to their (His children’s) unrighteousness and their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Verse 12).This “mercy” and “forgiveness” is just as immutable as His laws.
   Now, we know what God says about breaking marriage (divorce). It is sin. But we need to know specifically what His mercy and grace says about forgiveness and the sin of adultery. And His word is specific about this.
   For instance in John 8, a woman was brought before Jesus who was guilty of the sin of adultery and asked “What do you say?” His statement to her was “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” You can’t get more specific than that. If she stopped committing the sin of adultery she was pardoned.
   Again, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, a list of sins is given and the third one on the list is adulterers. Then the text says, “Such were some of you but you were washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” This is the power of grace to one who comes to Jesus… is there less grace for Christians???

   To all who read these words, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your patience as these lessons are developed.
   I do not know everything about this subject… and my knowledge of NT Greek is not so great… so I depend on not only my own studies of God’s word, but help from others who DO know and study the Word in light of the original language. 
   I have always thought that if we have to go to the Greek language that we are making things too difficult, but there are times when studies highlighted with ‘light’ from the NT Greek  helps. I certainly admire those who have learned and can understand the Original language of the scriptures.
    The real question here is can we disagree on this and other things and still walk together as ‘Heaven bound learners”? I pray we can! I am grateful for God and for His grace, since none of us deserve what God has freely given to us. The forgiveness, redemption, justification, sanctification… all by his grace.
   Brethren differ… but the idea has always been that we should love and accept each other (Romans 14-15). At least that’s the principle taught.
   These little articles on this ‘hot button topic’, are simply presented in hopes that someone will be encouraged and helped. I have always held that sin (all sin) can and is forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. Sins cannot be un-done by our own efforts, and surely if we had to remember every sin and try and un-do them… we would all go a bit crazy, and probably just quit.
   I hope that these articles help, and for those who disagree… well that’s ok. But before you go out and teach someone who has been through the terrible pain of divorce… (Like the minister who told a lady he met who had been through divorce three times… “You have been divorced too many times to be saved.” and refused to study further.) 
I hope you will consider again, the heart of Jesus. If one sin must be un-done… all have to be un-done. That’s not grace.