Walking with the Wise #27: Deadly Deceit

“Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?

For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,

and He ponders all his paths.

The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

He dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is led astray.”

—Proverbs 5:20-23

All sin is ultimately a lie. Satan’s modus operandi is to make you believe the lie by making sin look good, normative, and desirable. And if that weren’t enough, Satan wants to go further. He not only wants to make you sin, but He wants to make God look bad. That’s what happened in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. God had told them that they could eat from any of the trees of the Garden save the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). But Satan appeared to Eve and made the fruit of that tree look good. He questioned God’s goodness, causing Eve to doubt God and eat of the fruit.

Adultery is another way Satan has caused men and women to question God’s goodness. He deceives men and women into thinking that adultery is enjoyable, pleasurable, and without consequences. But just like the Fall, the results are far different. Sorrow, suffering, and shame wait for all those who do it. And in some cases, it may even lead to death.

Today’s proverb is a warning label for those who are considering committing adultery. The author warns the prospective adulterer not to be “intoxicated” by the forbidden woman, nor embrace her, because God sees what man does. There is no escaping God. He is everywhere and knows everything. As David wrote, “If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there!”—Psalm 139:8.

God has made sin to follow the laws of consequence, which is to say that every sin has a consequence, without exception. Satan may try and convince us otherwise, but he can no more change God’s law than we can reverse the earth’s rotation. Sin may have an immediate or delayed consequence, but it will have a consequence.

The person who commits adultery will soon find himself trapped in it. He will have to lie to cover his tracks, but the web of lies will eventually trap him, and perhaps even kill him. If he simply had learned to discipline his mind to live according to the truth of God’s Word, he would have avoided such pain and suffering.

But what about those who have committed adultery? What about those who currently find themselves in the midst of the consequence of their action? Know that God’s forgiveness is available to all who come to Him seeking it with broken and contrite hearts. Jesus’ atoning death is available to all those who are willing to receive it. It doesn’t matter what you have done. Jesus died for that sin. And He has enabled His grace to be available to cleanse you from your sin and guilt. He will remove your shame. He may or may not remove the consequences for your sin, but I can assure you, if He doesn’t, He will give you the grace to bear up underneath it.

Run from adultery, beloved! Do not give into the temptation! Consequences await! Don’t be deceived by the devil, but wash your mind with the truth of God’s Word! It will never steer us wrong, but will guide us into truth (cf. John 17:17). Amen.