Adultery Should Be Illegal
- Strength For Life
- Aug 4
- 5 min read
It should be a crime to commit adultery in the United States of America.
That may be a very provocative statement to some. It is easy to understand why. In recent years it has become culturally taboo for Christians to attempt to “legislate morality,” as it is said. So first let’s define the idea of legislating morality, so we can lay the necessary foundation to justify that adultery and other depraved actions should be criminalized.
So let’s attempt to dispel the tentative response to Christians “legislating morality”. We can do this by first recognizing that all law is imposed morality. When the government legislates a law, or an agency writes a regulation, they are thereby giving a decree on what actions are acceptable and what actions are unacceptable. With that proper framing established we can ask a more precise question: “Which morality should we attempt to institute?” How we answer will be determined by what we view as ultimate truth. As Christians, we believe in the verbal, plenary (entire) inspiration of the Bible as God’s perfect Word. Since the Bible is God’s Word, it is authoritative. We ought to live like, preach like, and legislate like what it says it what we must do. To forego instituting the morality of the Bible under the guise of secularism or freedom of behavior is to not take its claims seriously, and it is to directly undermine its veracity.
Let’s look at a specific issue as an example of the argument we have just made. Polygamy is illegal in all 50 states, as it should be. I haven’t heard anyone lately attempting to repeal laws against polygamy by arguing the prohibitions are “legislated morality.” However, secular voices will use that argument when it comes to abortion or gay marriage, both sins America tolerates. Those in opposition to Scriptural truth will use the “legislated morality” argument when it infringes on one of the culturally acceptable acts of debauchery.
With that hopefully helpful understanding of how laws and morality work together, we can return the specific statement at the beginning the article: Adultery should be illegal and criminalized in the United States. To further clarify, people need to be punished with serious time in jail if it can be proven in a court of law that they were unfaithful to their marriage.
Something that provoked me to more thought on this was the situation with the now-viral CEO a few weeks ago caught cheating on his wife at a concert. This situation was the perfect storm to get the culture’ attention, but I haven’t heard too many people taking this moment to seriously address the topic of adultery. Let’s take this opportunity to answer this question: why should adultery be illegal or criminalized in America?
First, adultery should be criminalized because the Bible commands it. Don’t take my word for it; take God’s Word for it. The Bible expressly denounces adultery and condemns the act as unlawful in Exodus 20:14, Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 22:22, Proverbs 6:32-33, and Matthew 5:27-28. I would encourage you, as you critically evaluating this article’s claims, to invest your attention into each one of those passages. The Bible’s stance on the matter of adultery is clear and unwavering, in contrast to the culture's tolerant and permissive stance on the matter.
Second, adultery should be criminalized because of what God expects from civil rulers. Romans 13 has much to say about the responsibility of legal authority. Verses 3-4 tell us that the government’s job is to punish evildoers and to promote a society where it is easy to do right. Adulterers fall into the category of “evildoers” who should be punished. Third, adultery should be criminalized because of the logic behind what makes something a crime. Adultery is legal in America because it is said to be “a consensual act between two adults”. While it is the case that the sin was committed between two people, what this definition fails to consider is the husband or wife who was cheated on. Was she consulted beforehand? How about the adulterers’ children? Were the kids informed ahead of time? No, of course neither spouse nor children consented. If you are a child or spouse who has been on the receiving end of a horrific situation like the one we are describing, you know first-hand how widespread the devastation and impact of an act like this.
To be very clear, it is a lie to say that adultery should be legally permissible because it only affects the two people involved. For instance, if someone were to ram their car into your parked car, he would be committing an illegal, criminal act. It is rightfully considered a crime. It is also truly a crime for someone to punch another person in the face randomly. If it is damaging to destroy a piece of property or assault a person, how much more damaging is an act that wrecks or assaults the ones directly affected by the infidelity? Adultery is much more harmful than punching someone in the face or wrecking into his car. Marital infidelity ruins marriages, relationships, and families.
So why isn’t it illegal? Because culture has decided that the Bible and anyone who proclaims its truth is “bigoted” and a “Pharisee”. If you try to make some of these Biblical and logical arguments, you will be called a "Christian Nationalist", or some other name to get you to shut up. Many Christians believe the Bible when it comes to abortion; they are willing to publicly say how evil the act is. And they will also rightly push back against those who perpetrate the act by saying that life is worth protecting. I'm writing this article to hopefully persuade some that adultery is evil, and should be illegal, because the family is worth protecting. A society that does not take legal steps to protect the monogamous Christian family, is a society who rejects the Bible.
Our job, as Bible believing Christians, is to be salt and light in this ever-darkening world (Matthew 5:13-16). May the Lord help us to do that for His glory.
The above article was written by Andrew Johnson. He is on part-time staff at NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fl. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.
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