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Building Block Three: Absolute Faithfulness
Not only is marriage a lifelong commitment of two people who
have a shared identity, it also calls for total fidelity on
the part of the husband and the wife. They are to be true
to each other. The Bible gives no ground on this issue. The
man is to be faithful to his wife; she to him.
The writer of Proverbs cautioned:
Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes
not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not
be seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever
touches her shall not be innocent (6:27-29).
The Bible is uncompromising in its demand for sexual faithfulness.
Paul told Titus to have the older women instruct the younger
women in the church “to love their husbands, to love their children,
to be discreet, chaste” (2:4-5). As a woman enters a marriage
relationship, she is to be committed to giving herself only
to her husband.
For our good and God’s honor, adultery is strictly forbidden
in the Bible. The seventh commandment given on Sinai was, “You
shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14). Jesus mentioned this
commandment in His conversation with the rich young ruler (Mt.
19:18). And Paul named adultery first in his list of the sins
of the flesh (Gal. 5:19).
Marital faithfulness is the fulfillment of the vow made before
God and man during the wedding ceremony: “And to you I pledge
my faithfulness.” One writer said:
This is how we must love one another, with a vowed
love that is not dependent on happiness nor any of the external
hallmarks of success. Where is such love to begin if it does
not begin with the one closest to us, the life’s partner whom
we have chosen out of all the other people in the world as
the apple of our eye? (Mike Mason, The Mystery Of Marriage,
p.106).
Here are some implications of absolute faithfulness—the third
biblical building block of marriage:
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We
will save our hearts for each other. |
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We
will keep our promise of loyalty. |
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We
will not seek comfort from a competitor. |
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We
will let no one come between us. |
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We
will realize we are not our own. |
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By today’s standards, absolute faithfulness “isn’t natural.”
Of course not—not in a fallen world. But for our first parents
in Paradise, it was as natural as could be. And today it will
be part of every marriage that is strong and successful.
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