UNFAITHFULNESS, IMMORALITY, ADULTERY AND JUDGEMENT

Marriage is a holy institution established by God and is expected to be treated as such. Most cases of divorce in the world today, was as a result of unfaithfulness.
Some married men and women may likely not make Heaven, looking at what Apostle Paul said in Hebrews 13: 14,
.....14 "Marriage is to be honoured by all, and husbands and wives must be faithful to each other. God will judge those who are immoral and those who commit adultery."

To intepret Hebrew 13:14 for better understanding, we need to pay attention to some key words and phrase in this scriptural reference like, 'Honoured by all'..... 'Faithfulness' 'Judge'....'Immoral' and 'Adultery'.

HONOURED BY ALL:
The phrase here 'Honoured by all', implies that marriage should be honoured, not only by the couple involved, but by every other person outside the marriage, which may include family members, neighbours, friends etc.
God expects us to honour other people's marriage by not intruding into their homes and sleeping with their husbands or wives, either as a single or a married person. How will you feel or what will be your reaction, if you discover that someone is having sexual intercourse with your husband or wife. Surely we will feel heartbroken and hurt. 
If you are a single man or woman and you are currently having sexual intercourse with a married man or woman, you are simply dishonoring God's holy institution, as pointed out by Apostle Paul's in Heb 13:14. Some single ladies and married women who sleep with married men, often try to justify their actions by saying.... 'it wasn't my fault, he invited me, and nevet told me he was married'. There is no justified reason for having sex with someone you are not married to, whether single of married. In the eyes of God, no kind of excuse will exonerate you from being seen as one who have dishonored one's marriage. Marriage can be dishonoured by husbands, wives, friends, neighbours, family members, relatives, colleagues etc. However, God's judgement will be upon any of these category of persons who indulge in any act that will dishonour the institution of marriage, as stated by Apostle Paul in Heb 13:14.

FAITHFULNESS 
Apostle Paul pointed out the issue of being faithful. The issue of 'faithfulness' in marriage does not only mean when you do not cheat on your partner sexually. Having emotional affair with a friend outside your marriage is equally an act of unfaithfulness.
Majority of married men and women indulge in emotionl affair with their co-workers in their office, may be without indulging in sexual intercourse with the said co-worker. However, such act is an act of unfaithfulness.  Faithfulness can also be measured with the following questions......

1. Can your partner have faith in you when it comes to family financial management?  

2. Can your partner have faith in you when it comes to upholding agreements between the both of you?

3. Are you sincere with him or her?

4. Do you tell him or her about that lustful advances made towards you, by your male or female co-workers in your work place?

However, the most popular act of unfaithfulness in our society today is the act of having sexual intercourse outside marriage. The society currently believes that men have infidelity issues more than the women. But it seems the pendulum is speedily swinging to the other side, as many married women are heavily linked to several cases of unfaithfulness.
It is known that the opposite of 'faithfulness' is 'unfaithfulness'. The reality in the context of this writting is that, you are either faithful or unfaithful to your spouse. Faithfulness is earned. If you want God and your spouse to see you as faithful, then you have to earn it.

IMMORAL
The word 'immoral' has to do with when an act is not moral. Matrimony was established by God to be holy. There are so many act of immorality married men and women have introduced in their marriages. Some couples have introduced the practice of sleeping together with other couples on the same bed. 

(Example: Mr & Mrs John had an agreement with another married couple Mr & Mrs James, to come over to their home, with the aim of having what they refer to as chain sex. The idea here is that, on that matrimonial bed of one of the couples, the men will swap their wives, while the women will swap their husbands. In their opinion, they derive extra satisfaction sleeping with each others wife and husband based on agreement).
This is an act of immortality, and God frowns at such practice. It will surely attract God's judgement and punishment, if immorality is initiated by either the man or the woman in marriage. Apostle Paul revealed that God will punish those who are immoral, and that includes married men and woman who initiate immorality in their marriages.

ADULTERY
On the issue of 'Adultery' as a key word in this scriptural verse, we often think that adultery is said to take place, when a married man or woman indulge in sexual intercourse outside marriage. Scripturally, the meaning of adultery goes beyond this, because the act of adultery includes, when a married man looks at another woman lustfully or when a married woman look at another man lustfully. Such secret acts are equally an act of adultery. Scripturally, there is no difference between a married man or woman who looks at the opposite sex lustfully and one who engages in sexual intercourse. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5: 27-28
.....27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’
....28 "But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart".

This scriptural reference shows that both those who had sexual intercourse outside marriage and those who looked at the opposite sex lustfully, but did not indulge in sexual intercourse, will both face God's judgement, for committing adultery. 

JUDGE
The word 'Judge' in this scriptural verse (Heb 13:14) reveals that God will judge married men and women who willingly decided to dishonour their marriages by being unfaithful to their partners by means of initiating immorality. The reality is that failure to honour your marriage as a holy institution, will attract God's punishment.

Beloved, marriage is a call like priesthood and should be honored because it is God's idea. It is painful to know that what God designed for us to enjoy companionship, pleasure and to procreate, has been abused. It pays to abide by the rules of marriage and keep to the vows we made before God on the altar. Failure to honor our marriage, remain faithful, avoid adultery and shun immorality will lead to God's punishment on the last day. 

Based on what Apostle Paul wrote in Hebrew 13:14, God will certainly use our marriages to judge us on the last day. However, there is room for repenatnce for those who are guilty. The blood of Jesus shed on the cross of calvary has the capacity to cleanse us and make us whole again to start all over again on a new page. Remember, his mercy endureth forever. You can start now to rewrite your wrongs and start making ammends. God is waiting to see you start all over again in honour of your marriage.

Written and Published By: 

BRO. ALIGWEKWE NNAMDI