We live in an era in which marital fidelity is severely compromised. Only a very small portion of the population has marital relations with only one person. Most people in our culture today are involved with a string of relationships before they get married, and then after marriage, many people are not faithful to their spouse.

Current studies of American couples indicate that 20 to 40% of married men and 20 to 25% of married women will have an extramarital affair during their lifetime. Infidelity is a worldwide phenomenon that occurs with remarkable regularity, despite near universal disapproval of this behavior.[1]

Fidelity is so important that God lists unrepentant adultery among other soul-damning sins.

1Co 6:9-10  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, … shall inherit the kingdom of God.

One of the marks of an unbeliever is unrepentant infidelity. You can’t live that way and think of yourself as a Christian.

God will forgive adulterers if they repent. But a marriage may not survive when one of the partners commits adultery, even if the guilty party repents. That sin usually has terrible consequences for a marriage, and many do not recover from it.

God requires marital fidelity. Both partners must remain faithfully committed to the marriage and neither may be involved with others.

Most of what I’m about to say I shouldn’t need to say. I think all of us are well aware of these truths. I don’t know that any of us are guilty of adultery.  But we need to review these principles occasionally and reinforce them, especially for the benefit of young people. We must affirm what the Bible teaches on these issues and state clearly what we expect. Given what our culture is teaching today, and given how common infidelity is, we must affirm these biblical truths forcefully and clearly.

What does the Bible teach about marital fidelity?

[1] https://ideas.ted.com/10-facts-about-infidelity-helen-fisher/