The Warning Against Adultery

Jim ButlerProverbs 6:20–35

Proverbs 6:20–35 presents a father's urgent warning against adultery, grounding it in the necessity and blessing of God's law as a constant guide and protector. The passage moves from the internal heart lust prohibited by the Tenth Commandment, through vivid analogies of fire and hot coals, to the devastating consequences adultery brings upon the adulterer, the violated party, and society. Solomon's contrast between the pitied thief who steals from hunger and the despised adulterer who steals from pure wickedness sharpens the moral weight of the Seventh Commandment. The sermon closes with three practical means of protection — remove, rejoice, remember — and with the gospel assurance that the blood of Christ cleanses even these sins upon repentance and faith.