Based on Deuteronomy 22:13-30 (New King James Version)
“If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,’ then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the evidence of the young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. And the young woman’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he detests her. Now he has charged her with shameful conduct, saying, ‘I found your daughter was not a virgin,’ and yet these are the evidences of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. Then the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him; and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days. ‘But if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house. So you shall put away the evil from among you. ‘If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel. ‘If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you. ‘But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter. For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her. ‘If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days. ‘A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor uncover his father’s bed.’”
We are living in a time where our society is more sexualized than ever. The truth is that everything nowadays involves sex, and in such a way that many people are even incapable of having platonic relationships. It seems that the only way to express affection or appreciation for another person is through a sexual encounter. And the worst part of the matter is that I am not talking about unbelievers, but about the so-called believers in God, those who say they believe in God, but live a life completely given over to sexual immorality, from pastors, preachers, and ministers, even to the newest people in the faith, many are living ruled by sexual immorality. Many so-called believers are practicing fornication and adultery to the fullest. And this was bad before the eyes of God in the past, it continues to be a sin before God today, and even more, its practice will be seen as a sin when His judgment comes upon all humanity.
As we read at the beginning, sexual immorality, both fornication (sexual relations outside the bond of marriage) and adultery (cheating within marriage) were highly sanctioned by God. Such was the matter with God that those who did such things had to be killed. What is the difference between then and now, under the dispensation of God's grace? That, as believers, we are not here to stone those who do evil, but this is still a sin before God. And a person may not suffer the physical death penalty here on earth at the hands of men, but if a person maintains this lifestyle, they will be condemned to live in hell for all eternity, if they do not repent and convert from these sins. The final penalty remains the same if a person does not stop practicing such things. Society can justify and applaud it all they want, but society and its laws have no power in the great judgment of God, and this is what many believers either choose not to believe or voluntarily ignore. But be very sure that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, as it is written: “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21. However you want to see it, whether a person was never saved, or that they will lose their salvation, a person who practices such things simply will not inherit God's kingdom, or will not be allowed to enter His kingdom. But the only one who can inherit is a son, and here the passage speaks of not "inheriting" the kingdom of God, so meditate on that.
What else does God's word say about the matter in the New Testament (since many erroneously take the Old Testament to be a thing of the past)? The Word says this: “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:17-19. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” Matthew 5:27-29. Thus, both fornication and adultery, even coveting another person outside of marriage are condemnable before God, and a person risks being condemned eternally, because the Lord himself said this: “…than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” So, what is the believer to do, especially within the dispensation of God's grace? To repent and convert from such things, to stop doing it completely, to stop practicing it, let alone excuse such sins. We see the same thing when they brought the adulterous woman to the Lord so that she would be stoned precisely: So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’” So, will you seek to do God's will in your life, or will you continue to do things that put your salvation in grave jeopardy? John 8:7-11. Lord bless! John