Yes — spiritual adultery in the church is the mixing of pagan or foreign religious doctrines with New Testament Christianity, which adulterates the truth of God's Word and makes the church spiritually unfaithful to Christ.
Les Feldick defines spiritual adultery as when religions or organizations take from the pagan world and mix it with New Testament Christianity. He says any time paganism is mixed with Christianity, it is 'prostituting the truth of the Word of God.' This is not physical sexuality but a system that has adulterated the things of God, and God will judge it. Since the church is the pure bride of Christ, adopting such foreign doctrine is an act of spiritual unfaithfulness.
2 Peter 2:13-14 — Peter describes false teachers who fellowship with believers while having 'eyes full of adultery' — a key passage for understanding spiritual adultery in the church.
Revelation 17:2 — The adulterous religious system whose immorality intoxicates the nations — the New Testament picture of spiritual adultery.
Hosea 1:2 — The Old Testament picture of Israel's spiritual unfaithfulness as whoredom, illustrating the same principle of spiritual adultery.
In the Bible, 'adultery' is used figuratively to describe spiritual unfaithfulness to God. The prophet Hosea was told by the LORD to take a wife of whoredoms because 'the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD' (Hosea 1:2). This pictures Israel's idolatry as spiritual adultery. In the New Testament, 2 Peter refers to false teachers who 'feast with you' while having 'eyes full of adultery' and beguiling unstable souls (2 Peter 2:13-14). These false teachers were coming into the fellowship of believers while promoting error. Revelation depicts an adulterous religious system called a harlot, with whom 'the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication' (Revelation 17:2). These passages show that Scripture uses adultery to describe unfaithfulness to the covenant relationship with God — a spiritual condition, not merely a physical sin.
Les Feldick defines spiritual adultery in plain terms: it is when religions, organizations, or churches take something from the pagan world and mix it with New Testament Christianity. He says any time you mix paganism with Christianity, you are 'prostituting the truth of the Word of God.' The 'whore' or harlot in Scripture is not a literal woman of the street but a system that has adulterated the things of God, and God is going to judge it. Les applies this to the church by pointing to false teachers. He quotes 2 Peter 2, noting that these false teachers 'come right in and fellowship with church people, but they are filled with false teaching.' When the Scripture speaks of 'eyes full of adultery,' it is often referring to mixing paganism with true biblical truth. This is spiritual adultery happening inside the church. He also uses the marriage imagery to distinguish the church from Israel: the church is the virgin, pure bride of Christ, while Israel is the adulterous restored wife of Jehovah. This is not about sexuality but about a position of faithfulness. A believer who involves himself in immorality is adulterating his position with the One to whom he has been united — and a church that mixes foreign doctrine into New Testament Christianity is committing spiritual adultery.
Les Feldick warns that false teachers with 'eyes full of adultery' come right in and fellowship with church people while filled with false teaching (2 Peter 2:13-14). Spiritual adultery happens when religious organizations mix paganism with New Testament Christianity. This is not just a past issue; it remains a present danger when the church abandons the purity of God's truth to accommodate outside religious ideas. Since the church is the virgin, pure bride of Christ, any such mixture is an act of unfaithfulness and will be judged by God.
Les says that any time you mix paganism with Christianity, it is prostituting the truth of the Word of God. The adulterous system described in Scripture as a 'whore' is not a literal woman but a system that has corrupted the things of God. For that reason, God is going to judge it. Spiritual adultery treats the truth as a tradable commodity, and God will not ignore that unfaithfulness to His covenant.
Les clarifies a crucial distinction: the church is referred to as the virgin, pure bride of Christ, while Israel is called the adulterous restored wife of Jehovah. This is not bigamy or sexuality; it is a positional truth. Israel's history of idolatry is pictured as spiritual adultery, which is why the prophet Hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute. The church, by contrast, is united to Christ and is called to maintain pure fidelity to Him.
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them into every nation of the world as we have seen them up until our own time. But, in our own time, what are we seeing? We're seeing God fulfill His Word. He's bringing them back, and they're going to have it. There's no one going to drive them into the sea. They're there for good because the book says they are.
Definition of Spiritual Adultery
Les defines spiritual adultery as mixing paganism with New Testament Christianity and calls it prostituting the truth of God's Word. He identifies the biblical 'whore' as a system that has adulterated the things of God, which God will judge.
Believer's Position Adulterated
Les says a believer who commits sexual immorality is literally adulterating his position with Christ, applying the principle of fidelity to the believer's union with Christ.
False Teachers Adulterate the Word
Les explains that when Scripture uses 'adultery,' it often means mixing paganism with true biblical truth. False teachers with 'eyes full of adultery' infiltrate church fellowship while filled with false teaching.
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But I'm going to temper it somewhat by assuring people that even though we are guilty of the sin of adultery by virtue of remarriage and so forth, yet every sin is forgivable. There is nothing that the Lord will not forgive. But again I think society as a whole, and especially the Christian community, has to understand how God looks at these things, and that's what we have to go by.
Fidelity to Christ
Les stresses that because believers are in union with Christ, they are to be as careful about fidelity to Him as a husband and wife are to each other.
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But he says, He that is spiritual, he who has been regenerated by the work and the power of God, as a result of believing the Gospel, he that is spiritual judgeth, now I don�t like to use the word judge as we understand it, but I�m going to use instead the word discerns. And I think maybe some of the new translations may use that word. But he that is spiritual discerneth all things.
Church and Israel in the Metaphor
Les distinguishes the church as the pure virgin bride of Christ from Israel as the adulterous restored wife of Jehovah, showing that spiritual adultery is positional, not sexual.
Revelation 17:2: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
The passage Les reads when describing the adulterous religious system that mixes paganism with Christianity.
2 Peter 2:13: And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
Les shows that false teachers come into churches feasting with believers while promoting false teaching.
2 Peter 2:14: Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
Les explains that 'adultery' here refers to mixing paganism with true biblical truth, not merely physical sin.
Hosea 1:2: The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
Les directs readers to the book of Hosea to understand Israel as the adulterous wife of Jehovah.
1 Corinthians 6:19: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Les applies fidelity to Christ to the believer's body, teaching that immorality adulterates the believer's position with Christ.
No. According to Les Feldick, when Scripture uses 'adultery' in these contexts, it often means mixing paganism with true biblical truth. It is a spiritual and doctrinal unfaithfulness, not primarily a physical act.
The church commits spiritual adultery when it takes ideas from the pagan world and mixes them with New Testament Christianity. Les identifies this as prostituting the truth of the Word of God and warns that God will judge it.
Yes. Israel is called the adulterous wife of Jehovah in the Old Testament, and the prophet Hosea was told to marry a prostitute to picture it. In the New Testament, an adulterous religious system is depicted in Revelation as a harlot, and false teachers in 2 Peter have 'eyes full of adultery.'
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