I committed adultery, divorced my husband, and married my lover. Am I still in adultery?

Question:

My first husband committed adultery in our relationship through pornography. I also committed adultery against him, divorced him, and married the man I committed adultery with. The man I committed adultery with left his spouse to marry me also. My first husband died a few years ago, which I think has left me no longer bound to him. However, my current husband's wife is still living. Am I or are we committing adultery now since my first husband died, but my current husband's wife is still living? Should I leave my current husband?

Answer:

Your first husband committed the sin of lust (I Thessalonians 4:3-5), but he did not commit adultery. You committing adultery and then divorced to continue that adulterous relationship. "For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man" (Romans 7:2-3). In regards to your first husband, you are no longer in adultery because he has died. You are still guilty of the sin unless you have sought forgiveness for it from God.

Your current husband is committing adultery because he left his wife to marry you. Because you are a participant in his on-going sin, you too are committing adultery. "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery" (Luke 16:18).

If you want forgiveness of your sins, you have to repent of them, which means stop sinning.

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