Good morning,<\/p>\n
I’ve recently come across this site and have received much clarity through other readers’ questions. I personally have realized that I am an adulteress. I have married (my first marriage) a man who divorced his first wife. I know that the divorce was not due to any infidelity on her part, thus I have accepted that makes me an adulteress. My question or concern now is, being that I am still in my marriage is that considered an ongoing sin? Can I ask for forgiveness for this? I am truly confused about how to make this right with God. Every answer I’ve read on this forum has been helpful and supported by scripture but I can’t seem to find for myself anything regarding my issue on what to do once you have realized your marriage was sinful from the start. Am I a mistress? Are our children considered illegitimate?<\/p>\n
Please help me.<\/p>\n
Thank you in advance.<\/p>\n\t
As long as you are married to a man who has no right to a wife, the relation remains one of adultery. “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<\/em>” (Romans 7:2-3). This verse is one of the clearer ones showing that it is an ongoing problem and not a one-time event.<\/p>\n The only way I know for sin to be forgiven is for the sinner to cease his sin — changing both his mind about the sin and his behavior (II Corinthians 7:10-11) and then admitting he was wrong (I John 1:9). God promises to forgive in such cases and God always keeps His word.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Good morning, I’ve recently come across this site and have received much clarity through other readers’ questions. I personally have realized that I am an adulteress. I have married (my first marriage) a man who divorced his first wife. I know that the divorce was not due to any infidelity on her part, thus…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[66,167,50],"class_list":["post-38344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-adultery","tag-divorce","tag-repentance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":91163,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-an-adulteress-is-my-husband-an-adulterer\/","url_meta":{"origin":38344,"position":0},"title":"Am I an adulteress? Is my husband an adulterer?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey, I am a member of a church of Christ. My spouse wants to divorce me. He is not a member, though. He wants to divorce, but not for any biblical reasoning. In the past, I found him messaging other women, taking inappropriate pictures, and even having condoms that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32466,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-an-adulteress-because-i-married-a-man-who-had-committed-adultery-in-his-past\/","url_meta":{"origin":38344,"position":1},"title":"Am I an adulteress because I married a man who had committed adultery in his past?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently found your site and was very confused about the topic of adultery when it applied to my current situation. I hadn't thought that adultery would apply to me as I have never had an affair within my marriage or even had relations with anyone else besides my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29725,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-the-adulterer-marry-again-and-that-marriage-be-acceptable-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":38344,"position":2},"title":"Can the adulterer marry again and that marriage be acceptable to God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello and God bless, I have some questions that I hope you can address.\u00a0 I am a born-again Christian who has suffered through a divorce.\u00a0 This divorce was not my desire, as I absolutely believe in marriage vows and the concept \"until death do us part.\"\u00a0 I want always\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22082,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-someone-is-in-an-adulterous-marriage-what-happens-if-his-original-spouse-dies\/","url_meta":{"origin":38344,"position":3},"title":"If someone is in an adulterous marriage, what happens if his original spouse dies?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've got a scenario concerning divorce and remarriage for you: Jack and Jill are scripturally married. Jack commits adultery, and Jill puts him away for adultery. Both of them remarry, but Jill dies before Jack does. Question: Is Jack's marriage no longer adulterous according to Romans 7:2-3, and\u00a0would this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-cant-my-sister-get-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":38344,"position":4},"title":"Why can’t my sister get baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In a second marriage where a non-Christian is wanting to become a Christian but was divorced for reasons other than adultery, is the sin the adultery or the remarriage?\u00a0I am asking this in the context of repenting.\u00a0Do you repent of the adultery in this second marriage or repent of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51387,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-need-to-walk-away-from-this-relationship\/","url_meta":{"origin":38344,"position":5},"title":"Do I need to walk away from this relationship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good afternoon, I feel like I have backed myself into a corner and am not sure what I should do. 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