What is adultery in the Bible? (Christians Only)?

In the biggest sense it's wrong because it takes the place of God in our hearts when we do. We don't think we are, but we are saying He isn't enough we must have this image, or interaction to satisfy our lives. It's healthy to abstain from those thoughts because it will give you a much more rich marriage when it finally is time. Plus it's like my pastor once said, "If a lewd woman walked into a church only three kinds of men wouldn't look at her. A blind man, a dead man, and a liar." The only sin is that second look, or simply dwelling on that sexual thought. Men are naturally attracted to women but it's a step off course when it becomes a sexual thought. In the end God wants our heart, and every sin adds up in a way that becomes a cancer. We are not perfect but through Christ we can drop our chains and have a right mind. God only wants one thing from man. His heart, so He doesn't want lust taking our hearts away from Him. I hope that helps :] God bless.

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God gave human beings (male and female) a healthy desire for the opposite sex so that the world would continue to be populated. What He does not want is an unhealthy lustful desire which can lead to a man forcing himself onto a woman or a man or woman (already married) lusting after other members of the opposite sex. Once married their eyes and hearts should be for each other only. Anyone desiring someone else in a lustful way IS 'committing adultery in his/her heart' whether they accept that themselves or not.

Most of the bible is written to appear to only be considering the man in all things. This is simply because women were virtually invisible in those days and had no voice to air their opinions and desires. Everything in the bible is given to both sexes though and rules apply to both.

Well there is a different between looking at somebody and saying they're pretty/hot/cute/attractive, and lusting. Basically lust can lead to adultury, and lust is equal to adultury because all sin is equal in God's eyes. And the verse does apply to unmarried people. Part of the reason I am saving my virginity until marrige isn't just becasue of the Bible, but because I feel like it's a great thing to have only been with one person, because I wouldn't want to know my husband had relations with somebody else or loved somebody else, I guess I may just be jealous but thats how I feel. It's natural to have desires, but don't ponder on them for a long time or they can take you over. I am a non-denominatiol Christian.

You answered your own question.

Matthew 5:27-28 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' (28) But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

This applies to all people of all time. One does not have to be married to lust after someone. God judges the heart, not just the actions.

Actually, no, my religious denomination does not matter, because religious denomination is not a criteria for entering into Heaven, nor does denomination effect the truth of God's inerrant word of the Bible.

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Lust (Adultery) is sexual desire for anyone who is not your spouse. You do not have to commit the actual physical act to be guilty before God of committing adultery. Lust and adultery are pretty much interchangeable terms.

The instruction against adultry first appears in the Bible in the "10 Commandmants". The hebrew word is actually ANAF which means a branch, but this is an expression which is usually explained as sexual intercourse between a maried woman and someone who is not her husband.

It does not apply to an unmarried woman, whose "value" or status would become less, were her promiscuocy to become public knowledge. So the offender is expected to compensate the family financially for the damage or possibly to marry the girl and share his wealth in so doing. Many families start in this legal way.

A lustful glance is also regarded as a sin, but it is not punishable on earth.

I think the Christians when being formal, take a less permissive attitude.

"Adultery and Looking with Lust (Matt. 5:27–30; 3 Ne. 12:27–30)

The act of adultery has always been a serious sin. But in the new law, the Lord teaches a higher standard—purity of mind and heart. “Whosoever looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery already in his heart.” (3 Ne. 12:28.) Those guilty of either the act or the lusting must fully repent to enjoy the Spirit of the Lord here and the blessings of exaltation hereafter.

What is really meant by “lusting after” someone, or committing adultery “in [one’s] heart”? Lust is defined as “sexual desire often to an intense or unrestrained degree.” In the scriptures, the heart has to do with the core or essence of a person—his real intent and unfeigned desires. (See Prov. 23:7.) If one would in fact commit adultery with the object of his lust if the opportunity were present, he is an adulterous person. Although taught in terms of a man lusting after a woman, the principle applies to all, male and female.

But what if one really wouldn’t commit the act of adultery, yet suffers real temptation? In a world saturated with immoral aural and visual stimuli, such thoughts and temptations can be daily fare.

Although we cannot avoid all the stimuli, we can plead with the Lord to help us control and channel our thoughts. We can consciously avoid compromising situations and forthrightly resist temptation. Rather than allowing improper thoughts to linger—and enhancing and savoring them—we can dismiss them with a prayer or an uplifting hymn or song, and deliberately channel our thoughts into positive paths.

If we imagine ourselves involved in improper things, our thoughts may influence our heart’s inclination and perhaps even our future behavior. Dr. Maxwell Maltz underscores the connection between our thoughts and our body’s nervous system: “Experimental and clinical psychologists have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the human nervous system cannot tell the difference between an ‘actual’ experience and an experience imagined vividly and in detail.” 4

As we discipline our thoughts and “suffer none of these things to enter into [our] heart,” we “take up [our] cross.” (3 Ne. 12:29–30.) “For a man to take up his cross,” said Jesus, “is to deny himself all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments.” (JST, Matt. 16:26.) By so doing, we can truly become pure in heart.

This also applies to Homosexual ideas or desires.

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Adultery means voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse. If you are not married and have sex it is called fornication which mean intercourse between two unmarried persons. The scripture you are talking about is Matthew 5:28 which shows to nourish passion for a person other than one's mate violate the principle underlying God's law against adultery.

Adultery means one (or more) of the participates is married to someone else.This part may sound odd; but when Bathsheba had sex with David, I believe she was obeying the king; even though man may assert she was committing adultery (she was married to Uriah at that time).