You speak of a brother who once walked near to God but pulled away because of fornication, and now he is bound to an adulterous woman. This is a grievous thing. Fornication is not a light matter; it drives the Holy Spirit from the soul and makes a man a stranger to the grace he once knew. And what does Scripture say? “He who commits fornication sins against his own body.” Yet you tell me he is born again? I ask you then: can a fountain send forth both sweet water and bitter? If he truly belongs to Christ, let him prove it, not with a name only, but by fleeing from the sin that crucified his Lord.
The woman he has taken is called an adulteress. What fellowship has light with darkness? You are right to plead the words from Hosea, for God promises to betroth His people to Himself in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy. But what is this betrothal if we cling to a bed of defilement? God will not share His temple with a harlot, nor will He call “My people” those who willfully persist in what He has forbidden. If this man truly desires to be wedded to God, let him first put away the strange woman. For the prophet did not say, “I will betroth you to Me and you may keep your idols.” He said, “I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.” Knowledge of God and a life of adultery cannot dwell together.
You ask that he accept God’s will regarding this broken relationship. But God’s will is already clear. Our Lord Himself said that a man who marries a woman put away for adultery commits adultery. If this woman was an adulteress, then their union is a continual sin; it is not a marriage at all but a provocation of divine wrath. It is not enough to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever only; to be yoked in sin is far worse. Do you not know that the man who lies with a harlot becomes one body with her? So it is with any illicit union: it defiles both, and the stain rises before God as a stench.
But I hear someone say: “Is it not possible to love and commit fornication?” I answer from my own lips: it is the greatest hatred, not love. He who truly loves a soul will not help her into the pit; he will drag her out. If this brother says he cares for this woman, let him show it by leading her away from adultery, even if that means parting from her himself. For if he truly loved his own soul, he would fear the worm that never dies and the fire that is not quenched, stored up for the fornicator and the adulterer. Why does he flee the face of God? Because his deeds are evil, and everyone who practices evil hates the light. Let him come into the light while there is still mercy.
Do not imagine that fornication is a smaller sin than pride or greed; it is enough to sink a man into hell, for the apostle warns plainly that adulterers and fornicators will not inherit the kingdom of God. And yet you say he was born again? Then let him return at once to the Father’s house, even with tears. There is a way back. The Church has no ordinance for those who persist in sin, but for those who repent, the medicine is always ready. Let him break off this unclean bond as one would cut off a gangrenous hand. Let him bewail his fall with sackcloth and ashes of the heart. Let him seek a lawful spouse, a chaste woman who fears the Lord, if he cannot contain himself; but better still to be wholly devoted to the Lord without distraction, as one who has already tasted how bitter is the fruit of sin.
You quote Hosea: God promises to answer the heavens and the earth, to sow mercy where there was no mercy. That promise stands ready for any soul that will lay hold of it with a faith that works by love and obedience. But note: He sows the seed after He has betrothed her; He does not cast pearls before swine. Let this man therefore cleanse his hands, ye sinners, and purify his heart, ye double-minded. If he will forsake the adultery, if he will loathe the defilement as God loathes it, then he may cry, “You are my God!” and God will answer, “You are My people.” But so long as he holds the sin close as a beloved child, he is walking in the counsel of the ungodly.
Pray then, and do not cease, that the eyes of his understanding may be opened. Pray that he may see how lucifer fell from heaven through pride, and sinful indulgence is pride against God’s law, and that no excuse of passion or circumstance can shield him. Let your prayer be that he fears that day when the books will be opened and the secrets of all hearts revealed. For on that day every adulterer and fornicator will wish the mountains to fall on them rather than face the Judge.
But if he does repent, then what joy! Then the angels will rejoice, and Christ will receive him as He received the woman taken in adultery, saying, “Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more.” That is the hope you must set before him; not a false peace that speaks smooth things while the wound festers, but the true peace that comes only after the iron of repentance has cut out the corruption.
Keep praying with groans unutterable. Ask that he be given unwavering faith in Jesus Christ and the Father’s holy plan, but a holy plan is a plan of holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Pray that he be granted a spirit of fear, that he may begin wisdom; and a spirit of love, that he may hate the thing that destroys his soul; and a spirit of power, that he may flee youthful lusts and run the race set before him. God is able even now to turn the heart of this man as the rivers of water are turned. Let God be glorified, not in our continued sin, but in our deliverance from it.
So I say to you who intercede: do not grow weary. But also speak to him plainly, in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Tell him what I have told you: that no adulterer or fornicator has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Tell him that the time is short, and the day of the Lord comes as a thief. Let him not harden his heart as in the rebellion. Today, if he will hear His voice, let him rend his heart and not his garments, and turn to the Lord who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, but who will by no means clear the guilty who refuse to turn. Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
