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THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT – A BRIEF EXPLANATION
TEXT
You shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
By keeping the 7th Commandment, we . . . .
• preserve the sanctity of marriage
• promote the virtue of purity
• protect the worth of faithfulness
Preserving the Sanctity of Marriage
God instituted marriage, to be between one man and one woman, and that for life. He said in Hebrews 13:4 that “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” precisely because adultery attacks marriage. Adultery is often the cause of marriage breakups.
Adultery is also often the result of marital breakups. Matthew 5:32 says that “whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.” When you proceed to divorce your spouse on unbiblical grounds, you put your spouse in a most vulnerable position to commit adultery!
Hence, reverence for God, and this 7th Commandment in particular, will move us to preserve the sanctity of marriage. We will not commit adultery nor do anything to cause others to commit adultery.
Promoting the Virtue of Purity
Strictly speaking, you can commit adultery only in the context of marriage. While the commandment speaks of adultery, the coverage is much wider. It is concerned with all sorts of sexual sins:
Incest Homosexuality & Sodomy Fornication
Rape Polygamy Pedophilia
Prostitution Bestiality Pornography
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God is concerned with purity in this commandment, in particular sexual purity. Today, this area is marked ‘private & confidential’ – my sexual preference and practice is my business and mine alone. God our Creator disagrees! He says that even in the area of sex, His will must rule!! As God’s people, loved and redeemed by God, we are called to promote this virtue of purity today.
Protecting the Worth of Faithfulness
In Malachi 2:14, God complains of the Israelite males who dealt treacherously with their wives, though she had been his companion and wife by covenant. In every marriage, there is a covenant whereby the man and woman pledged to love and be faithful to one another.
What is ‘faithfulness’? It is to keep what we have said/vowed. Why should we bother with ‘faithfulness’? Because our God is a faithful God! How can we bear the fruit of ‘faithfulness’ in our life? By keeping the 7th Commandment with your whole being, if you are married! In a world where words are cheap and promises made to be broken, God’s people must strive to show the world the worth of faithfulness.
Ponder This . . .
• Jeremiah 29:23 ~ because they have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I know, and am a witness, says the LORD. Remember that God sees!
• Proverbs 2:19 ~ None who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life. The context is of young man going to the seductress. How chilling these words --- none return, none regain the paths of life! Sexual immorality often leaves a deep, if not non-removable mark in our lives.
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ~ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. People who choose such lifestyle choose destruction! Why make such a choice? Why?
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