The Seventh Commandment, thundered by God from Mount Sinai, states, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). Straightforward enough, but when Jesus came to earth, He made it clear that the commandment was not dealing exclusively with physical actions, but also underlying attitudes. He said: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).
That takes things to a whole new level. It’s not enough to just keep from sex outside of marriage, but to keep our minds clean of the lust to do so. Adultery destroys relationships. For the married man or woman, it will seriously damage the marriage relationship along with the essential trust in it. There are no upsides to the abuse of the gift of sex. Even the lustful attitude leading to sex outside of marriage is condemned because its ultimate result is an ugly mess of lies, deceit, hurt, sorrow and anger.
Such things have no place in God’s family. He instead wants to see us find incredible joy and pleasure in a fulfilling, monogamous marriage—the same type of loving, enduring relationship that Christ has with His Church (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Won’t it be great when the whole world finally keeps the Seventh Commandment?
That takes things to a whole new level. It’s not enough to just keep from sex outside of marriage, but to keep our minds clean of the lust to do so. Adultery destroys relationships. For the married man or woman, it will seriously damage the marriage relationship along with the essential trust in it. There are no upsides to the abuse of the gift of sex. Even the lustful attitude leading to sex outside of marriage is condemned because its ultimate result is an ugly mess of lies, deceit, hurt, sorrow and anger.
Such things have no place in God’s family. He instead wants to see us find incredible joy and pleasure in a fulfilling, monogamous marriage—the same type of loving, enduring relationship that Christ has with His Church (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Won’t it be great when the whole world finally keeps the Seventh Commandment?
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