Thursday
Thursday
Commandment 7
You shall not commit adultery.
Exodus 20:14
Christians believe that sex, marriage, and family are all good gifts of a good Creator, in spite of the reputation we seem to have acquired to the contrary. We believe that from the beginning of human history God made us male and female, that our distinctive sexuality (masculinity and femininity) is therefore his creation, and that he instituted marriage (for it is his idea, not ours) for the mutual fulfillment of both partners as well as for the procreation of children. Then Paul added the beautiful truth that husband and wife in their love for one another are intended to reflect the relationship between Christ and his church.
It is when these great positives have been established that the biblical prohibitions make sense. It is precisely because God has instituted marriage as his own intended context for sexual enjoyment that he forbids it in all other contexts. True, only adultery is explicitly condemned, because it is a direct assault on marriage. But other forms of sexual immorality are implicitly included, because they too undermine marriage. Cohabitation, for example, involving sex before marriage, even sex without marriage, is an attempt to experience love without commitment. It can also become cruel by arousing in one partner desires for a long-term relationship that the other is not prepared to fulfill. Then it should also be clear that a same-sex partnership is not a legitimate alternative to heterosexual marriage but is rather incompatible with God’s created and natural order. The only “one flesh” experience God has authorized is within heterosexual monogamy. As George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, said in April 2002, “Any sexual relationship beyond the confines of a heterosexual marriage is a deviation from Scripture.”
Finally, as with murder, Jesus extended the prohibition of adultery to include our thoughts as well as our deeds. “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28). In consequence, Jesus continued, if our eye causes us to sin, we must “gouge it out” (Matt. 5:29). That is, if temptation comes to us through our eyes (whether of flesh or of fantasy), the only way to resist is by a radical rejection and not even to look.
For further reading: Proverbs 5:15–23