The Seventh Commandment

After the commandment "You shall not murder," God said: "You shall not commit adultery" Ex. 20:14. This command was written by God's hand on stone tablets on both sides. God very briefly expressed the essence and principle of relationships between men and women and took under the protection of the law the sanctity of the family union. In this commandment there are no loopholes to somehow bypass this God's requirement, and only the death of one of the spouses gives the right to remarriage.

But the spirit of the seventh commandment extends not only to the concrete action, but also to a person's thoughts, which no one except God sees.

Secular laws in Western society are formulated in such a way as to protect the integrity of family relationships while spouses want to live together, but at the desire of one of the parties this marriage can be dissolved, and divorced people are officially allowed to create a new union with another person.

Also, no secular authority will prosecute you for marital infidelity, and no one will exclude you from church society as a law violator for your thoughts.

But there is God, Who is the same yesterday, today and forever. His commandments are just as relevant in our days as at the time of their proclamation, and God's law was not canceled by Him even with Christ's death.

What do we see now? The seventh commandment is trampled at all levels of civilized society. Books, films, billboards - all this imposes other values on people and pushes society into the abyss of sin.

The enemy of souls knows that if he succeeds in corrupting a person in at least one thing, this law violator will be guilty of all and will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

In Jesus' time, the divorce procedure was simplified to the simple desire of a husband not to live with his wife for personal reasons. It was enough for a man to write a divorce letter, and he was considered free. Moses gave such permission for special cases of abusive relationships to preserve the life and health of women and children, but people perverted this exception to indulge their carnal desires and made it a norm of life.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus revealed the spirit of the commandment "You shall not commit adultery" and very clearly made it understood that it had not been canceled or replaced by anyone, but remains an unshakeable requirement for people, which condemns not only their actions, but also their thoughts and feelings. The Lord, who knows how to read hearts and knows thoughts, did not give the slightest chance for lawful violation of His statutes at any level of human life. At the same time, God does not deprive each of us of freedom of choice and does not punish us immediately for violating His law.

Explaining to people the spirit of the seventh commandment, Jesus said in Matt. 5:27-28: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Understanding the spirit of the law and the structure of masculine thinking, one involuntarily asks oneself: "Who can stand?" But the Lord does not command something impossible, but gives grace to those who decide to be obedient to the law even at the level of thoughts. I know firsthand what thoughts come into a man's head, especially if a woman gives reason for such lusts by her appearance or behavior. I also know how one can resist this sin with God's grace and overcome it at the level of thoughts and feelings.

Since masculine thinking in the matter of lust differs radically from feminine, many sisters simply don't understand what their brothers or their husbands, who want to be pure before God, encounter and struggle with.

The availability and impunity of our time have removed all limiters in the minds of many men, and they are captured by streams of sin that carry them to destruction, and men don't even understand what is happening.

Lust can come into a man's mind from his carnal nature even when looking at a decent woman, but very often representatives of the weaker sex themselves become temptation and sowers of lustful thoughts when they expose for display those parts of the body that should be covered and belong to the gaze of only one husband. And when you directly or indirectly make a remark to a sister in faith about her revealing clothing, little changes in her wardrobe. Only the attitude toward you worsens, as toward a person who has some problems that he wants to solve at the expense of limiting others' freedoms. But it should be noted that the violator of the spirit of the law is not only the one who develops lustful thoughts in himself, but also the one who gives reason for this and is a temptation for weak-spirited brothers.

The sin of violating the seventh commandment differs from all other sins in that it provides sensual pleasure and brings many positive emotions, and if a person's conscience is seared or disconnected, then his life turns into a continuous sinful celebration, where he seeks new partners and finds them. The mind of the adulterer is damaged to such an extent that nothing remains for him but to accept the right to death and continue living in this sin.

From the example of the rise and fall of many civilizations, one can clearly see that their prosperity and flourishing inevitably led society to sensual corruption, after which fall was inevitable and happened very quickly.

The sad story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a convincing example that there are sins that finally deprive people of God's mercy, and God's justice comes into force.

The seventh commandment is given for those who are married or befriend those who have families. God commanded us to love one another, not placing restrictions on gender and family status. And this is a very interesting test that only the pure in heart will be able to pass. For a brother and sister to love each other is very easy and joyful, but in these relationships clear boundaries must be established not only regarding external behavior, but also in the area of thoughts and feelings. The Lord gives His Spirit so that His children can fulfill the commandment about loving one another without violating the seventh commandment. And this can and should be fulfilled.

Can a husband remain faithful to his wife while loving his sisters from church? This is the essence of Christianity - to rule over the deeds of the flesh by the power of God's grace and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

God will pass all His gold through fire. He will refine His children in the furnace of interesting trials. And this will be very easy to endure for those who in their hearts have died to sin and live for God. No temptations affect such people, and the Lord keeps them from evil according to His word from John 17:15: "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one."

The Bible also teaches that among the 144,000 will be people who were not defiled with women (Rev. 14:4). Such a characteristic clearly speaks of the fact that the thoughts, feelings and deeds of such people were completely under God's control, and they were faithful in keeping God's commands, not becoming a temptation for others.

When God's law is written on stone tablets, then it judges the violator, but when it is written by God in the heart, it protects the soul from violating the law. I do not commit adultery not because it is forbidden, but because I don't want to live in this sin and commit it even at the level of thoughts.

1. Please read James 1:13-15; Deut. 5:18; Lev. 20:10; Prov. 6:32-35; 30:18-20; Matt. 18:7; 19:7-9; Mark 10:11-12; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Luke 17:1-2 in light of this lesson.

2. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

3. What did you understand from this topic?

4. What is adultery?

5. What types of relationships does the seventh commandment apply to?

6. Is viewing indecent scenes, photographs and reading erotic novels a violation of the seventh commandment?

7. Why is it so important to understand not only the letter of the law, but also its spirit?

8. Why didn't Jesus condemn the woman caught in adultery from John 8:9-10?

9. It is written in Heb. 13:4: "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge." Why will God judge this category of sinners in a special way?

10. Why is it said about the group of 144,000 that they were not defiled with women? After all, many of them will be family people.

11. Can a brother and sister in faith love each other, be close friends and at the same time not violate the seventh commandment?

12. What should a person who keeps the commandment "You shall not commit adultery" be like? Does he need to lead an ascetic lifestyle so as not to expose himself to temptations?

13. What to do if I don't violate the seventh commandment in fact, but have evil thoughts that I cannot simply get rid of?

14. Does God's grace extend to fornicators and adulterers?

15. Was this lesson useful for you?