"THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 7/24/25

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)

God is a pure, holy spirit who stands firmly against all uncleanness and cautions against it in this commandment. The sum of this commandment is the preservation of bodily purity. We must take heed of uncleanness, and in this directive, there is something tacitly implied and something expressly forbidden.

The thing that is implied is that the marriage ordinance should be observed. To the Church of Corinth, Paul writes, "let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband," God even instituted marriage when He brought the woman to man in Genesis 2:22, and Jesus’ first miracle was performed at a marriage, when He turned the water into wine. As you can see, the institution's importance is stressed throughout Scripture. Marriage is a type and resemblance of the mystical union between Christ and His church, and is extremely important, biblically. The general duty of the husband is to be the head of the household. The head is the seat of rule, but the husband must rule with discretion and do it in a way worthy of submission. Since he is the head, he must not rule without reason. The general duty on the wife's part is submission, as we read in Ephesians 5:22, where it says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." I’m not saying that women can’t or shouldn’t make their own decisions and mindlessly submit to any man, but if wives truly love their husbands, they will follow their direction, just as Christians follow Christ.

The special duties attributed to marriage are the virtues of love and fidelity. Love is the marriage of the affections where there is but one heart in two bodies. Love perfumes the marriage relation, without which it won’t last. In a marriage, the mutual promise of living together faithfully according to God's holy ordinance exists. Among the Romans, on the day of marriage, the woman presented fire and water to her husband: fire refines metal, and water cleanses; this signifies that she would live with her husband in chastity and sincerity.

We’ll now consider the aspect forbidden by this command: infecting ourselves with bodily pollutions and uncleanness. The fountain from which this sin flows is lust. Since the fall, holy love has degenerated into lust. Lust is the fever of the soul. There is a two-fold adultery that occurs. There is mental adultery: Matthew 5:28 says, "…whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." As a man may die of an inward bleeding, so he may be damned for the inward boilings of lust, if they be not mortified. The second kind is corporal adultery, which is when the sin becomes real and one acts on it, which is prohibited under the commandment. The order acts as a fence to keep out all uncleanness; those who break it will face severe consequences. Not every failing is a crime, and not every crime is a heinous crime, but adultery is one of the most horrific crimes.

Adultery is the breach of the marriage oath. When people come together in a matrimonial way, they bind themselves by covenant to one another, in the presence of God, pledging to be true and faithful in the conjugal relation. Unchastity is a falsifying of this solemn oath, and, because of the breach of the conjugal bond, adultery is much worse than fornication. The heinousness of adultery lies in that it is such a high dishonor done to God. The adulterer sets his will above God's law, tramples upon God's command, and affronts Him to His face. The adulterer is highly injurious to all the persons in the Trinity. This sin is committed with mature deliberation. First, there is the conceiving of the sin in the mind, then consent in the will, and then the sin is put forth into action. It doesn’t just happen; it’s deliberate, which makes it appear worse to God.

It is sad to see this commandment so slighted and violated among us. Adultery is the reigning sin of the times. This commandment exhorts us to keep ourselves from this sin of adultery. Paul writes, "…let every man have his own wife." (I Corinthians 7:2) Adultery is the highest sort of theft, as the adulterer steals from his neighbor that which is more than his goods and estate - he steals away his wife from him, who is made flesh of his flesh.

The seventh commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.