The Seventh Commandment

Introduction

The sermon today is going to be uncomfortable.

It’s going to be uncomfortable for some of us because we don’t like to talk about sex in public… or at all (if we’re honest).

It’s going to be uncomfortable for me because I am a sinful man… and I have dishonored God, myself, and others in the areas of sex and sexuality.

By God’s grace, my wife and I have both remained faithful to our covenant of marriage… we haven’t stepped out on each other with anyone else.

But I have dishonored God, myself, and others in various ways – both before I was a Christian and after my conversion – that were-and-are violations of the seventh commandment.

Today’s sermon is going to be uncomfortable for some of us because we have shamefully broken God’s command regarding sex and marriage… and we are going to feel the conviction and the humiliation that such sin produces.

The discomfort we may feel today is not necessarily bad… In fact, I’m going to do my best to avoid the kind of superficial discomfort of saying something inappropriate – I’m not aiming for shock value today… But I am going to say some things that will (I expect) impose on our sensibilities.

I am going to draw out the truths of God’s word regarding human sexuality and sexual expression… I’m going to emphasize the sinfulness of sin and the particular disgrace of sexual sin… I’m going to call sinners to repentance… I’m going to call Christians to strive for holiness… and I’m going to urge us all to marvel at God’s love and faithfulness, which undergirds the seventh commandment.

There is no getting around the fact that we live in a hyper-sexualized world.

One author wrote, “Marketers use sex to sell products that are completely unsexy… like cat food and drain cleaner. Almost every movie (even if it is a movie for children) has an obligatory sexual reference or scene. Clothing designers create fashion to emphasize a sensual look. Sexual lyrics are common in music. Ready access to the internet makes sex available at your fingertips. With the simple click of a button sex is in full view from just about anywhere. The Huffington Post proclaimed this startling statistic: ‘Porn sites get more visitors each month than Netflix, Amazon, and Twitter combined.’”[1]

But this is not just the world outside… On any given Sunday, there are many people sitting in church-buildings who are having sex outside of marriage… who are regularly viewing pornography… who are living with someone without being married… who are flirting with a co-worker or friend… who are considering leaving their spouse in order to indulge a lustful appetite… and/or who are thinking and acting on sexual desires that are utterly shameful and (worse) disgustingly sinful.

This kind of pervasive sexual deviation from God’s design is not new… Kevin DeYoung wrote, “Although we may have more access to sexual sin in our day, and a number of these sins are more socially acceptable now… it’s still important to realize that at no age in… history… have human beings excelled at controlling their sexual desires.”[2]

Any student of history will see sexual sin as a common problem in society and even among Christians… It is interesting, though, to see how Christians have talked about sex over time.

One pastor said, “The [Medieval Roman Catholic] view of sex was utilitarian. Intercourse was only for procreation… [i.e. having babies].”[3]

Since sex is such a tempting pleasure… Christians have (at times) talked and acted like sex of any kind is bad… This is definitely the impression I got from my own mom and dad when I was a teenager.

But is that the way the Bible talks about sex? …I don’t think so.

In fact, the pastor I just cited went on to argue, “The Biblical view is that sex is not merely procreational but also relational, and even recreational. Sex is for love, for pleasure, and for joy. [then he said] And it is in order to protect this joy that God has given us the seventh commandment…”

Did you hear that? …He said the seventh commandment was given by God in order to protect the joy of sex!

I think he’s right… and I think the seventh commandment does much more than that.

Let’s consider the seventh commandment today… Let’s invite God to expose our sin… Let’s hear God’s design for sex and marriage… and Let’s marvel at the way this commandment reveals something significant about God’s own faithfulness and love.

Scripture reading

Exodus 20:1–17 (ESV)

1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Main point

The seventh commandment exposes some of our deepest sin, safeguards the honor of marriage and human dignity, and reveals God’s love and faithfulness.

Message outline

What is the Seventh commandment?

The 7th commandment Exposes our sin

The 7th commandment reveals God’s character

The 7th commandment promotes biblical sexuality

Message

1. what is the Seventh commandment?

The 7th commandment is: “You shall not commit adultery” (v14).

This command is the basis for many other sexual laws which come later in the Bible… and Jesus gets right to the heart of this command in His “Sermon on the Mount” in the New Testament, in Matthew chapter 5.

We can know that there is more to this command than we first might expect because of how far reaching its applications go throughout the Bible.

On the basis of this single command – “You shall not commit adultery” – God built out a full set of prohibitions against all sorts of sexual sins.

Sex before marriage, cohabitation, marital infidelity, homosexuality, pedophilia, bestiality, self-stimulation, and prostitution are all condemned as sin… on the basis of the 7th commandment… And each of these are (either explicitly or implicitly) itemized as sin in the case-law of the Old Testament (see various passages in Exodus, some in Deuteronomy, and significant portions of Leviticus).

It should be no surprise, then, that the New Testament upholds and reiterates the sexual ethic of the 7th commandment… including statements of clear condemnation against any and all sexual deviation.

But notice how marriage is the necessary standard for measuring what kind of sex is “good” and what kind is “bad.”

Indeed, the 7th commandment… and most other biblical laws or limitations on sex… assumes that the reader understands the biblical definition of marriage and the goodness of sex within that relationship!

Marriage and sex are not incidentally related… They are linked by design!

Sex was a major part of God’s blessing upon the first married couple in history (Genesis 2:18-25)… It was Adam and Eve’s marital union that was to produce “fruit” or children… and sex is how that happens (Genesis 1:27-28).

Genesis 2:24-25 – the last two verses of that first wedding ceremony – are not so subtle about sex… Have you ever read these verses?

“24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

This passage affirms the goodness of marriage… the goodness of sex… and the intimate connection between the two.

Marriage is good… sex within the covenant of marriage is good… and God has designed it all to be this way.

Kevin DeYoung said, “No relationship can be as intimate, sweet, life giving, and joy filled as the marital relationship, and no experience can be as intimate and powerful within that marriage relationship as sex.”[4]

And this is why God put a safeguard for sex and marriage right there among the big 10… those laws that form the basis of all biblical ethics.

But fallen/sinful humans are not inclined to obey God’s laws… Instead, we are prone to confuse and distort God’s good gifts… and the Devil himself, who is at war against us, is happy to encourage and facilitate such confusion.

That’s why Kevin DeYoung wrote, “Of course, the Devil is going to go after sex and marriage. We should expect confusion, misunderstanding, perversion, and pain – not because sex and marriage are bad or not worth the trouble, but precisely because they are such good gifts. God’s best gifts are the ones most apt to be twisted and perverted by the world, the flesh, and the Devil.”[5]

Indeed, marriage and sex are wonderful gifts from God… and, indeed, these gifts are twisted and perverted all around us… and also within us.

I mentioned Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” a little while ago, and I’d like to turn there now… You can turn with me to Matthew chapter 5, verse 27.

In Matthew 5-7, we read a record of Jesus’ teaching which is organized as though it were the New Testament reference-guide and application of Old Testament law… especially the 10 Commandments.

Jesus went “up on [a] mountain” (5:1)… and Jesus “opened his mouth” and spoke the word of God to those people who were gathered around the base of the mountain (5:1)… Just as God on Mt. Sinai with the 10 Commandments.

Additionally, Jesus explicitly referenced at least three of the 10 Commandments, and one of those was the seventh… Look at verse 27 and following with me.

“27 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27–28).

According to Jesus, the heart of the 7th commandment is a prohibition against the root of all sexual sin, which is “lustful intent” (έπιθυμια).

Because that’s true, the 7th commandment is God’s law against any form of sexual deviation from God’s designed intent of sex within marriage… which assumes the one-man-one-woman lifetime covenant relationship God intended marriage to be.

2. The 7th commandment Exposes our sin

The first use of God’s law is to show us our sin.

The more intently we measure ourselves against God’s commandments, the more horrified we will be at just how deep and pervasive our wickedness is.

God’s commandments expose us… When we think carefully about what God’s law forbids and requires… and we think carefully about how we’ve spoken and acted in sinful ways… and then we think carefully about WHY we speak and act sinfully… we will begin to feel a sense of our own depravity.

The Bible talks about the first use of God’s law in 1 Timothy 1:8-10… Turn there with me for a moment.

The Scripture says, “8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine…”

DeYoung argues that 1 Timothy 1:8-10 is “running through the second table of the law”…That is, this passage is following those commands among the 10 which deal with our relationships with other people.

Remember that the first table of the law (commands 1-4) are those commands that deal with our vertical relationship with God… and the second table (commands 5-10) deals with our horizontal relationships with others.

This passage says that God’s law is “good,” and that it is “laid down” or “intended” or “meant” for those who are “disobedient” (v9)…

God’s law condemns lawless sinners… namely, “those who strike their fathers and mothers” (a clear reference to the 5th commandment)… those who are “murderers” (that’s the 6th commandment)… those who are “sexually immoral” and “men who practice homosexuality” (both violations of the 7th commandment)… those who are “enslavers” or “man-stealers” (a violation of the 8th commandment)… and finally those who are “liars” and “perjurers” (which are both clear references to the 9th commandment).

Notice how the New Testament affirms the binding obligation of the 10 Commandments! …Once again, friends, we ought not disregard these commands simply because “That’s in the Old Testament!”

Notice also how this passage groups “sexual immorality” and “homosexuality” as example violations of the 7th commandment.

Again, we’re confronted with the reality that the Bible itself testifies to the far-reaching applications of the 7th commandment… just as Jesus’ teaching confronted us in Matthew chapter 5… The 7th commandment is dealing with far more than cheating spouses.

Every time you and I have indulged in sexual practices outside of the boundaries of the covenant of marriage, we have broken God’s law… And this law is the standard by which God judges everyone everywhere.

God has not kept His judgment secret… He has told you exactly how He will judge you on that Great Day… when all people will be gathered to stand before His throne… and when all our thoughts, and words, and deeds will be laid bare before Him.

God has told you that He sees your sexual immorality… He knows about your erotic indulgences… He is fully aware of every single deviation… And He has been clear about His hatred of such sins and His intent to judge you for them.

The Scripture says, “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality… will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Friend, if you are guilty of breaking the seventh commandment, then it is right for you to feel conviction and shame for doing so.

3. The 7th commandment reveals God’s character

If my sermon has been depressing so far, then listen up… it’s about to turn in a whole new direction.

The 7th commandment, like all others, reveals something of character of God… So, the question I want to consider for the next few minutes is: “What does this law against sexual infidelity reveal about God?”

I’m going to argue that the 7th commandment reveals God’s heart of love and faithfulness to His own bride… He is the steadfastly faithful husband.

One pastor-theologian said, “For post-fall humanity, adulterated by sin, the Bible unfolds the drama of a loving God winning back to himself ‘a pure bride for her one husband’” (2 Corinthians 11:2).”[6]

Throughout the Bible, God compares His relationship with His people – both Old Testament Israel and the New Testament Church – to that of a husband and his bride.

God is the “steadfast” and “faithful” husband (Exodus 15:13, 34:6-8)… and He called His people to “hold fast” or “cleave” to Him (Deuteronomy 11:22)… language that clearly echoes Genesis 2:24 – “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast [or “cleave”] to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

God also spoke with the language of marriage when He called His people to not “forsake” or “abandon” His covenant relationship with them (Deuteronomy 28:20, 29:25).

But God’s people were and are unfaithful!

Do you know that the Bible often connects adultery with spiritual infidelity?

Again, and again, throughout the Old Testament, God sent prophets to what He called His “adulterous” people… they were unfaithful to God… and yet God urged them to turn back from their worship of other gods and to turn away from their abandonment of the covenantal relationship.

Ezekiel was one of those prophets… He prophesied judgment on God’s people because of their disobedience.

He said, “How sick is your heart… because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute…” (Ezekiel 16:30)… Ezekiel called God’s people an “Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband” (v32).

But Ezekiel also prophesied a future time when God would give His people a “new heart” and “deliver [them] from their uncleanness” (Ezekiel 36:25-29).

It was promises like this one… from prophets like Ezekiel… that later gave Nehemiah confidence to pray for God’s help even though God’s people had been so unfaithful… Nehemiah prayed, “you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and [You] did not forsake [Your people]” (Nehemiah 9:17; cf. Exodus 34:6-8).

Friends, the God of the Bible is the faithful husband who never forsakes His bride… despite how unfaithful she has been.

As a matter of fact, the whole book of Hosea is a story about and a picture of God’s commitment to keep His promises of fidelity and love even though His bride is seemingly shameless in her infidelity toward Him.

This should give sinners like us great hope!

God is not a husband like us… who are prone to leave at the first sign of difficulty… who are only committed to marriage only as deeply as our wives convince us we must be.

No, God is the best husband… even though He has the worst bride.

Again, this should give us hope!

God shows His love for sinners like us… unfaithful… sexually deviant… adulterous sinners like us… God shows His love in that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Friend, if you’re not a Christian, here is the good news of the gospel!

Brothers and sisters, if you’re bearing the weight of your guilt today, because we’ve been concentrating our focus on an area of sin that still seems to have you in its grip… here is the good news of the gospel for you as well!

God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into a world of dirty and sexually immoral sinners out of His love for sinners!

Jesus came to live and to die underneath the penalty of our sin… and He has risen from the grave in order to stand forevermore as our beloved… the One who has claimed us as His own… cleansed us from all our sin… and delights in giving us Himself!

This is the kind of logic the Bible presents to us at the end of Romans 8.

“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect [against God’s betrothed]? …Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom 8:31–35).

Indeed! Who shall separate Christ from His beloved bride?! …No one!

There is coming a day when all Christians from all time and geography will be gathered together and presented to Christ… “as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).

And the beauty of sexual faithfulness in life-long marriage is that it points the watching world to the relationship Christ has with His people… This is what Barry preached about a couple of Sundays ago… Ephesians 5 tells us that marriage is “profound” …and “it refers to Christ and the church” (v32).

4. The 7th commandment promotes biblical sexuality

Earlier, I cited a verse of warning from 1 Corinthians 6… but I’d like you to turn with me now to this portion of Scripture… so that we can see the context… It’s actually an optimistic passage with helpful instruction.

One question that Christians should constantly be asking is, “How should we live, now that Christ has set us free from the penalty and power of sin?”

In point 3 of my sermon, I tried to highlight God’s love for guilty sinners like us… and I also tried to highlight the reality that His love is conditioned upon what Christ has done, not on what we have done or will do… God saves sinners in and through Christ because He loves them, not because sinners are good or worthy or loveable.

But this kind of talk… talk that emphasizes the grace of God in Christ… might lead some of us to think that it doesn’t matter how Christians live… “God saves us by His grace, so it doesn’t really matter if we go on sinning!”

If we think like this, then it shows that we still don’t understand what it means to be saved… we still don’t understand what it means to be a Christian… and we still don’t understand what God has saved sinners into.

1 Corinthians 6 gives us a great picture of conversion (becoming a Christian) and Christian living… Look with me again at verse 9.

“9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? [i.e. sinners won’t go to heaven or enjoy the new creation in Christ] Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Once again, these verses ought to serve as a warning to us… especially if we think we’re Christians… but yet our lives are marked by these kinds of sins… Don’t be deceived, those who practice sin are not Christian (1 John 3:8-10).

But look at verse 11… It says, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Praise God for His “washing” and for His “sanctifying” (or purifying) work!

Praise God for “justifying” sinners like us in “the name of” or by the person and work of “Jesus Christ”!

Praise God for doing all of this by the power of His “Spirit,” who applies and guarantees Christ’s work in our lives… until we finally see the completion of it in glory (Ephesians 1:13-14)!

But does the Bible then say that we should put ourselves into cruise control from here on out? …Should Christians live in the same kind of sin they did before they were “washed” and “sanctified” and “justified”?

Should make room in the body of Christ for Christians who embrace or continue in sexual immorality… or homosexuality… or adultery?

NO! …The next several verses tell us of the Christian responsibility to live as faithful people who are united or engaged (as it were) to Jesus Christ.

As a matter of fact, sexual sin is particularly underscored as the kind of sin which Christians are to avoid… Look at verse 18.

“18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

This passage makes it clear that Christians are supposed to “glorify God” with their bodies… and this is particularly true when it comes to sex!

In summary, Christians are to “flee from” or “run away from” all manner of “sexual immorality” or “sexual sin.”

This is the broad application of the 7th commandment… It’s about far more than a few sexual improprieties.

The 7th commandment safeguards the honor of marriage and human dignity.

When you or I commit sexual sin of any kind… we dishonor marriage and we dishonor fellow image-bearers.

We make sex about something other than what it was designed to be… and we inevitably make other people out to be objects for our consumption rather than dignified humans, created in the image of God.

The question we probably want to ask at this point is, “How far is too far?”

Well, I think that’s the wrong question… And I think that asking that question might mean you’re already playing on dangerous ground.

Instead of me pointing out various sexual boundaries, and listing a bunch of “don’ts” …let me cite two more Bible passages and try to give us something positive to strive for.

First, Hebrews 13:4… Here, the author of Hebrews commands us to “Let marriage be held in honor… and [to] let the marriage bed be undefiled…”

This command is coupled with another warning, “for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” …But let’s focus on the positive command.

God commands Christians to live in such a way so that marriage itself is honored and marital fidelity is common.

So, if you are married, then you should honor your marriage… You should strive to make it healthy and honorable… You should guard yourself from anything that might dishonor your wife or your husband or the institution of marriage itself – especially with regard to your sexual fidelity.

Whether you are married or single, you should honor other people’s marriages… You should celebrate healthy and honorable marriages around you… You should guard yourself from anything that might dishonor wives or husbands or the institution of marriage – especially with regard to sex.

Speaking very practically, Christians ought to strive toward the biblical sexual ethic… which calls us to enjoy the pleasure and joy of sex within the covenant relationship of marriage… and calls us to avoid anything that might denigrate sex by removing it from that covenant relationship.

The next and last passage I’ll cite today is 1 Thessalonians 4:3–5.

The Scripture says, “3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God [think unbeliever or non-Christian]…”

We don’t have to wonder what God’s will is in regard to our sexuality… This passage tells us: “the will of God [is] our sanctification… that we abstain from sexual immorality… [and that we learn] how to control [our] own bodies in holiness and honor…”

Friends, our culture tells us all-day-every-day that we must obey our desires… our passions… our lusts… If it feels good, then it can’t be wrong.

But the Bible tells us a completely different story… The Bible tells us that the Christian life is lived… not in self-indulgence and self-gratification… but in self-control and in the pursuit of holiness.

Don’t get it twisted, friends, sexual sin is pleasurable for the moment… but it leads to shame and to death… it leads to broken marriages and dysfunctional families… it leads to horrific abuse and all manner of disgraceful deeds.

God has sent His Son to die in the place of sexual deviants like us… and God has planned to bring us to glory as a pure bride without spot or blemish… And God has called us to live in keeping with His commands… so that we will both enjoy sex and honor marriage.

May God help us trust Him… and may He help us strive toward holiness.

Bibliography

Alexander, T. Desmond. Exodus. Baker Books, 2016.

Alter, Robert. The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary. W.W. Norton, 2004.

Blackburn, W. Ross. The God Who Makes Himself Known: The Missionary Heart of the Book of Exodus. IVP Academic, 2012.

Dever, Mark. The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made. Crossway, 2006.

DeYoung, Kevin. The 10 Commandments: What They Mean, Why They Matter, and Why We Should Obey Them. Crossway, 2018.

Hamilton, James M. God's Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology. Crossway, 2010.

Henry, Matthew. Commentary: Volume 1: Genesis to Deuteronomy. Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.

Huie, Eliza. Raising Teens in a Hyper-Sexualized World. 10Publishing, 2016.

Luther, Martin. The Large Catechism. Translated by F. Bente and W.H.T. Dan. Published in: Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Ev. Lutheran Church. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921.

http://www.projectwittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-boc.html

Ortlund, Raymond Jr. God’s Unfaithful Wife: A Biblical Theology of Spiritual Adultery. InterVarsity Press, 2002.

Ryken, Philip. Exodus: Saved for God's Glory. Crossway Books, 2015.

Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch As Narrative: A Biblical-Theological Commentary. Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.

Sproul, R. C. Truths We Confess: A Layman’s Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith. Volume 2. P & R Publishing, 2007.

Endnotes

[1] Huie, 1.

[2] DeYoung, 109.

[3] Ryken, 589.

[4] DeYoung, 109.

[5] DeYoung, 109.

[6] Ortlund, 25.