The Seventh Commandment (Exo. 20:14)

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  1. Adultery is unfaithfulness
    • ‘if the Law be a perfect rule of holy living, it would be more than absurd to give license for fornication, adultery alone being excepted.’ – John Calvin
    • Adultery is the violation of a marriage
      • It is physical (Lev 18)
      • It is a matter of the heart (Mt 5.27-32)
      • It is spiritual (Ps 51.3-4; 1 Cor 6.13)
    • Faithfulness is the key (Heb 13.4)
  2. Faithfulness in marriage frees us
    • God has brought us out of slavery (Ex 20.1)
    • We find something of the ‘Garden’ state (Gen 2.25 cf. 3.7-11)
    • Our satisfaction and identity is in Christ (1 Cor 7.10-11)
  3. Faithfulness in marriage sanctifies our household
    • A marriage partner is a ‘help’ (Gen 2.15-25)
    • We are to model and encourage Christlikeness (Eph 5.22-33)
    • Our fidelity is seen by our whole household (Mt 18.6-9)
    • We also are sanctifying ourselves (1 Thess 4.3-8)
  4. Faithfulness in marriage demonstrates God’s faithfulness
    • ‘The Lord placed in us at creation deep sexual emotions so that we might understand the jealousy of his love for us and the joy of jealousy for him.’ – Edmund Clowney
    • God has been faithful from the beginning (Mt 19.3-12)
    • Adultery and idolatry are closely linked (Prov 5)
    • We have all fallen short (1 Cor 6.9-11; 2 Sam 11.1-27)
    • God remains faithful (2 Tim 2.10-13)

To deny Christ is a sin worse than adultery (Mt 10.15; Lk 10.12) but God remains faithful to his people in Christ.