The Seventh Commandment

The Text

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:14

Rules for Understanding the Commandments

The Westminster Larger Catechism (1648)

Question 137: Which is the seventh commandment?
Answer: The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Question 138: What are the duties required in the seventh commandment?
Answer: The duties required in the seventh commandment are,

• chastity in
  • body,
  • mind,
  • affections,
  • words, and
  • behavior; and
• the preservation of it
  • in ourselves and
  • others;
• watchfulness over
  • the eyes and
  • all the senses;
• temperance,
• keeping of chaste company,
• modesty in apparel;
• marriage by those that have not the gift of continency,
• conjugal love, and
• cohabitation;
• diligent labor in our callings;
• shunning all occasions of uncleanness,
• and resisting temptations thereunto.

Question 139: What are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment?
Answer: The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment,

• besides the neglect of the duties required, are,
• adultery,
• fornication,
• rape,
• incest,
• sodomy, and
• all unnatural lusts;
• all unclean
  • imaginations,
  • thoughts,
  • purposes, and
  • affections;
• all corrupt or
• filthy communications,
• or listening thereunto;
• wanton looks,
• impudent or
• light behavior,
• immodest apparel;
• prohibiting of lawful, and
• dispensing with unlawful marriages;

• entangling vows of single life,
• undue delay of marriage;
• having more wives or husbands than one at the same time;
• unjust divorce, or
• desertion;
• idleness,
• gluttony,
• drunkenness,
• unchaste company;
• lascivious
  • songs,
  • books,
  • pictures,
  • dancings,
  • stage plays; and
• all other provocations to, or
• acts of uncleanness,
• either in
  • ourselves or
  • others.

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The Westminster Larger Catechism (1648) explains our duties under the Seventh Commandment. You will notice that the brilliant Puritan Theologians who compiled the Catechism discerned duties in passages of Scripture which do not begin with the words "Thou shalt" or "Thou shalt not."

Every word of God is a command for us.

 

But even the "thou shalts" and the "thou shalt nots" demand more from us than we might first think:

How to Study the Ten Commandments

How to use the Catechism for a Moral Inventory

First, you must agree that the Catechism has correctly explained the implications of the Commandment. Assuming it has, you must agree with God that you are obligated to carry out those principles in your life.

Second you must ask yourself if you have violated each aspect of the command.

Third, you must take steps to develop the Character of Christ, and eliminate "character defects" from your life.

The Ten Commandments Home Page

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