Lord’s Day 41
Q108. What does God require in the seventh commandment?
God condemns all sexual immorality. We should therefore thoroughly detest it and, married or single, live decent and chaste lives.
Scripture Proofs — King James Version
Leviticus 18:30
“Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that commit not of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I the LORD your God.”
Ephesians 5:3–5
“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
Jude 22–23
“And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”
1 Corinthians 7:1–9
“Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. But I speak this by permission, not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3–8
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no go beyond and defraud his brother in matter: because that the Lord the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.”
Hebrews 13:4
“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”
Modernized Commentary — Zacharias Ursinus (1616)
The purpose of this commandment is to protect human life and physical wellbeing, both our own and that of others. Everything that contributes to the safety and preservation of life is therefore required here, while everything that threatens it is forbidden. This includes every unlawful act of harm, every desire to wrong another person, and every expression of that desire. The commandment uses the word murder not because God forbids only that one act, but because by naming the most extreme outcome, He simultaneously removes all the causes that lead to it. By gathering under the single term "murder" all the sins connected with it, and by highlighting how serious that sin is, God more effectively steers us away from the entire range of related wrongs.
This follows the general rule that when a particular virtue is commanded or a particular vice is forbidden, all the related virtues and vices are commanded or forbidden along with it.
We must address three points here.