Lord’s Day 41
Q109. Does God, in this commandment, forbid only such scandalous sins as adultery?
We are temples of the Holy Spirit, body and soul, and God wants both to be kept clean and holy. That is why he forbids everything which incites unchastity, whether it be actions, looks, talk, thoughts, or desires.
Scripture Proofs — King James Version
1 Corinthians 15:33
“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”
Ephesians 5:18
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
Matthew 5:27–29
“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body should be cast into hell.”
1 Corinthians 6:18–20
“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
Ephesians 5:3–4
“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.”
Commentary — Zacharias Ursinus (1616)
God in this commandment enjoins and sanctions the preservation of chastity and marriage, and hence authorises marriage itself; for whenever God forbids any thing, he at the same time commands and authorises the observance of that which is opposite thereto. God, now, in this commandment forbids "adultery", which is a violation of conjugal fidelity. When God singles out adultery as the most shocking and debasing vice of all the sins which are repugnant to chastity, he at the same time prohibits and condemns all wandering and wanton lusts, whether they be found in married or unmarried persons, and prohibits all other sins and vices contrary to chastity, together with their causes, occasions, effects, antecedents, consequents, &c. And, on the other hand, he enjoins all those virtues which contribute to chastity. The reasons of this are these: 1. "When one thing is specified, all those are understood which are closely allied or connected with it." Therefore, when adultery is prohibited, as the most shocking and debasing form of lust, we are to understand all other forms of lust as forbidden at the same time. 2. "Where the cause is condemned, there the effect is also condemned; and where the effect is condemned, there the cause is condemned." Hence the antecedents as well as the consequents of adultery are here forbidden and condemned. 3. "The design of this commandment is the preservation of chastity amongst men, and the guarding of marriage, or keeping it holy." Whatever, therefore, tends to the preservation of chastity, and the protection of marriage, is enjoined by this commandment, whilst that which is opposed thereto is forbidden. There are three virtues which we may speak of under the seventh commandment: "chastity", "modesty" and "temperance".
1. CHASTITY, in general, is a virtue contributing to the purity of body and soul, agreeing with the will of God, and shunning all lusts prohibited by God, all unlawful intercourse and inordinate copulation in connection with all the desires, causes, effects, suspicions, occasions, &c., which may lead thereto, whether in holy wedlock or in a single life. The term chastity comes, according to some, from the Greek "καζω", which means to adorn, because it is an ornament, both of the whole man, and also of all the other graces or virtues. The name has, therefore, been given to this virtue by way of pre-eminence, inasmuch as it is one of the principal virtues which constitute the image of God, according as it is said, "God is chaste, and will be called upon by those who are of a chaste mind, and has regard to such prayers."
Chastity is of two kinds—one of single life, the other of holy wedlock. "The former is a virtue shunning all wanton lusts without marriage." "Conjugal chastity is to preserve in holy wedlock the order instituted by the wonderful counsel and wisdom of God."