Commandment VII:
You shall not commit adultery.
Exodus 20:14
The seventh commandment expresses the honor we are to give to the purity of our neighbor. William Ames writes, “Chastity is a virtue, whereby the purity of his person is preserved in respect to those things which pertain to generation.”* While Matthew Henry states, “We should be as much afraid of that which defiles the body, as of that which destroys it.”
What does this commandment teach us?
First:
Purity is a virtue and is expressed in both inward and outward actions.
Second:
Purity honors and protects the family as the basic unit of society.
Third:
Purity is a protection to the generations to honor family.
Consider and Ponder: To honor the seventh commandment is important to society as a whole. It gives respect to those things which preserve family and keeps us from things which undermine family.
*See The Marrow of Sacred Divinity by William Ames, translated by William H. Gross, OntheWing.org.