Even in Church – The Seventh Commandment

Even in Church

Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18

“You shall not commit adultery.”

Revelation 2:20

“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”

What are we tolerating in the name of compassion?

It seems amazing to us that one of the churches within John’s orbit of influence would allow someone to teach who was deliberately promoting both sexual and spiritual adultery. But apparently, that was precisely the case. We don’t know much about this Jezebel, only what Jesus tells us, but it’s enough. She was a seductress and evidently a persuasive teacher – although, when it comes to indulging in sin, many Christians don’t need a lot of persuading. Let them think that God understands their “needs,” knows their “weaknesses,” and loves them anyway, and they’ll be off to the racy in no time. It’s a sad testimony on the low state of the Law of God among the churches of the land that so many Christian leaders have fallen to sexual immorality in recent years. Polls tell us that the rates of adultery in all its forms – use of pornography, extra-marital affairs, pre-marital sex, and so forth – are about the same for Christians as for the rest of the world. Are we deaf? Can we not hear the Lord Jesus saying to us, “But I have this against you…”? Do we want Jesus against us in these trying times or on our side? Let us not, in the name of compassion or tolerance or whatever compromise the requirements for sexually purity so clearly outlined in the Law of God. We may wake up to find ourselves on the wrong side, not only of the Law, but of the Law Giver.

Does your church make it clear that sexual purity is expected of church members? Does it ever seem to compromise on this requirement?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.