Lessons # 70–72—The Seventh Commandment

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Shorter Catechism Q & A #70 (Memorize)

Q. Which is the seventh commandment?

A. The Seventh Commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Exodus 20:14

What does it mean?

Adultery means to apostatize (to abandon; impurity: to pollute the moral law of God by thought and action): “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication; that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor” (1 Thess. 4:3–4).

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Shorter Catechism Q & A #71 (Memorize)

Q. What is required in the seventh commandment?

A. The seventh commandment requireth the preservation of our own and our neighbour’s chastity, in heart, speech, and behavior.

What does it mean?

Chastity means to remain pure before marriage, faithful to the marriage bed after marriage; also, purity in language (refraining from obscenities).

Discuss Adultery in light of the following Scriptures:

• 1 Thess. 4:3–5 (Sanctification)
• 1 Cor. 7:2 (Faithfulness)
• Matt. 5:28 (Lust of the heart)
• Eph. 4:29, 1 Peter 3:2, Col. 4:6 (Corruption from the mouth)

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Shorter Catechism Q & A #72 (Memorize)

Q. What is forbidden in the seventh commandment?

A. The seventh commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.

What does it mean?

What is meant by impure thoughts, words, and actions, according to Matt. 5:28 and Eph. 5:3–4?

Quotes for thought and discussion:

“Adultery debases a person; it makes him resemble the beasts; therefore the adulterer is described like a horse neighing. ‘Every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.’ Jer. 5:8. Nay, it is worse than brutish; for some creatures that are void of reason, yet by the instinct of nature, observe some decorum and chastity. The turtle dove is a chaste creature, and keeps to its mate; and the stork, wherever he flies, comes into no nest but his own. Naturalists write that if a stork, leaving his own mate, joins with any other, all the rest of the storks fall upon it, and pull its feathers from it. Adultery is worse than brutish, it degrades a person of his honor.” (Thomas Watson)

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