The Sanctity of Marriage – The Seventh Commandment

The Sanctity of Marriage

Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18

“You shall not commit adultery.”

Hebrews 13:4

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Keep sex where it belongs.

Contrary to popular belief, sexuality is not the result of eons of selective mutations and evolutionary adaptation. God invented sex and everything attendant to it. He intends sex to be a means of enjoyment and fruitfulness among His creatures, especially among human beings. The sexual behaviors we observe in the animal kingdom do not apply to people. God has established unique and specific guidelines for the human practice of sexuality, and these are to be observed within the overall framework of marriage. Marriage is the only proper context, according to God, for engaging in sexual behavior. And even though the guidelines for sexual conduct within marriage are only of the most general kind, they are sufficient to ensure a healthy, happy sexual relationship between two people who love and honor one another before the Lord. Any practice of sex outside of marriage is a form of adultery, and all adultery is condemned by God. But when marriage is not held in honor, as it is not in our day, sex is “liberated” from marriage and, escaping the parameters laid down by God, it becomes a source of defilement, contaminating everyone and everything it touches. Which makes it all the more important that the followers of Christ in every age protect, maintain, and practice the sanctity of marriage.

In what ways is it apparent that marriage has fallen into dishonor in our day?

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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.