In 1631, the royal printers of London reprinted copies of the King James Version of the Bible. Little did they know the typesetters had made an unintentional but massive omission. Soon after its publication, readers discovered the mistake. The error was made in Exodus 20:14. The omitted word was “not.” The Seventh Commandment read: “You shall commit adultery.” The printers were heavily fined and stripped of their licenses. Copies were destroyed. The version was dubbed “The Wicked Bible.” Fourteen copies remain in museums around the world. With the moral perversion, situational ethics, and spiritual indifference of our culture, you would think many people are reading from the Wicked Bible. But the word of God still says: “You shall not commit adultery.”

Like the Sixth Word, the seventh commandment is stated in one terse statement. No commentary, explanation, or rationale is given or needed. The point is made in the statement of the verse: “You shall not commit adultery.” Here the Lord legislates his prohibition against adultery. But this prohibition was not breaking news to the children of Israel. 

When Abraham went to Gerar, he advised his wife Sarah to say she was his sister. The men of the land presented Sarah to their king, Abimelech, who took her as his wife. The Lord awoke Abimelech and said, “You’re a dead man! You have taken another man’s wife.” Abimelech pleaded innocent. Abraham had deceived him. Besides, he had not touched Sarah. The Lord replied, “I know you didn’t touch her, because I kept you from it.” Genesis 20:9 says, “Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, ‘What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin?’” This pagan king described adultery as “a great sin.”

Adultery is a sin against one’s husband or wife. Moreover, it is a sin against God. Joseph was a slave of Potiphar in Egypt. While Potiphar was away, his wife sexually harassed Joseph and tried to force him to commit adultery with her. Genesis 39:8-8 reads, “But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Joseph recognized that to succumb to Mrs. Potiphar’s advances would betray the trust Potiphar placed in him. Joseph was more concerned about his master’s marriage than his master’s wife was. But Joseph’s primary concern was that to commit adultery with his master’s wife would be a sin against God. 

Joseph remembered God. And it enabled him to resist the temptation to commit adultery. This is the best way to explain our promiscuous society. We have forgotten God. As a result, we have stopped counting number seven. But the Lord has not rescinded the Seventh Commandment. God commands us to keep sexual pleasure in its place. R. Kent Hughes wrote: “God’s prohibition of adultery, properly set in the corpus of scripture, is a radiant jewel that flashes light and life on human existence. Taken to heart, it can revive a dying relationship with God. Taken to heart, it can resurrect a marriage. Taken to heart, it can energize a church.” The Seventh Commandment teaches three fundamental principles.  

The Gift of Sex 

A pastor led a Bible study at a college dorm. His topic was sex. During the discussion period, a young man complained, “Why is it that you preachers are always talking about sex? It’s not the only sin. And it’s not the worst sin.” “You’re right,” replied the preacher. “But if can get this issue under control, it would be easier to control other areas of your life.” 

Contrary to popular belief, we do not talk much about sex in the church. When sex is addressed, we condemn adultery, fornication, homosexuality, prostitution, pornography, and other sexual sins. As a result, the general assumption is that Christianity is anti-sex. But the Seventh Commandment is indisputable proof that the Bible is pro-sex. 

First and foremost, the Sixth Word is about sex. Exodus 20:14 prohibits adultery. But to understand what it says about the sin of adultery, you must understand what it says about the gift of sex. From a biblical standpoint, sex is not a bad, dirty, or sinful word. Sex is a gift from God. God made human beings as sexual creatures. Genesis 1:27-28 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it…” God made man as male and female. God’s first instruction to the man and woman was to be fruitful and multiply. Obedience involved sexual relations that resulted in procreation. 

• God is not against sex. 
• Sex is God’s idea. 
• God created sex. 

Sex is essential to procreation. However, procreation is not the essence of sex. Genesis 2:18 says, “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’”Everything God created was given a divine benediction as good. The first thing in creation God called not good was not sin. It was that the man was alone. The God who stated the problem gave the solution. The Lord would make the man a helper fit for him. God made Adam for Eve. Their children were the result of their relationship, not the reason for it. 

According to Genesis 2:23, when Adam saw the newly formed woman, he declared, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”Seeing Eve for the first time, Adam did not say, “She was made for bearing children.” Adam said, “She was made for me!” Then Genesis 2:24-25 comments: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” That they were naked implies sex. That they were not ashamed implies there was no guilt associated with their nakedness. God did not see anything wrong with it. It was good! 

Sex is a gift from God designed for the pleasure of man and woman. It is so precious a gift that it should only be shared within the bond of marriage. Covenant is God’s standard for safe sex, not consent! 1 Corinthians 7:3-4 says, “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” 

In a male-dominated culture, this is a remarkable statement. Everyone thought the husband had authority over the wife’s body. Nobody thought the wife had authority over the husband’s body. Scripture says they belong to one another. 1 Corinthians 7:5says, “Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” Satan uses the gift of sex as a weapon of temptation if you do not keep pleasure in its place. 

The Sanctity of Marriage 

Exodus 20:12 commands the sanctity of the home: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:13 commands the sanctity of life: “You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:14 commands the sanctity of marriage: “You shall not commit adultery.”The Seventh Word is the second commandment that addresses family matters. In the Fifth Commandment, God seeks to protect the family from the sinful threat of internal forces. In the Seventh Commandment, God seeks to protect the family from the sinful threat of external forces.  

Hebrews 13:4 says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” Matrimony is one of seven ordinances observed in the Roman Catholic Church. The Bible says marriage is to be held in honor among all. God does not recognize Christian marriages only; God recognizes all true marriages. How does society hold marriage in high esteem? The Bible says, “Let the marriage bed be undefiled.” “Undefiled” is a technical temple term. An acceptable sacrifice had to be undefiled. The term used for a sacrifice that pleases God was used for sex that pleases God. The marriage bed is undefiled. What a husband and wife do in bed together is healthy and holy. But God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous; not because God is against sex, but because sexual immorality and adultery defile the sanctity of marriage. 

Marriage is the first institution established by God. Before there was government, business, or the church; there was the home. Al Mohler wrote: “Marriage is the little universe upon which every other human relationship depends.” God made Adam from the dust on the earth. From the man, God made the woman and gave Eve to be a helper suitable for Adam. Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This is the most important statement about marriage in the Bible. It teaches three lessons about the nature of marriage. 

• Your marriage is to be your most important human relationship. 
• Nothing should be allowed to come in between your relationship with your mate. 
• Sexual intimacy is to be reserved for the relationship with your spouse.

“They shall become one flesh” is mystical language. It refers to something infinitely greater than sexual intimacy. But it is not less than that. The sexual relationship between husband and wife is the seal of their marriage covenant. Philip Graham Ryken wrote: “Sex is like super glue. When used properly, intercourse seals the bond of matrimony.” For the sake of the sanctity of marriage, God says, “You shall not commit adultery.”

A Pharisee tested Jesus by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” This question of the grounds for divorce was a theological debate. The Pharisee hoped to get Jesus to take a position that would discredit him with the people. In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Without stuttering, Jesus asserted the biblical position on the matter. Marriage is a heterosexual, monogamous, lifelong covenant of companionship. 

The Pharisees were not finished with Jesus. They further asked, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” In Matthew 19:8-9 Jesus answered, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” Jesus stated that marriage is a permanent, lifelong commitment. Then he gave an exception: “sexual immorality.” The Greek word translated “sexual immorality” is our word pornography. As the translation indicates, it refers to all kinds of sexual immorality.

The religious leaders claimed that a man could divorce his wife for virtually any reason. Jesus insisted the only legitimate reason for dissolving a marriage is sexual immorality that violates the sanctity of marriage. This is not just a statement about how sinful adultery is; it is also a statement about how holy marriage is. Proverbs 5:18-19 says, “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.”

The Call to Purity 

 The Seventh Commandment makes it clear that God cares about your body as much as he cares about your soul. The grace that saves the soul also sanctifies the body. Romans 12:1 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” The Seventh Commandment is stated in negative terms. But it is not a negative command. It is a call to purity that confronts the sin and heart of adultery.

The Sin of Adultery. Exodus 20:14 says, “You shall not commit adultery.” It means, “You shall not commit adultery.” By implication and application, this commandment forbids all sexual immortality. But it is not about all sexual immorality. It is about a specific form of sexual immorality: adultery. Adultery is intercourse between a married person and someone who is not their spouse. The text directly addresses a married woman and a man who is not her husband. But the force of this commandment is not gender specific. 

• No one is allowed to have sex with any married person except his or her spouse. 
• No married person is allowed to have sex with any other than his or her spouse. 

 This was not a religious ideal. This was and is a divine command. Leviticus 18:20 says, “And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her.” God declared the adulterer unclean. Leviticus 20:10 says, “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” The punishment for adultery was death. Deuteronomy 22:22 says, “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.” 

This is how the word of God views adultery: evil. So evil is it that sin against God is viewed as adultery. In Matthew 12:39, Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”James 4:4 says, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy against God.”

The sin of adultery is so ingrained in our culture that we are indifferent toward it, condoning of it, and even entertained by it. It is an entanglement to us. It is an abomination to God. As the prophet said in Jeremiah 6:15 and 8:12, we are not ashamed of our sins and do not know how to blush. Scripture does not treat adultery lightly. The only story of adultery in the Bible is the story of David and Bathsheba. After committing adultery with Bathsheba, she became pregnant. To cover his tracks, David had her husband killed in battle. David married Bathsheba, thinking his sin was behind him. But the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to confront David.

David confessed his sin and God forgave him. But the stain of his sin remained with him until he died. 1 Kings 1:1-2 says: “Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get war. Therefore his servants said to him, ‘Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your arms, that my lord the king may be warm.” The sin of adultery stains us. 

The Heart of Adultery. In Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus teaches, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This is a big statement about adultery. It is an even bigger statement about Jesus. The authority of the Law of Moses was assumed. Jesus claims greater authority for himself. With this authority, Jesus did not contradict the seventh commandment. He intensified it. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed people who presumed they were righteous because they were religious. They could sincerely claim they had not touched another person’s spouse. Jesus contends that abstinence does not mean you are not an adulterer. If you look at a woman with lustful intent, you have committed adultery with her in your heart. The lustful look is just as adulterous as sexual immorality. Arthur W. Pink wrote: “Let no man flatter himself with the idea that he cannot be charged with unchastity because he has abstained from the actual deed while his heart is a cesspool of defiling imaginations and desires.”

It is a sad indictment. Many of us are careful about what we feed our bodies, but are careless about what we feed our minds. Jerry Vines said it well: “Many minds are sewers and not sanctuaries.” As a result, our hands may be clean; but our hearts are filled with adultery. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” How do you guard your heart? In Matthew 5:29-30, Jesus says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” Jesus is not teaching self-mutilation as the way to personal holiness. Jesus uses this graphic language to exhort us to cut off any opportunity for the flesh to lead us astray. 

What if this message caught you too late? 

The religious leaders brought a woman who they caught in the act of adultery. They asked Jesus what they should do with her. It was a trap. If Jesus agreed with the Law of Moses and said to put her to death, they could say that he was defying the Roman government. If Jesus suggested she should be brought before the Roman authorities, they would say he rejected the Law of Mses. Without saying a word, Jesus stooped down on the ground and began to write in the dirt with his finger. Then he stood and said, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.” Then he stooped down again and continued writing in the dirt. When he finally looked up, the crowd had scattered, and the woman stood there alone. 

John 8:10-11 says, “Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’” Jesus gave this adulterous woman a new beginning by credit. He would have to pay for that forgiveness he extended to her that day. Jesus offers you a new beginning by cash. He died on the cross for your sins and rose for your justification. If you repent your sins and run to the cross, he will say to you, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”