Chapter 11 - Thursday - The Ten Commandments Number 7 – 2008 7 24

"You shall not commit adultery," Exodus 20:14. In other words, no sex outside of marriage. Plain and simple.

I once saw a cartoon of Moses coming down to the Children of Israel after going back up Mount Sinai the second time to complete getting these laws, The Ten Commandments. He reported to his associates that he tried but he could not get God to relax on this one. Indeed, many people have difficulty with this law. As human beings, our sexual drive is very strong, coming right behind our drive to live.  Of course, that is precisely why God had to put limits on sexual activity.

We know all too well what happens when people have sex as freely as they want. There are unplanned pregnancies. One sin leads to another if abortion follows. Or, a child may be born unwanted and suffer. There are broken relationships, including marriage, when a partner goes astray. Serious diseases can result – infections, even cancer. This can even lead to a woman not being able to get pregnant anymore. Most importantly, it changes relationships and sex into things they were not meant to be.

We believe God created human beings to live in relationship to one another. The main one is the relationship of a man and a woman. The Book of Genesis only tells of God creating one woman for the man. We come to the conclusion, along with God giving 'laws' like this, that sex is only meant to be between one man and one woman. That is the only way it can truly be what God wants it to be. The world is overdoing sex, but are they really having a good time? For how long? Actual surveys of people show it is not those who have sex whenever they want who are really happiest with their sex life. It is devout faithful Christians, married to one partner, having sex only with that person. Sex is not just an act. It is a valuable part of a relationship.

So, if God created sex and has a plan for it, we should not treat it lightly, carelessly. We should watch our talk and our behaviour. What impression to do we give others about our beliefs about sex? Do we say things that make others uncomfortable around us because of the references to sex? Do we tell so-called 'dirty' jokes about sex? Do we watch pornography or 'dirty' movies? This is all not God-honouring and does nothing to build up our view of sex.

If we love the Lord our God (Commandment Number One according to Jesus – Matthew 22:37), we will not do these things. They may be tempting, but we need to remember two important passages from the New Testament. Hebrew 4:15 says of Jesus, "We do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched by our weaknesses; but was in every way tempted like we are, yet without sin." If Christ resisted temptation, so can we, with his help. This is the promise of the other passage, I Corinthians 10:13: "There is no temptation that will come upon you but what is common to all people: but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able; but will with the temptation, also make a way to escape, so you can bear it". We need to pray daily that we not be led into temptation.