WLC 139

Q139. What are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment?

The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required, are, adultery, fornication, rape, incest, sodomy, and all unnatural lusts; all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections; all corrupt or filthy communications, or listening thereunto; wanton looks, impudent or light behavior, immodest apparel; prohibiting of lawful, and dispensing with unlawful marriages; allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them; entangling vows of single life, undue delay of marriage; having more wives or husbands than one at the same time; unjust divorce, or desertion; idleness, gluttony, drunkenness, unchaste company; lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays; and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others.

Proof texts

• Prov. 5:7 — [7] And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
• Heb. 13:4 — [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.
• Gal. 5:19 — [19] Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
• 2 Sam. 13:14 — [14] But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.
• 1 Cor. 5:1 — [1] It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.
• Rom. 1:24,26-27 — [24] Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [26] For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; [27] and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
• Lev. 20:15-16 — [15] If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. [16] If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
• Matt. 5:28 — [28] But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
• Matt. 15:19 — [19] For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
• Col. 3:5 — [5] Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
• Eph. 5:3-4 — [3] But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. [4] Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
• Prov. 7:5,21-22 — [5] to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words. [21] With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. [22] All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast
• Isa. 3:16 — [16] The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet,
• 2 Pet. 2:14 — [14] They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!
• Prov. 7:10,13 — [10] And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart. [13] She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him,
• 1 Tim. 4:3 — [3] who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
• Lev. 18:1-21 — [1] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. [3] You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. [4] You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. [5] You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD. [6] “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD. [7] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. [8] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. [9] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. [10] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. [11] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, brought up in your father's family, since she is your sister. [12] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's relative. [13] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is your mother's relative. [14] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. [15] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. [16] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. [17] You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. [18] And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive. [19] “You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. [20] And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her. [21] You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
• Mark 6:18 — [18] For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.”
• Mal. 2:11-12 — [11] Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. [12] May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts!
• 1 Kings 15:12 — [12] He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
• 2 Kings 23:7 — [7] And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
• Deut. 23:17-18 — [17] “None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. [18] You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the LORD your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.
• Lev. 19:29 — [29] “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.
• Jer. 5:7 — [7] “How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores.
• Prov. 7:24-27 — [24] And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. [25] Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, [26] for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. [27] Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
• Matt. 19:10-11 — [10] The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” [11] But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given.
• 1 Cor. 7:7-9 — [7] I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. [8] To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. [9] But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
• Gen. 38:26 — [26] Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.
• Mal. 2:14-15 — [14] But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. [15] Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
• Matt. 19:5 — [5] 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’?
• Mal. 2:16 — [16] “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
• Matt. 5:32 — [32] But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
• 1 Cor. 7:12-13 — [12] To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. [13] If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.
• Ezek. 16:49 — [49] Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
• Prov. 23:30-33 — [30] Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. [31] Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. [32] In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. [33] Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things.
• Gen. 39:10 — [10] And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
• Prov. 5:8 — [8] Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,
• Eph. 5:4 — [4] Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
• Ezek. 23:14-16 — [14] But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, [15] wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. [16] When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
• Isa. 3:16 — [16] The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet,
• Isa. 23:15-17 — [15] In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: [16] “Take a harp; go about the city, O forgotten prostitute! Make sweet melody; sing many songs, that you may be remembered.” [17] At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.
• Mark 6:22 — [22] For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.”
• Rom. 13:13 — [13] Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
• 1 Pet. 4:3 — [3] For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
• 2 Kings 9:30 — [30] When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window.
• Jer. 4:30 — [30] And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.
• Ezek. 23:40 — [40] They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Prov. 5:7 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 47 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. WSC Q45 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. HC Q92 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

WSC Q45 · HC Q92