In the beginning God created one man and one woman. They were committed to each other for life. This is God's order for marriage—one man and one woman committed to each other for life.

God gave sex as both a means of producing offspring and a source of pleasure. Through sexual intercourse a husband and wife are able to express to the fullest their love for each other. This is one of the great blessings and privileges of marriage. To protect this blessing of marriage, God gave this commandment—"You shall not commit adultery."

This commandment forbids all sexual impurity. Adultery is sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her marriage partner. Fornication is sexual intercourse between a man and woman who are not married. Both are condemned by God, along with other sexual sins.

God looks not only at our actions but also at the thoughts and intents of our heart. You do not have to commit the act of adultery to be guilty of breaking this commandment. If you have looked upon someone with lust in your heart, you have broken the Seventh Commandment. Jesus said,

"…whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart." Matthew 5:28

Stealing is taking something that does not belong to you. Let us consider some facts about stealing:

• Stealing is stealing, regardless of the value of the thing stolen.
• Stealing is a sin, even though no one finds out about it.
• Stealing from a rich man is just as much a sin as stealing from a poor man. Some people who would not think of stealing from another person think nothing of stealing from a large company or from the government. But it is stealing, just the same.

There are other forms of stealing. The person who cheats on a school test or examination is stealing information that does not belong to him. The person who receives more in change than is due him and says nothing about it is stealing. The person who does not pay his rightful debts is also stealing.

If you are guilty of the sin of stealing, you can be forgiven of this sin, but God will expect you to do what you can to make things right with other people.

One of the first things a person should do after becoming a Christian is to make things right with those he has wronged in any way. No amount of weeping over sin and saying you are sorry will do unless you are willing to make things right with the people you have wronged.

The Ninth Commandment forbids bearing false witness. The two most common violations of this commandment are:

1. Slander

—spreading gossip and false reports about someone which tend to destroy that person's reputation.

The Bible says that the tongue is "an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." (James 3:8) Spreading gossip about someone has three deadly effects: It poisons the one who gossips, the one who hears the gossip, and the one about whom the gossip is spoken.

This is a sin which should be avoided by every child of God. The Bible says, "speak evil of no man." (Titus 3:2)

2. Lying

—saying or acting out that which is false and untrue.

In His Word, God names seven things that are utterly hateful to Him. Two of them involve lying. The Bible says,

"These six things does the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him:

"A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

"A heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

"A false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren." Proverbs 6:16-19

God is the "God of truth" (Deuteronomy 32:4) and He hates all lies. We tend to think that some lies are excusable. We speak of "little white lies." We call other lies "social lies," or "business lies." But any lie is a lie, regardless of when it is told or why. Jesus said that all lies come from Satan, the father of lies. The Lord Jesus said of Satan,

"…there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." John 8:44

God says that no liar is going to be in heaven. The Bible says,

"The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Revelation 21:8

"There shall in no wise enter into it [the heavenly city] any thing that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie." Revelation 21:27

David said, "I have chosen the way of truth." (Psalm 119:30) May God help us to make the same choice.

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