Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 43

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. I have been much convicted by the writings of Pink and I pray your walk will also be strengthened meditating on his teaching of scripture …

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT PART IV

Though marriage is the Divinely appointed remedy for the sin of sexual uncleanness, that does not grant man the license to make a beast of himself. "Let it not be supposed by married persons that all things are lawful to them. Every man should observe sobriety towards his wife, and every wife, reciprocally, towards her husband; conducting themselves in such a manner as to do nothing unbecoming the decorum and temperance of marriage. For thus ought marriage contracted in the Lord to be regulated by moderation and modesty, and not to break out into the vilest lasciviousness. Such sensuality has been stigmatized by Ambrose with a severe but not unmerited censure, when he calls those who in their conjugal intercourse have no regard to modesty, the adulterers of their own wives" (Calvin).

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. Because God's Law is "spiritual" (Rom. 7:14), it not only forbids the gross outward acts of filthiness, but it prohibits and condemns unchastity of heart as well--all unlawful imaginations and contemplations. As there is such a thing as heart murder, so there is heart adultery, and he who commits speculative uncleanness and prostitutes his thoughts and imaginations to the impure embraces of lust is guilty of transgressing this commandment. "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matt. 5:28). Therefore we find the Apostle did not content himself with saying that it is better for a man to marry than to pollute himself with a harlot, but "it is better to marry than to burn" (1 Cor. 7:9)--harbor consuming passion.

1) Since “moderation and modesty” are relative to culture and time (to at least some degree) – do you agree with Calvin? How do we judge what then is right between a married couple in the privacy of the bedroom? How do men avoid becoming “adulterers of their own wives”?

2) How does pornography constitute “heart adultery”? Should those who never seek pornogrpahy be complacent? Do you agree with this statement: pornography feeds a filthy thought life but is not essential to its development”.