“The Seventh Commandment”
Deuteronomy 5:6,18
October 30, 2022
Faith Presbyterian Church – Morning Service
Pastor Nicoletti
The Reading of the Word
We continue this morning through the Ten Commandments in the book of Deuteronomy, as we come now to the seventh commandment. Our text will be Deuteronomy 5:6 & 18.
Please do listen carefully, for this is God’s word for us this morning.
The Lord said to his people:
6 “‘I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
[…]
18 “‘And you shall not commit adultery.
This is the word of the Lord. (Thanks be to God.)
“All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” [1 Peter 1:24-25]
Let’s pray …
Prayer of Illumination
Lord, as we come to your Word,
like the psalmist we ask you to teach us the way of your statutes,
that we might keep it to the end.
Give us understanding, that we may follow your word
and observe it with our whole hearts.
Incline our hearts to your testimonies,
and not to our own selfish ends.
Turn our eyes and attention now from frivolous things,
and give us life through your word.
Grant this, we ask, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
[Based on Psalm 119:33-34, 36-37]
Introduction
We come this morning, in the seventh commandment, to the Bible’s commands for human sexuality. And as we consider that, while we of course will not be graphic, we will need to deal directly with this important topic.
And as we do that this morning, with the seventh commandment as our starting point, we will consider three things. We’ll consider:
- The Bible’s commands for human sexuality,
- The Bible’s view of human sexuality, and
- The Bible’s hope for human sexuality.
The Bible’s Commands for Human Sexuality
So first, let’s consider the Bible’s commands for human sexuality. The command before us is “You shall not commit adultery.”
Taken in isolation what we have here is a commandment against a married person being unfaithful to their marriage by engaging in sexual activity with another person. And that is a central command that the Bible holds out for human sexuality. But as we have seen throughout this series, what we have in each of the Ten Commandments is a general commandment, which then has both broader and deeper implications which are expounded for us in the rest of the Christian Scriptures.
The broader implications of this commandment are made clear in the rest of the Law of Moses, which is in many ways an exposition of the Ten Commandments. And what we see there is that the Bible not only prohibits marital infidelity, but it actually prohibits any sexual activity outside of marriage – including sexual activity before marriage. In Exodus 22 and Deuteronomy 22 that is laid out clearly [Exodus 22:16-17; Deuteronomy 22:29 and 13-21]. And then those same laws and expectations are reaffirmed in the New Testament as well, with its prohibition against pornea, a Greek term that is broader than adultery, and that covers all sexual intercourse outside of marriage. [Frame, 764-766] That gives us the breadth of the Bible’s commands concerning human sexuality.
But then, there is a depth to these commands as well, as Jesus reminds us that God, in his commandments, is not only concerned with our external actions, but also with our hearts and minds.
Jesus says: “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.” [Matthew 5:27-28]
Here Jesus forbids looking at another person with lustful intent, categorizing it as “adultery” in our hearts. And with that phrase he includes both our eyes and our mind: both how we look at others, and also how we think about others. Jesus tells us that our thoughts, our words, our glances, are all subject to the seventh commandment. And in a culture awash in pornography, these words of Jesus have serious implications.
And so what we see from the rest of the Bible is that the seventh commandment is really a part that stands in for the whole Christian sexual ethic. And what it points us to is that according to the Christian Scriptures: The only acceptable venue for human sexual expression or union, whether in thought, word, or deed, is between one man and one woman in the context of a wholistic life-long commitment of marriage.
Now … some of you heard that and thought “Hey! You kinda snuck that one man and one woman thing in there. You can’t just assume that, you know.”
And you’re right. You can’t assume that definition of marriage in our culture any longer. You also can’t address it in a brief aside within a sermon either.
And so I’d encourage you to join us again this evening, as the topic of our evening sermon will be “What about same-sex marriage?”
For this morning, what we see is that the seventh commandment points us to the entirety of what the Bible commands for human sexuality, which tell us that the only acceptable venue for human sexual expression and union, whether in thought, word, or deed, is between one man and one woman in the context of a wholistic life-long commitment of marriage.
The Bible’s View of Human Sexuality
So that is what the Bible commands. The next question we need to consider is why it commands that.
Because for many in our culture, those commands feel kind of narrow and repressive. Many will be quick to argue that the Bible’s commands reflect a negative or a low view of human sexuality. Some will see it as a set of cultural or social restraints that are foreign to human sexuality and that are being imposed upon it. Some may even see in those commandments injustice, or thinly veiled power plays.
So we need to ask: Why does the Bible give these commands for human sexuality? What is the Bible’s view of human sexuality?
And there’s a lot we could say here, but this morning we’ll focus on four things. The Bible tells us that human sexuality:
- is powerful,
- is personal,
- is a promise, and
- is a picture.
Sexual Union is Powerful
So first, the Bible teaches us that human sexuality is powerful. Something profound happens in sexual union between two people. It affects them powerfully … and it can affect others powerfully.
And our culture both acknowledges this … and also actively denies it.
On the one hand, our culture has decried the sexual objectification of other people as a demeaning and damaging thing, recognizing the power that that has … while on the other hand it has insisted that quick and easy access to pornography filled with objectifying images is healthy and good.
On the one hand, our culture has gotten better at recognizing the deep damage that sexual coercion, abuse, and assault does to a person … while on the other hand it has encouraged us to see sexuality as a harmless plaything to be treated lightly, with companies using tag lines like “Relax … it’s just sex.”
On the one hand, our culture recognizes the deep pain and relational breakdown that can occur in someone’s life when their spouse is sexually unfaithful to them … while on the other hand it relentlessly tells us that our desires are good, and any activity between consenting adults is healthy.
Where our culture goes back and forth, contradicting itself about the serious power or the casual harmlessness of sex, the Bible affirms that human sexuality is always powerful.
That affirmation is sometimes misunderstood as reflecting a negative view of human sexuality. But it doesn’t. The Bible is actually very positive about the goodness of human sexuality. It teaches that God made human sexuality: that he invented it – it was his idea. And in the Bible, God is not shy about the goodness of human sexuality: it celebrates it in Song of Solomon, and in many other places it uses marital love as a picture of how God himself relates to his people. And so the Bible has a very high and positive view of human sexuality. It was made good. And it is good.
But the Bible says that human sexuality is not only very good, but it is also very powerful. And that’s why it must be channeled properly.
And we recognize these sorts of dynamics in many other areas of life.
For example: Electricity is good. God made it. And we can make wonderful use of it. It’s by using electricity properly that we have lights in here this morning, and my voice is being amplified, and the organ works, and people are able to watch on the livestream. Electricity is good when it’s properly channeled. We are pro-electricity here.
But being pro-electricity does not mean that we think electricity should be let loose, without restrictions, to go wherever its natural impulses take it. Because electricity is also incredibly powerful. It would be wrong to look at the power lines running to our building and say: “You know, if we were really pro-electricity, then we would release the electricity from the tight confines of those insulated wires, and we’d let it run free in the streets.” That wouldn’t release the goodness of electricity. Instead, by refusing to channel it properly, the very real power of electricity would turn from a force of great good to a force of destruction.
And that’s not unique to electricity. It’s a reality for all good things that are powerful. Gasoline, properly channeled through an internal combustion engine combined with a spark at just the right time, can do amazing things – it’s how most of you got here this morning. But that same gasoline, released from the confines and restrictions we usually put it in, set free to form a pool on the ground, and then combined with an open flame will unleash destruction, not productive power.
The Bible puts firm and narrow restrictions on human sexual expression and union. But it doesn’t do that because it thinks that human sexuality is bad. It does it because it knows that human sexuality is powerful. Human sexuality, improperly used, has led to heartbreak, to broken families, destroyed relationships, personal trauma, rage, jealousy, murder, war, and more. And all of that is not because human sexuality is bad. It’s because it is powerful, and so when it’s misused, real damage is done.
The Bible tells us that God made human sexuality both good and powerful. And because he loves us, he instructed us on how it should be channeled for our good, and he commanded us against the many ways it could be misused that would lead to brokenness and pain.
So the first reason we see in the Bible as a basis for its commandments regarding human sexuality, is that human sexuality is powerful.
Sexual Union is Personal
A second reason the Bible provides as a basis for those commandments is that human sexuality is personal.
And what I mean by that is that our sexuality cannot be fragmented off or separated from the rest of us, but it is deeply intertwined with us as whole and integrated persons.
This is something the unbelieving world has tried to deny for millennia. We see this tendency both in the secular culture around us today, and in the ancient pagan cultures that surrounded Israel and the early Church. Both pagan and late modern cultures seek to divide and fracture individual people into separate components of who they are, and to downplay or deny our wholistic unity.
In different ways, both the pagan and the late modern worlds treat sex as a commodity. There is a metaphorical marketplace where you mingle and try to find someone who will give you what you physically want from them, in exchange for what they physically want from you. And then there is a mutual exchange. But the idea is that that can stay separate from the rest of our lives and who we are.
Other times the marketplace is literal, and either physical or visual access to another person’s body is purchased for money. But again there is a sense that such activities can be separated from other aspects of your life. You could fracture off your sexuality from the rest of yourself, and so could someone else, and you could buy, sell, or barter, with no real ramifications for your heart, your mind, your soul, or your relationships with other people.
As one preacher puts, when you pursue someone sexually outside of marriage, then what you’re saying to them is: “I want to fully receive your body. But I don’t want to fully receive your heart, or your mind, or your social realities, or your financial realities. I’d like to take this one part of you, and sever it from the rest of you, so that I can receive this part of you completely, but keep the rest of you at more of a distance.” And at the same time, it is also to say, “I’ll fully give you my body, but not my heart, not my mind, not my social life, not my finances – those things I’ll separate and keep for myself, apart from you.” [Keller, 223][1]
Even when two people agree to such an arrangement, even when they are up-front about it, what they are asking the other person to do … what they are trying to do to themselves … is to fracture and divide the parts of who they are from each other … fragmenting themselves, where God had designed them to be a united whole.
And so, once again, the Bible doesn’t have a negative view of human sexuality. Rather, it has a high view of human beings as wholistic persons, and it rejects a sexual ethic that would seek to divide people up into their component parts and dimensions. [Lewis, Mere, 97]
This is why the proper channel for human sexuality is a wholistic life-long commitment of marriage. Because only in that context do we give and receive our entire selves to each other: mentally, emotionally, socially, legally, and financially … as well as physically.
And so a second framework the Bible gives us is that sexual union is deeply personal – it is integrated to all of who we are, as united and whole persons.
Sexual Union is a Promise
The third thing the Bible tells us is that sexual union is a promise.
Now, the premise in this is that bodies communicate, and can do so without words. Non-verbal communication through physical actions is so common we barely notice it. We look people in the eye to acknowledge them. We smile to indicate we are glad to see them. We hold out our hand for a handshake, or we put out our arms for a hug, or we greet someone with a kiss, and all of that communicates something. And often those physical communications are more powerful than verbal ones. When another person cries, often giving them a hug, putting our arm around them, or even just reaching out to place our hand on their shoulder – each action communicates something without words: “I’m so sorry.” or “I wish I could take your pain away.” or “Whatever happens, I’ll be right here with you.” Those are the sort of things such actions communicate. But they usually communicate them more powerfully than words do. In fact, that is so true that when our verbal communication and our physical communication contradict each other, the physical communication – what we say with our bodies – is almost always much more powerful than what we say with our words.
If someone walks into a room and you say, “Good to see you,” with your words, but physically you grimace while you say it, then your silent physical communication will actually speak at a much louder volume than your verbal communication. Or when someone tells you about something bad that happened to them and you say “I’m so sorry to hear that” but you have a smile on your face, then all they’ll hear is the smile, and your words will be received as a mockery.
Our bodies communicate, and their communication is often deeper and weightier than the words we speak. And the same is true in the realm of human sexuality.
For human beings, an act of sexual union that we carry out with our body is designed to communicate something specific. And what it’s designed to communicate is a wholistic and life-long commitment to another person. And just as with a smile or a grimace, that bodily communication speaks more loudly than anything we say with our words.
Which means that even if with our words we clearly communicate something very different – if two people say “This is a no strings attached thing – purely recreational.” But then they give their bodies to one another sexually, their bodies are communicating a commitment that speaks to the other person more powerfully than their words did.
A line in a secular movie – and a movie I haven’t actually seen – sums this up well. In it, a woman who is upset with a man for treating their earlier interaction as insignificant says to him “Don’t you know that when you sleep with someone, your body makes a promise whether you do or not.” [Vanilla Sky]
Now, to be clear here: I’m not saying that if two people have been united sexually, then “in God’s eyes” they already are married. That’s not what I’m saying.
What I am saying is that all sexual union and expression outside of marriage is a lie. Even as two adults completely consent to it, they are consenting to lie: to the other person’s body, and to their own body.
When one human being gives themselves to another physically, their body is saying “I am yours, I give myself to you, now and always.” And when we receive another person physically, that is also the message our bodies hear from that person.
In the context of wholistic and lifelong marriage, sexual union is a reaffirmation of our marriage vows.
But when sexual union is severed from the complete all-of-life union that is found in marriage, then really what we are doing is we are agreeing to lie – both to ourselves (to our own body) and to the other person.
So a third framework the Bible gives us for human sexuality is that sexual union is itself a promise.
Sexual Union is a Picture
Fourth, and the last framework we’ll consider this morning: the Bible also tells us that human sexual union is a picture.
Psalm 19 tells us that “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” It says that creation itself “pours out speech” about God. [Psalm 19:1-6] The Apostle Paul writes that God has communicated to all people about who he is in the things that he has made. [Romans 1:18-20]
The Bible tells us that every aspect of creation in some way speaks of God. As one writer puts it: “Matter is never just matter. Dirt is never just dirt, butterflies are never just butterflies, and flesh is never just flesh. All were created by God. As such, all communicate something about God. Everything in the universe – every star, every tree, every body – proclaims some truth about its Maker. They are all […] a metaphor. They are all a revelation. Every atom in the universe is pregnant with mystery, pregnant with grace, capable of helping man discover the truth about himself and God.” [Stimpson, 14-15]
God has filled the world with metaphors – with analogies that point to aspects of who he is and what he’s like. And chief among those metaphors – chief among those images, are human beings.
Human beings, Genesis 1 tells us, are living images of God. And the different aspects of how God has made us are meant to be living metaphors that point to God: both to who he is and to what he does.
Now, some of the metaphors that God has written into creation and human nature we can wonder and speculate about. But others God has explained very clearly in this Word. And one place where God has been very clear is in the realm of marriage and human sexuality.
Repeatedly in the Bible, God’s love for his people – for the Church – is described in terms of the love of a Bridegroom for his bride. And that’s not just something that comes up with the Apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians, but it is a repeated refrain throughout the Bible – especially in the Old Testament and the Hebrew prophets. God is a bridegroom, Israel – the Church before Christ’s incarnation – is his bride. God loves, and cares for, and draws close to his bride. And the prophets are not shy to use marital language here to describe their union [e.g.: Ezekiel 16:8]. And in that context, extending that metaphor, Israel’s idolatry – its worship of other gods – is overtly described as spiritual adultery [e.g.: Ezekiel 16:15].
And as we recognize that metaphor, we need to be clear about its origin. As Tim Keller has pointed out, it’s not that God went looking around for something to compare his relationship with his people to … and then decided that marriage would be a good metaphor. Rather, it’s that from the very beginning, God made marriage and designed it to be a metaphor for how he relates to his people.
As one theologian points out, when it comes to both marriage and sexuality, whatever we do, we will be preaching a gospel – we’ll be proclaiming what God is like, as his image bearers. And by our behavior we’ll either be preaching the true gospel, or a false gospel.
When we refuse to use other people selfishly, when we refuse to reduce them to objects, when we are faithful to our promises, when we give all of ourselves, wholly and permanently in marriage, and when we delight in marital intimacy – in all those ways, by our actions, we can rightly bear God’s image and live out a picture of his gospel.
On the other hand, when we misuse our sexual nature, we present a false picture of God and the gospel.
When we seek sexual fulfillment with someone without a total commitment for life, we proclaim a picture of a God who avoids committing to his people, or who is indifferent to whether his people commit to him. When we use other people, and reduce them to mere objects for our enjoyment, we present a picture of God who uses his Church for his own ends, or who doesn’t care if his people just use him. When we try out multiple sexual partners in succession, we present a picture of a God who moves from people to people on a whim, rather than being wholeheartedly committed to his Church. When we are unfaithful in our marriages, we present a picture of God as one who will turn his back on his people, or who doesn’t care if his people turn from him and to other gods. [Leithart, The Ten, 89-91; A Great, 11]
When we sin sexually, we misrepresent God himself. We lie, through our actions, about his character – about what he is like and how he relates to his people.
The God of the Bible does not divide himself, and give one part of himself to his people while withholding the rest: he gives himself fully to his people, and calls on them to do the same. The God of the Bible does not commit himself to his people just for a passing moment, on a whim, and then lose interest with them after that. He commits himself to his people forever – for all eternity, and he calls them to do the same. The God of the Bible does not admit rivals into his relationship with us: he will not make us compete for his attention, nor will he allow us to entertain rival gods. But he loves his Church fully and exclusively, and he calls on us to love him fully and exclusively.
And the God of the Bible made us in his image, and called us to bear his image truthfully, in all we do – including in the realities of marriage and sexuality that he created for that very purpose.
When we take all of this together, we see that far from having a low or a negative view of human sexuality, the Bible has an exceedingly high view of human sexuality. Human sexuality is powerful, it is personal, it is a promise, and it is even a picture of God’s enduring love, his self-giving, and his commitment to his people.
The Bible’s Hope for Human Sexuality
Now … after hearing all that, third and finally, we need to consider what the Bible’s hope is for human sexuality.
Because having heard what the Bible has to say about human sexuality … many of us may, in response, may feel distress … or even despair. Because we see the ways that we and others have fallen so short of what God has intended for us.
We may see the ways that we have fallen short of this in our minds, by objectifying others in our thoughts – reducing them in our minds from image bearers to mere things for our use, vacating them of their personhood and dignity.
We may see the ways we have fallen short of this with our eyes, or by seeking the eyes of others inappropriately – in ways that we have either looked upon others with lustful intent, separating their bodies from the rest of who they are as persons, or ways we have sought to evoke the lustful gaze of others, separating their sexual desire from the rest of them as persons.
And we may see the ways we have fallen short of this in our actions, engaging in communications or acts with another person in ways that seek to receive their body while keeping the rest of who they are at arms-length, all while communicating to them a lie with our own bodies.
In each case, our sin has misrepresented God – it has engaged our sexuality, which God gave us as a good gift, in a way that presents a false picture of God and his gospel.
And though sexual sin is always serious, sins of that nature are especially grievous for those who are married. Because we have sinned even more deeply against our marriage, our God, and our spouse – the one whom we have pledged ourselves to.
So as we consider this, we may feel despair over our own sin.
But also, at the same time, we may feel despair over the ways we have been sinned against.
Some of you see ways that you have been objectified and used by others – reduced to a mere thing in someone else’s mind or actions, to fulfill their desires and then be discarded. And that has left an impression on you.
Some of you have experienced the betrayal of adultery. You have suffered the deep wounds of your spouse being unfaithful in their hearts, with their words, or in their actions. And you are dealing with the damage that has caused to you.
And some of you have experienced abuse or assault in this area of your life, and you know that scars or even open wounds remain from that experience, where an aspect of your human nature that was intended by God to be a gift, was heinously twisted by someone in your life into a weapon.
Sexual brokenness abounds in this world – and the effects of our own sin, along with the wounds of how we have been sinned against are very real.
The Bible does not minimize our sin or our wounds. But it also tells us emphatically that healing is possible.
In fact, healing from the effects of sexual sin, is used in the Bible as an image of the gospel itself.
As we said earlier, a common image that the prophets use to describe the unfaithfulness of God’s people towards God is that of adultery: Israel was described as an unfaithful wife who had engaged in spiritual adultery … and not just once, but over and over again. And the devastation that caused in her life was real.
But the prophets did not end their message with a proclamation of doom and despair. But they continued with a promise of hope.
They proclaimed that though her sin would lead to real damage and even desolation, that would not be the end of the story. God, her true husband, would restore her. He would cleanse her. He would heal her. He would make her whole again. And then he would once more unite her to himself. That was how the prophets described the promise of the gospel that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
In the words of the prophets, the gospel is God bringing repentance, restoration, healing, and wholeness out of our cosmic adultery and unfaithfulness.
And if God is able to bring such restoration and healing from our cosmic adultery and unfaithfulness, how much more is he able to bring restoration and healing from our earthly adulteries and unfaithfulness – whether of thought, word, or deed?
Human sexuality is powerful, we have said. And it’s true. That’s why its misuse can cause such damage. But God is even more powerful, and in the gospel, he can heal whatever havoc sin has wrought.
Sexual sin fractures us, we have said – dividing our unified personhood in various ways. And it’s true. That’s why sexual sin can be de-humanizing. But God is able to reunite and heal what sin has torn apart – he is able to make us whole again.
We have said that sexual union is a promise, and is therefore to be united with a wholistic lifelong promise we make to our spouse. But where that promise has been broken, in the gospel God can bring forgiveness. And where we feel weak to keep that promise, God can empower us beyond our own strength and abilities.
We have said that human sexuality is to be a picture of God’s love, commitment, and delight in his people. And though we have twisted it to other ends and misrepresented him, in the gospel, he can glorify himself in forgiving us, in restoring us, and in enabling us, more and more, to live in ways that do point to and glorify him.
And so, today, as you consider the ways you have fallen short, go to God with your sin. And also, today, as you consider the wounds you have suffered, go to God with your brokenness. Speak to him directly about them, pray to him openly about them, and seek from him the healing and restoration that only he can give.
And as you do, consider how he may also be calling you to seek help from his Body, the Church. Who has he placed in your life among the people of God, that you can trust with your struggles in this area, and speak to, asking for help, or for prayer, or for accountability, or for a spiritual friend?
God is able to bring healing in your life through his Word, through his Spirit, and through his people.
That truth is real. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy. It also doesn’t mean that that work will be complete in this life. God can work in amazing ways in this life, to bring healing or repentance to every area of human life – including our sexuality. But while forgiveness for our sin is received in a moment, God’s work of making us new ordinarily doesn’t happen overnight. It will usually take time. It will usually take effort. It will usually call for sacrifice.
But the fruit of that work is glorious. It is the ability, more and more, to glorify God, and to enjoy him in all we say and all we do – in every area of life.
And while our healing and repentance may be partial in this life … our God is faithful – more faithful than any human spouse. And if we trust in him, then he promises that we will be his and he will be ours not only in this life, but in the life to come – into eternity, when our sanctification and our healing will be complete so that we glorify and enjoy God perfectly in all we say and all we do, because our sin and brokenness will be done away with forever.
Because that is the promise of the gospel.
Conclusion
By God’s grace, even now, we can glorify and enjoy him in each of the facets of how he has made us – including the ways he has made us as sexual beings.
Let’s therefore offer ourselves to him, so that we may enjoy his good gifts in their proper time, and in their proper place, for his glory, and for our good.
Amen.
—
This sermon draws on material from:
Barker, Paul. Introduction and notes to Deuteronomy in The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008.
Block, Daniel I. The NIV Application Commentary: Deuteronomy. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012.
Frame, John. The Doctrine of the Christian Life. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008.
Grabill, Stephen, in For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles, 2015, Episode 5: “Wisdom”.
John Paul II. Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body. Translation & Introduction by Michael Waldstein. Boston, MA: Pauline Books & Media, 2006.
Keller, Timothy with Kathy Keller. The Meaning of Marriage. New York, NY: Dutton, 2011.
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York, NY: Touchstone, 1943 (1996 Edition)
Lewis, C. S. The Four Loves in a collection of four works titled The Inspirational Works of C. S. Lewis (New York, NY: Inspirational Press, copyright 1960, collection printed 1994)
Leithart, Peter J. A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons. Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2006.
Leithart, Peter J. The Ten Commandments: A Guide to the Perfect Law of Liberty. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020.
Stimpson, Emily. These Beautiful Bones: An Everyday Theology of the Body. Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2013.
West, Christopher. Our Bodies Tell God’s Story: Discovering the Divine Plan for Love, Sex, and Gender. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2020.
Wright, Christopher. Deuteronomy. NIBC. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996.
[1] This idea is implied in this citation from Keller, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard him make this point in the form I have used here, but I could not find a proper citation for it.
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