The Law of Chastity
God's standard for the sacred power of procreation, and why it has never changed.
The Standard
The law of chastity is straightforward: no sexual relations except between a man and a woman lawfully married to each other, and complete fidelity within that marriage. It applies to actions, and it applies to thoughts and words. There is no version of the commandment that excludes anyone, and there is no dispensation in which God has taught otherwise.
The reason for the standard is the power it governs. The ability to create a mortal body for an eternal spirit is the most sacred power God has given His children. Chastity is not God restricting a physical appetite. It is God protecting the power of creation by reserving it to the covenant of marriage, where the children it produces can be raised by a father and mother bound to each other.
The commandment is one of the Ten, written by the finger of God, and the Savior reaffirmed it in His mortal ministry.
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
How Serious the Sin Is
Sexual sin is not a minor transgression. When Alma corrected his son Corianton for immorality, he ranked it directly below murder and denying the Holy Ghost.
“Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?”
The gravity follows from the power. Because procreation stands next to God's own creative work, its misuse is a sin against something holy, not merely against a rule.
The Body Is a Temple
Paul taught that the body itself is holy. It is not personal property to be used without consequence; it is a gift from God and the dwelling place of His Spirit.
“Flee fornication. … What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
The restored gospel teaches that the physical body is essential to exaltation. Keeping it clean is part of honoring what it is.
Chastity Begins in the Mind
The Savior did not lower the standard; He raised it. He taught that the sin begins with the lustful thought, before any act.
“Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
The same standard is given in the latter days: “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.” Joseph in Egypt is the pattern — propositioned with no earthly consequence for yielding, he refused because the offense was against God: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
Before Marriage and Within It
Before marriage, the law requires complete abstinence from sexual relations. Paul stated it plainly: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.”
Within marriage, the law requires total fidelity to one's spouse. The gospel does not treat marital intimacy as shameful; it treats it as sacred. It is intended to express love and to create life, and Scripture honors it directly.
“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”
Key References
- 1 Corinthians 6:18–20 — The body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
- Matthew 5:27–28 — The sin begins in the heart
- Alma 39:5 — The gravity of sexual sin
- D&C 121:45 — Virtue in thought brings confidence before God
- The Family: A Proclamation to the World — The powers of procreation reserved for marriage
Repentance Is Real
Because the standard is high, many fall short of it. Serious as sexual sin is, it is not unforgivable. The same Atonement that makes the law binding also makes the sinner clean. Full forgiveness is available through sincere repentance and, where needed, confession to a bishop.
The Savior gave the pattern with the woman taken in adultery. He did not excuse the sin, and He did not condemn the sinner: “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” The commandment stands, and so does the mercy that redeems those who break it.