Here is another example of how the home was designed to serve as a training-ground for moral living in society.

Presumably, this statute would have been applied from the earliest stages of life, thus training children to live modestly and with respect for one another all the days of their lives. For a man then – teen-aged and above – to look upon his sister’s nakedness would be to violate both the seventh commandment and the fifth, for he would show disdain for his parents’ teaching by deliberately acting against what he had been taught all his life.

This offense was to be punished by the guilty party(ies) being “cut off” from the community, perhaps for a season, until they understood the gravity of their offense and came to repentance. As in the case of the man in Corinth, re-institution of an offender into the community was to be sought both by the guilty sinner and the community as a whole. The purpose of the Law is to create a good and just society, where love for God and neighbor flourishes and abounds. The Law guides the believing community in the standards of godliness; serves to bring conviction of sin; and, through the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, provides the righteousness for repentant believers to grow in grace.

T. M. Moore

The Law of God is the soil which, fertilized by the rest of God’s Word and watered by His Spirit, brings forth the fruit of Christian life. If you’d like to understand this process better, and how to make best use of the Law in your walk with and work for the Lord, order the book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, from our online store.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.