Gospel Principles
Unit 8: Family Salvation
Chapter 39: The Law of Chastity
Concept 2: The Power of Procreation
"After the Creation, God commanded each living thing to reproduce after its own kind (Genesis 1:22 "And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth."). Reproduction was part of his plan so that all forms of life could continue to exist upon the earth.
Then he placed Adam and Eve on the earth. They were different from his other creations because they were his spirit children. God married Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and commanded them to multiply and replenish the earth (Genesis 1:28 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."). However, their lives were to be governed by moral laws rather than by instinct.
God wanted his spirit children to be born into families so they could be properly cared for and taught. We, like Adam and Eve, are to provide physical bodies for these spirit children through sexual reproduction.
The powers of procreation are sacred. God has commanded us that only in marriage are we to have sexual relations. This commandment is called the law of chastity.
Discussion
What are some important purposes of the marriage relationship?"