316. There are a number of reasons why a person may appear chaste, not only to others, but even to himself, when in fact he is utterly unchaste. For he is unaware that when lust is present in the will it constitutes a deed, and this lust can only be removed by the Lord after the person has repented. It is not abstaining from the act which makes a person chaste, but abstaining from willing it, when the opportunity is there, because it is a sin. Suppose for example someone abstains from adultery and fornication simply out of fear of the civil law and its penalties; from fear of losing his reputation and respectability; from fear of catching diseases by this means; from fear of quarrelling with his wife at home and thus upsetting his life; from fear of a husband or relatives taking revenge, and of being beaten by their servants; or from greed; or from weakness due to disease, abuse or age, or impotence for any other reason; even if he abstains from these actions as the result of any natural or moral law, and not at the same time as the result of spiritual law, yet that person is inwardly an adulterer and fornicator. For in spite of this he believes these actions not to be sins, and so in his spirit does not treat them as unlawful in the sight of God. Consequently he commits them in spirit, even if he does not do so bodily in the sight of the world. After death therefore, when he becomes a spirit, he openly speaks in favour of them.