"You shall not murder." - Exo 20:13

The Sixth commandment.

In our previous posts we have emphasized that sinning against Man is sinning against God's image. This commandment brings it into sharp focus.

"But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." : Mt 22:34-40

A familiar passage, and one quoted back to us by people saying we are no longer under Law, but Grace - and if we do those two things Jesus said we should be fine! Why then are we harping on the Law here... That is all true - however - I would like to draw your attention to a couple of things that are really interesting to contemplate.

#1 - The passages quoted by our Lord are actually from Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18. The Mosaic Law! Not even the 10 commandments....that God SPOKE! ( Those are found in Exodus ). So by trying to obey the two fundamental principles laid down and taught by our Lord - we are actually keeping two of the many Mosaic Laws! :-) The Law actually contains Grace!!!!!

#2 - And this is easy to miss... the lawyer asked for 1 greatest commandment- Jesus gave him 2! Was that a 'Christ'mas special? No... :-) The key is in the words - "The second is like unto it". They are SIMILAR - so similar that they needed to be put together as the one greatest foundation on which everything rests!

Here are some verses that sharpen the point...
"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." - Mt 25:40 Loving/Hating/Serving people = Loving/Hating/Serving God!
"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also." 1 Jn 4:20-21 If you say you love and serve God but are nasty to the people around you - you are kidding yourself! And John repeats the commandment!
Loving Humanity is very similar to Loving God and is something He Himself does for ..." God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son " !

Now the first - tenth commandments should make perfect sense. They are all ONE commandment in principle! Love and Respect God (and His image), for God is Love!

The sixth commandment prohibits murder - it does not say - do not kill. If it did, no temple sacrifices would be possible in the OT and we would have literally nothing to eat! ( no not even vegetables- because they are living things - pre flood we were originally vegetarian, but after the flood we were permitted to eat animals - Gen 9:3). No, murder is something different.

Murder means the intentional and personal taking of human life without lawful sanction. Inadvertent manslaughter does not fall into this category. Killing without personal anger ( serving in an army, executing capital punishment, judgement ) is necessary- and God Himself does it and requires it - but this is different from planning in cold blood or taking a life in anger. The two best examples of these are King David and Cain. King David plotted in cold blood to kill Uriah so he could have his wife, and Cain killed Abel out of jealous anger. God judged them for it.

In the Sermon on the Mount our Lord takes it one step further. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca ( fool ) , shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool ( moron ), shall be in danger of hell fire. " Mt 5:21-22

Just as lust is the root of adultery, anger is the root of murder. (The word kill used here is an unfortunate translation of the Greek in the KJV - we have already addressed kill v murder earlier - Jesus is referring to the commandments in this passage). That is why the Apostle Paul asks us to walk in the Spirit - putting away the works of the flesh in Gal 5:19 "Adultery.... hatred, variance....wrath, strife, ...Envyings, murders,... , and such like".

There is one form of cold blooded humanly sanctioned murder being practiced today that we need to address. Yes, I am speaking of abortion. God hates child abuse and He abhors the shedding of innocent blood even more. According to the WHO, there are 40-50 Million abortions per year. That's 125,000 per day. 60 a minute or approx 240 deaths by the time you finish reading this post. 6 Million deaths in 2013 in the US alone based on data collected by the CDC. Truly the enemy comes to kill and destroy.

If being angry at ones brother puts one in jeopardy of hell-fire we should shudder to think of the judgement that awaits those who do this to enable a lascivious lifestyle or out of convenience. We should not be insensitive to the needs of people who financially cannot support another mouth, cases of rape and incest, and other situations but there are better alternatives than killing. For those who argue as to when life begins, here is a simple logic. When your daughter or wife misses her period - she is pregnant and -that's- the signal that a new life has started, not when she is delivering the baby.

For those who have committed this sin, it is not beyond Gods love to forgive you. He has, if you have taken it to Him, washed it in His Blood ( - He - had to PAY for it ) and repented ( turned from it ) forever more. Do not stop loving those who do this out of ignorance - because they really really do not know what they are doing!

"Whoever sheds man's blood, His blood will be shed by man, for God made man in His image." : Gen 9:6

This is not an uplifting or cheerful post, but take comfort in the fact that ".... such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Cor 6:11 Murder is not in the list of sins listed in the verses preceding the one just quoted, but I am sure that if God could be merciful to Cain, and forgive David, Moses and Paul - He will forgive you!

Hallelujah!