The Sixth Commandment

Exodus 20:13 “13 “You shall not murder.”

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

Catechism

We will look at what is forbidden, what is required and make application.

I. But Our first task will be to prove that the sixth commandment is not merely forbidding an unlawful taking the life of another.

Principle of int.

Ursinus: a. when an effect is commanded or forbidden, the cause is also understood as being commanded or forbidden. God also forbids the means by which we might inflict a wrong upon any one. God forbids the means to the effect. And he also requires the opposite of what is forbidden. Which we sum up in love your neighbor as yourself.

That principle demonstrated in our Lords int of the 6th in our text above

Lets now consider what is forbidden and what is required.

We can sum it up to vices and virtues related to this command. Ursinus: “The vices which are forbidden in this precept of the Decalogue, tend to the destruction of life; whilst the virtues which it enjoins tend to the preservation of life, or the safety of men.”

What is forbidden?

The obvious is forbidden. You shall not murder. The unlawful taking of another life. Not many Christians have to be told this or taught this. How many citizens of the kingdom of heaven do you know that have been guilty of this? Further, we understand that bodily harm to another image bearer violates this command. Straight forward. The Pharisees got this and checked this box everyday. Not guilty there. “Whosever shall kill shall be in danger of hellfire was their saying”. But Jesus, pointing the finger at them and at us. Proves to all of us that we are indeed murderers by nature. We murder our neighbor with our words, we murder with our hearts. Anger, frustration, irritation, impatients, envy. The first motions in the heart Jesus tells us puts us in danger of judgement and hellfire. name calling and verbally assaulting our neighbor. As simple as a phrase like, “yeah, he’s a little slow” translated to, “he’s an idiot”.

But lets say verbally you keep it in check, You can show all the restraint and outward pleasantness( holiness) that is possible for you to show, outwardly you can be spotless. And if thats all you have, if inside of you, there is not first and foremost a principle of love to God, and from God to your neighbor, if you lack that. You are damned, regardless of what it looks like from the outside. If you are like mother tereasa in deeds to the poor and you have not faith working through love, you will parish eternally. Matthew 5:20 “20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

It is incumbent that we consider where are hearts are with regard to these first motions of murder in our hearts. Examine your heart in this matter often. Many great sins have been stumbled into because folks don’t consider the anger and bitterness that are brewing inside of them. And the devil is crafty and cunning to suggest that you not actually put forth your anger in physical aggression, but that you exercise it in lying or stealing, coveting, getting what you actually deserve. Heart murder can lead to actual murder, but often times it leads to other great sins. I would never take to violence, but I’m going to get what I deserve by deceit. Bitterness can manifest itself in adultry. We had a RB minister and professor fall into an audelterous relationship lately, and do you know what he said was taking place prior to the adulterous relationship. Pent up anger and biterness. Anger was the root sin, the unchecked sin that led to adultery. Which is toward providence ultimatley. You see it was all inside too. Who knew that was going on? Outwardly everything seemed fine. All was fine and well.

Examine your hearts. Daily we should be repenting of particular sins in this area. And This should drive us to Christ for new forgiveness and new supplies of grace and strength.

This is one of those commands where if everyone could see in big letters above your head, your thoughts of anger, bitterness, and impatients compared to your thoughts of charity, mercy, and peace, most of us would be mortified.

Both cruelty and leniency are forbidden.

To be overly cruel in the execution of justice and punishment violates the command. On the other hand to be too lenient violates the command. Why? Neither look out for the health and well being of the immediate offender and those of society. This is the way this command plays its part in upholding societies as many have said. Our own judicial system is a mess in this regard because of leniency which is forbidden of the magistrate and parents and any in authority.

Murder, bodily harm, hatful words and thoughts. Cruelty and lienency are are forbidden.

What is required?

That we do good to others. That we do what is in our ability to preserve our neighbors life and well-being.

It start with the way you think about those in front of you. How you view them. That is an image bearer and I have responsibility to that person. The whole person, body and soul. We cannot be passive. We must be active in doing good to all men. The squires and little Ella is a perfect example of this positive aspect of the command.

We are to be rich in good works. We are to do good to others and so be like God. God is good and does good. Goodness is essential to him, not so with us. But the psalmist says, you are good and you do good. We can do good. And are to be marked by this. and it is our blessedness when we do so. To be like God. To show charity and mercy to our neighbor. Rather than seeing your neighbor as competition, seeeing your neighbor as one whom you look out for will be to our improvement and sanctification.

Justice- Rather than leniency, justice be upheld. Commutitive justice must be upheld in the fulfilling of this command.

Objection. Capital punishment involves killing someone, therefore, it cannot be required of this command.

The command certainly forbids the individual taking the life of another. But not the magistrate, and not the ordinance put in place by God.

Thou shall not murder, does not do away with the office of the magistrate; Ursinus: “for he is the minister of God and does not bear the sword in vain.” (Rom. 13:4.) Hence when the magistrate puts wicked transgressors to death, it is not man, but God who is the executioner of the deed. We may also reply to this objection by reversing the argument thus: Therefore some are to be put to death, lest human society be destroyed by thieves and robbers.”

This means that one aspect of preserving life is taking life when justice calls for it. I heard a Christian questioning whether or not Charlie Kirks murderer should face the death penalty. As if NC ethics has done away with capital punishment. The mandate that God placed upon the taking of human life was not first and foremost covenantal but because of imago dei. Genesis 9:6 “6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.” Has never been repealed.

A HS was stabbed in the heart and died at a track meet recently, and there are people trying to plead his innocence. My question was, why is someone who stabbs someone in the heart in broad daylight allowed to live out a 35 yr sentence.

This is difficult when taking about capital punishment. Why do we think someone should be put to death. Is it to fulfill the lust of revenge. The Motive should not be personal vengeance but for a hatred of injustice. And the destroying of an image bearer. We should hate all forms of murder, and at the same time we should not delight in the fact that the consequence of murder is often capital punishment. Our indignation toward murder should be mixed with mercy. For example in a clear cut case of murder trial and sentence of the death penalty, There is no appeal to mercy with relation to the sentence, but there is to the soul. May that one come to repentance before death.

It is required that we are indignant over injustice where ever it pops up. But again, it must not cross over into sinful indignation. The pendulum swings back and forth in regard to this. That is between leniency or indifference, and righteous indignation. We need the wisdom to balance it. We need to speak up about the injustice that is done in our day and age, without doing it in a way that is disruptive or wrong itself. I have no problem at all with street preaching. But screaming into microphones at passer buyers is perhaps not the route.

We are to show mercy.

MERCY is a grief felt in view of the calamities and misfortunes of the innocent, or such as fall through weakness and infirmity, with a desire and attempt to mitigate these calamities. Or it is a virtue which pities good men in their calamities, or those who sin through ignorance or infirmity, and which desires to remove their misfortunes, or at least alleviate them as much as justice will admit of, and which rejoices not in the calamities even of such as are our enemies. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

Lastly, We are both required and forbidden to uphold and refrain from everything above even to our enemies, even to those we disagree with. We sort of operate on an exemption level sometimes. It doesn’t apply when I’m debating someone, or when they’re being foolish, etc…. No it is perpetual and universal brethren.

In all of this, as we mentioned, we need a righteousness that is other than our own. Not one that we can stir up ourselves. And this is that which Christ gives to us. Being justified and now in the process of being sanctified, it is a delightful thing that you begin even in this life to offer to God obedience from the heart. As weak as it is, it is there in the believer, rejoice in that. Repent when you sin, at the foot of the cross, and don’t leave their until you have in earnest appealed to God in Christ for fresh grace by the Spirit to work that which is pleasing to him.

And Learn to look all the more to the one who was without spot or blemish. Upright in every way. Yet who himself suffered the greatest injustice ever recorded. Injustice far far greater than the holicost or the cold war. He was crucified under pontius pilate suffer and was burreid.

Think about this command in relation to Jesus work. It was the suffering of injustice that our Savior bore throughout his life even to the point of death. That our lives might be preserved, that the image of God in us might be restored. God cared so much for his image bearers, that he sent his only begotten Son, to death, that those believing in him might live forever. In the face of undeserved death, he did not spout forth one murderous, thought, word, or deed. If he did, during his passion, fail in one point, he would have stayed in the grave, and there would have been no redemption. But not so, Without spot or blemish. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Died at the hands of his enemies, for his enemies. The enemies of God.

Neither Jesus nor Stephen, nor any other martyr who has pleaded for the forgiveness of there own murderers is cross with what we’ve just discussed. It is a plea not to excuse them of their deed, but that they might find forgiveness in the only place where it can be found, in Christs own blood. Forgiveness isn’t a wink at justice, but its execution falling upon another. The theif on the cross was still to bear the consequences of losing his earthly life, but was forgiven to rise again to eternal life, even at that day to be in the Lord Jesus presence.

We have glorious savior and redemption and praise be to God, that righteousness is even now being worked out in us who walk not acc to flesh but SPrit