Commandment 6 - Respect Life

You shall not murder. (Exodus 20:13, NKJV)

Outline

Main Point: Because life is precious to God, we are commanded to respect human life.

1. Understanding the Commandment
    A. Life matters to God.
    B. Justice matters to God also.
    C. Love matters the most

2. Applying the Commandment
    A. The source of murder is … anger
    B. The consequences of unchecked anger
    C. Biblical process for dealing with anger/hatred toward another
    D. Relation to other life/death issues

In 1979, a city employee named Dan White went on a rampage and killed San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in City Hall. During the ensuing murder trial, White's attorney, Douglas Schmidt, presented a remarkable defense: His client's behavior had been caused by an overdose - of Twinkies! Psychiatrist Martin Blinder testified that White had eaten so many Twinkies that their high sugar content had resulted in sufficiently "diminished mental capacity" to account for the killings. The verdict? To the dismay of the prosecution, the jury agreed and convicted White of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. In legal circles, this outrageous argument is still referred to as the "Twinkie Defense."  [1]

6th commandment is another of the negative commands, one for which I am most grateful. To express it as a positive command, you might say: respect life.

Today’s culture in America has been called a “culture of death” by some. I would add that it is a “confused culture of death:”

It is confusing, why? Because the people who are confused are the ones without a standard of righteousness that is perfect. Mankind constantly tries to come up with substitutes for God’s perfect law and constantly mankind falls short.  Confusion is the only outcome possible without a perfect standard.

1. Understanding the Commandment

Q: In the King James Version, the commandment is “Thou shalt not kill.” All the modern translations have “you shall not murder.” So which is it – a command not to kill anything or anyone or a command not to murder another human being?

The command is that we not murder another human being.  This was the traditional Rabbinical understanding of this passage in the Torah. More importantly, we know this by comparing Scripture with Scripture.

A. Life matters to God.

God is the Author of Life (Acts 3:15) as we see in Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (NIV). Not only is God our Creator but He made us “in His image” with certain attributes that we alone share of His: eternal soul, mind to reason, emotions to feel, a will to choose. Therefore human life is very precious to Him.

Consider the warning from Proverbs about those who have no concern for human life:

10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. 11 If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul; 12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave, [b] and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"- 15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; 16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood. 17 How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds! 18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves! 19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it. (Proverbs 1:10-19, NKJV)

In taking an innocent human life, the murderer takes his own life instead. In taking another’s life, the murderer assumes the authority and prerogative of God Himself! Satan did not get away with that, and neither will you.

B. Justice matters to God also.

At the same time, we know that there were times that God commanded Israel to kill a human being. There were different treatments for different circumstances such as:

• Accidental – unintentional killing or self-defense (Numbers 35:11-12).
• Murder – intentional killing of innocent person (Cain and Able in Genesis 4).
• Capital punishment – intentional killing by government of a person guilty of heinous crime (Exodus 21:16, 22:18; Leviticus 20:10, 18:22; Deuteronomy 13:1-10, 17:6, 22:21-24; Zechariah 5:4; and others)
• Acts of war – intentional killing of people in self-defense by government order (Joshua 6:2-11, 8:1-2, 10:7-8, 11:6-9, and others)
• Suicide – to murder oneself (King Saul, 1 Samuel 31:4; Philippian jailer, Acts 16:25-28).

While killing a human being is an extremely serious issue at any point in time because of its finality, God provided for different treatment based on one’s intent – either the one doing the killing or the one needing to be killed:

11 then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. 12 They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment… 20 If he pushes him out of hatred or, while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, 21or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer… 29 "And these things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30 Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. 31 Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. 32 And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. 33 So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. 34 Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel."' (Numbers 35:11-12, 20-21,29-34, NKJV)

C. Love matters the most

Clearly, the command could not be simply “do not kill” since this would contradict other Scripture passages. So this commandment is rightly translated “You shall not murder” emphasizing the prohibition against taking the innocent life of another.

Because God created human life, and life is precious to Him, we must respect human life.

In this world, love for people is what matters the most to God! And Jesus said the two most important commands were to love the LORD with all you’ve got and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:28-31). Your love for others reflects how precious life is to your God.

Every human life is precious because the Bible says that our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ died for the sins of every human life:

For Christ died for sins, once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (1 Peter 3:18, NIV)

2. Applying the Commandment

Jesus spoke rather forcefully about murder and even pointed out the source of it.

A. The source of murder is … anger

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:21-22, NIV)

Unchecked anger leads to hatred which leads to violent thoughts and eventually violent acts. That is why Jesus spoke in such strong words (hyperbole). Every person is made in the image of God and deserving of respect, not necessarily because of their own actions, but because of our Creator God who made them.

B. The consequences of unchecked anger

It is imperative that you and I deal with our anger toward others in a Biblical manner to avoid rapidly sliding down the slippery slope. For instance, this is a true story:

There was a man in a growing church who wanted the church to buy a particular piece of property for the new church site. The church decided not to move there and the man was very hurt. He blamed the decision on the senior pastor. His anger brewed over the years. In fact, twenty years later he wrote a scathing letter about the pastor listing all his perceived faults and sent the letter to the personnel committee and the trustees. One of the deacons on the personnel committee was so concerned that he forwarded a copy of the letter to the rest of the deacons. You can imagine what happened next – nearly everyone in the church received a copy of the letter or had the opportunity to read it. By the way, nothing was mentioned about the land deal. Factions arose in the congregation and things were a huge mess.

What would you do?

The pastor dealt with the man privately and individually regarding his complaint. He eventually came to repentance and admitted his anger stemmed from that land decision so long ago. To try and resolve the mess he had made, he came before the entire congregation on a Sunday morning to confess his sin and seek forgiveness. While public confession is unusual in churches today, it was necessary because of his very public sin. It was his public confession that began the healing process for the church and for his relationship with that pastor.

C. Biblical process for dealing with anger/hatred toward another

1. Analyze what makes you feel that way. Do you have the facts? Jesus said, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (John 7:24, NIV).

2. Based on the facts, is it reasonable to be angry or bitter? Will it matter in the long run or must it be made right now? “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8, NIV).

3. If it matters then go to the other person privately and explain the facts as you understand them. Confirm that the other person agrees with the facts (Matthew 18:15).

4. If the facts are complete and in agreement, then offer rebuke (Biblical commands/principles applied to the situation with respect and without emotion – as in a court case). Clearly link God's word to the sin defined by the facts. Let the Holy Spirit work to bring conviction (John 16:8-11).

5. If he/she repents, forgive him (Luke 17:3-4). If he/she remains defiant in the face of God's clear word on the matter, begin church discipline process. Take 2-3 elders with you to confirm the facts and again offer the rebuke (Matthew 18:16)

6. If he/she repents, forgive him. But if the individual remains defiant in the face of God's clear word on the matter, then take the matter to the church – consult with the Pastor on proper forum for this issue (Matthew 18:17-20). 7. Always and at all times be prepared to forgive this person (Ephesians 4:32).

Key elements of this process are summed up in Matthew 18:

15 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18 I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18:15-20, NIV)

D. Relation to other life/death issues

This command applies directly to the sanctity of life in God’s eyes. Let's look at some specific areas of concern.

Based on this command, is there a problem with capital punishment?

• God gave a command after the flood to Noah long before the Law of Moses: "5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. 6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. (Genesis 9:5-6, NIV)
• See also the teaching concerning governmental authority for punishment (Romans 13:1-7).

Based on this command, is there a problem with acts of war?

• Reference Joshua 6:2-11, 8:1-2, 10:7-8, 11:6-9 where God clearly and directly commanded the Israelites to attack and obliterate another people group.

Based on this command, is there a problem with suicide?

• If life is sacred to God, then only God has the right to choose life or death for an individual.
• Suicide is simply the murder of one’s own life.

Based on this command, is there a problem with abortion?

• The issue of whether a preborn child is a “fetus” or a human is readily answered by other Scripture passages (Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:4-5; Luke 1:41,44)
• Therefore, if life is sacred to God, then only God has the right to choose life or death for an individual.

Conclusion

Does this command apply to our relationships with other people? Absolutely!  Because life is precious to God, we must respect human life – even those we disagree with! Every person is a precious soul to God – a soul for whom Christ died. Dare we treat with contempt one who is the object of the greatest love and greatest sacrifice by the Creator God?

End Notes

©  Copyright 2005, Randy Lariscy.

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