If you could pick one of the Ten Commandments which is least likely to annoy people, the Sixth Commandment is probably it. With the exception of psychopathic killers, people think murder is a bad thing. If only we thought through the implications of this commandment more.
The Sixth Commandment does not just forbid murder, but all forms of unlawful killing. More than that, it forbids the attitude of hate which is a type of murder in the heart. Sadly today in our country, too many unlawful forms of killing have been given the tick of approval, and we are all prone to hating someone enough to wish them dead. Thankfully, even murderers find forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
The Sixth Commandment is relatively short and simple to remember: “you shall not murder” (v.13). If you grew up memorising the commandments from the KJV, you probably learnt it as “thou shalt not kill.”
The word translated murder by most modern translations covers a broad range of killings, which is why it is sometimes translated as “kill”. More than murder is meant by the passage; the word translated murder in Hebrew includes also accidental manslaughter, manslaughter where you are partly at fault due to some foolish or deliberate act, and crimes of passion.
Not all forms of killing are forbidden though. Self-defence is not a violation of this commandment, nor is capital punishment by the Government for murder (given approval by God in Genesis 9, cf. Romans 13:4). Likewise, killing in war is not forbidden by this commandment, or God’s command to the Israelites to put the inhabitants of Canaan to death for their sins would have been sinful! And no, you do not need to give up bacon and steak because the killing of animals does not fall under this commandment.
More than just forbidding murder, but less than forbidding all killing, this commandment forbids all forms of unlawful killing of innocent people.
The basis for this Commandment is two-fold. Firstly, we are made in God’s Image (Genesis 1:26-7; 9:6). When we unlawfully kill someone, we are depriving them of their fellow image-bearing nature, which is an offense against the God who made us all.
Secondly, only God has the right to determine who lives and dies (or who may exercise that right under delegated authority from him), because he is the author of life and sovereign of everything (Job 14:5). If we take to ourselves the right to determine the end of someone’s days, we are seizing a privilege which belongs to God and putting himself in our place.
But the command not to unlawfully kill covers more than just committing the act, but the inner thoughts that motivate them. Jesus teaches us that murder comes from the heart (Matt. 15:19), and that anyone who is angry is liable to judgement (Matt. 5:21-26). The Apostle John tells us that anyone who hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15).
Outward acts reflect inward nature. The anger in Cain’s heart led him to murder his brother (Gen. 4:8), and even more so Lamech (Gen. 4:19-24). So too, murder springs from anger in our hearts. To be angry enough to effectively wish someone’s death is just as wrong as following through.
Sadly we live in a culture where unlawful killings occur freely, and are even sanctioned by the State. Unwanted children are killed and disposed of as if this is the height of civilised freedom instead of evil barbarism. In recent times, so-called euthenasia and assisted suicide has been approved, throwing the elderly and infirm with their inconvenient cost on family and society on the scrapheap under the guise of “mercy”.
As believers we must do more than decline to exercise the legally-sanctioned options given to us, but actively seek its end. This could take political form, whether through petitions or marches, but also through “small rebellions” against the culture which enables it. Every time we step into someone’s life and help them value a life (theirs or another’s), whether very young or very old, healthy or sick, we take a stand against the culture of death.
We must also put to death hatred and envy in our own hearts. Instead of hating those who mean us harm, we should bless them. Murder in our hearts is just as bad, just as deserving of punishment, as putting our thoughts into action. In a world around where the main restraint on more death is the threat of the sword (Rom. 13:4), how amazing would be the example of people who are motivated by love rather than fear of retribution?
That we have to seek to put the anger of our hearts to death shows that we cannot, and have not, kept the Sixth Commandment. We are all, in our own ways, guilty of murder, if not by deed then by our thoughts. Thankfully, Christ never murdered, in his heart or otherwise. Instead, Jesus offered himself as an innocent sacrifice together with thieves and murderers, so that our murderous sin can be forgiven.
