Thursday, February 7, 2013

A Study Of The Sixth Commandment

By Pastor Bruce K. Oyen
E-mail: bk_oyen@hotmail.com


This is a study of the sixth commandment.
      All Biblical quotations are from the ESV (English Standard Version), unless otherwise noted.
This command is found in Exodus 20:13, and in Deuteronomy 5:17.
     The command says: "You shall not murder." Though it is a short command, the subject gets a lot of attention in the Bible. It is especially practical in many cultures around the world known for violence, and is important here in the United States with its increase in murders.
The King James Version is misunderstood by some readers. 
The King James Version words the command this way: "Thou shalt not kill." This has been misunderstood by some persons who interpret it as a prohibition of all taking of human life, whether by capital punishment for murder, or in war against murderous nations, such as Nazi Germany.
This command does not prohibit capital punishment and war.
      However, even though capital punishment and war are not desirable, this command does not prohibit them. Rather, the command prohibits murder, which is the unnecessary taking of human life. This command, then, would prohibit, for example, most abortions of human beings.
But why did God prohibit murder?
      For Bible-believing Christians, the prohibition is rooted in the fact that mankind was created in the image of God, as we are told in Genesis 1:26 and 27, and in Matthew 19:3 - 6. The fact that humans were created in the image of God distinguishes them from animals.  Quite significantly, the verses in Matthew 19 quote the Lord Jesus Christ, who in his statements put his stamp of approval on the miraculous account of creation that we read in Genesis 1:26 and 27. This is the account so scorned by atheists, who believe in the evolution of mankind.     
      Many statements in the Bible extol the uniqueness of mankind because we have been created in God's image.  For instance, Psalm 8:3 - 9 records part of the psalm-writer's prayer, in which he said to God: "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the work of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" 
      For more about the uniqueness of man as God's creation, consider David's prayer to God in Psalm 139:13 - 16, which says: "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."
Consider the reason for murder.
      Murder is the symptom of something else. The reason for murder is the corruption of the human heart. Though we might not like to admit it, we all come into the world with corrupt hearts, and we have the potential for doing great harm to others.  Every cuddly, cooing little baby has the potential for becoming an Adolf Hitler, a Joseph Stalin, an Osama Bin Laden. Fortunately, only a relatively few persons follow those baser instincts that cause them to become murderers. It all depends on the choices we make about how we will live our lives.
Biblical evidence that murder is a symptom of a corrupt heart.
      Why do Christians believe murder comes from a corrupt heart? The answer is this: the Lord Jesus Christ said so in unmistakable terms. His statements are found in Mark 7:21 - 23, which says: " For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and they defile a person." These words prove that a corrupt heart is the source of murder.
      More evidence from the Bible that a corrupt heart is the source of murder is found in Galatians 5:19 - 22, which says in the King James Version: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these:  "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."        
     Still more evidence that murder comes from a corrupt heart is found in Genesis 6:11 and 12, which says: "Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth."   Violence is expressed in many ways, one of which is murder.
God will punish unforgiven murderers.
     Galatians 5:19 - 22, quoted above, tells us that that God will keep murderers out of the kingdom of God. And Revelation 21:8 says: "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
     These statements reveal how seriously God opposes murder and murderers.  The fact that God will judge murderers ought to cause them to seek the mercy of God now, while they still have opportunity to find it. Murder is a horrible sin, perhaps the worst crime against a fellow human being, but not so horrible that God will not forgive those who have committed it. Any murderer who sincerely turns to Jesus Christ for forgiveness will find it. But death ends all opportunity to be forgiven. Therefore, a murderer must turn to Jesus Christ and believe in him before death ends that opportunity. The one who dies without having believed on Jesus Christ for salvation will go to hell, which is a horrible place from which there is no escape.
Murderers should be punished by civil authorities.
     Now, since God will punish murderers, it is only logical that such persons should be punished by civil authorities. Punishment of murderers accomplishes at least three things: 1) It holds a person accountable for their behavior, which might, then, keep them from doing so again. 2) It serves as a deterrent to others who might otherwise commit murder if they think there will be no punishment for the crime. 3) It gives the murdered person's family and friends a sense that justice has been carried out on their behalf, and on behalf of the victim.  
The Bible endorses the punishment of murderers by civil authorities.
      One of the Old Testament endorsements of such punishment is found in Genesis 9:6, which says: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." Of course, not all murder results in the victim's blood being shed. Some victims are murdered with poison, some are murdered by strangulation, some are murdered by drowning, and others by other means that cause no bloodshed. But whatever the means used to commit murder, the Bible endorses the punishment of the murderer by civil authorities.
     Another Old Testament endorsement of punishment of murderers is found in the book of Numbers, chapter 35. In verses 16, 17, and 18 we read: "The murderer shall be put to death." The same point is made in other verses of this chapter. And in verse 30 we read: "If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness." In verse 33 the Jews were told: "You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it."
     The New Testament, too, endorses  the punishment of murderers by civil authorities. For example, Romans 13:3 and 4 says: "For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrong doer."  Since swords were used in that day to carry out capital punishment, Paul's point seems obvious: murderers should expect the death penalty!
Some murderers referred to  in the Bible.
      Satan was the first murderer. The Lord Jesus Christ told his listeners in John 8:44 that "he (Satan) was a murderer from the beginning." This refers, perhaps, to his malicious nature displayed during and after his rebellion against God. Though no murderer can truthfully say, "The devil made me do it!," they can say, "The devil wanted me to do it!," for he is behind all murders. It seems he delights in the death and destruction of human beings.
     Genesis chapter 4 tells us of the first murder in human history. We read in that chapter that Cain murdered his brother, Abel. The reason he did so was because he was jealous of his brother's acceptance with God, and he was angry that God had not accepted his self-centered attempt to worship him as he saw fit, rather than by a manner pleasing to God. Cain's jealousy led to his anger, which then led to the murder of his brother.     
      Another murder recorded in the Bible is king David's murder of his loyal soldier, Uriah. This is recorded in 2 Samuel 11. Here we see how one sin led to the sin of murder. Here is how it came about: king David committed adultery with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, while Uriah was off to war. To cover up the fact that he had gotten her pregnant, David had Uriah come home for a few days. David's plan was to set up circumstances that would make it look like Uriah got Bathsheba pregnant. His plan did not work, for Uriah refused to have sexual relations with her at that time. So, David came up with another plan, which would get Uriah killed in battle. Perhaps David's goal was to keep Uriah from revealing the fact that he was not the father of Bathsheba's child. As you might know, 2 Samuel 11 and 12 reveal how David got Uriah murdered, but that he still was exposed as an adulterer. We see something similar in the murders  of Abel and Uriah: in each case, one sin led to another, which led to murder. Fortunately, David got things right with God, and was forgiven of this horrible sin against Uriah.
     The most famous and most significant murder recorded in the Bible, and the most important one in all history, was the murder of Jesus. But his murder had positive results. It was a horrible murder, but God brought great things out of it. Romans 5:8 says: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 1 Peter 2:24 says of Jesus: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.." 1 Peter 4:14 says: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God." 
     Yes, "Christ died for us," Peter wrote. But he didn't stay dead. He came back to life! Paul pointed this out in 1 Corinthians 15:3 and 4, which says: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures."
    Christ's death was very important, but so was his resurrection. It was so important that 1 Corinthians 15:17 says: "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." The bodily resurrection of Jesus is so important that we cannot be saved without believing it really happened. If you want to become a Christian, take to heart what Romans 10:9 and 10 says about this subject: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."      

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