Exodus 20:13 (ESV):
Exodus 20:13 You shall not murder.
Just four words in English.
Actually, it’s only two words in Hebrew: Lo ratzach
Lo - the standard Hebrew negation meaning “no” or “you shall not”
Ratzach - To kill unlawfully, or to slay with intent.
This commandment forbids not just any kind of killing; but specifically murder. This is why “you shall not kill” (as the KJV renders it) is not as accurate. You shall not murder is the best way to put it in English.
This commandment means exactly what it sounds like it means… it forbids the unjust taking of a legally innocent life.
At the heart of the sixth commandment is a deep reverence for the sanctity of human life.
Human beings were created in God’s image. This is what sets us apart from all of God’s other creations… because of that, every single human life is precious.
Spurgeon: Man is God’s image-bearer. To take away life is to dishonor the Creator who made man in His own image.
This truth is the reason we as followers of Jesus vehemently oppose the taking of innocent life, whether through abortion or homicide or any other means; because every human life is precious, and the unjust taking of life is abhorrent to God.
By the way, this is probably the most universally agreed on commandment of all the Ten Commandments.
Some people take issue with some of the other commandments…
Many in our culture don’t really see the need for a prohibition on sexual immorality
Some don’t like the idea of limiting which gods someone can worship
Some may not see the need to guard against something as abstract as coveting.
But virtually everyone across every society in the world agrees (at least on the surface) that murder is wrong.
At least… that’s what I would love to assume…. But in light of the events of this past week… specifically the assassination of our brother in Christ Charlie Kirk… and in light of the fact that many are going so far as to celebrate his murder… It turns out the sixth commandment needs to be clearly articulated now as much as ever.
You shall not murder.
It’s pretty wild that we would land on this commandment on this particular week in history.
But does this commandment only apply to those who have committed murder?
No.
Because, when we dig into the further reaching implications of this commandment, we find that perhaps no other commandment is more widely violated than this one.
A couple weeks ago I mentioned that each commandment represents a whole category of sins…
For example, ‘honor your father and mother’ doesn’t just stop with kids obeying their parents; it means even as adults we are to show honor in various ways to our parents, and it doesn’t just stop at parents… it means we need to honor all those in authority over us… elders in our lives, bosses, governmental authorities, etc. (We gave plenty of New Testament examples for reinforcement).
So in this case, the command to not murder must extend beyond literal homicide.
The question is, how far does it extend?
To answer that question, we’re going to flip over to the New Testament, first to Matthew chapter 5, where Jesus gives the answer.
This is Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount… and we’re going to look at the part where He takes common misunderstandings about God’s laws and restores them to God’s intended meaning.
He moves across various topics like lust, divorce, loving our neighbor… and he begins each one by first stating the misunderstanding then following it with the true intended meaning.
For example, he says things like:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy’, but I say to you, ‘love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…’
Or, “you have heard that it was said, ‘you shall not commit adultery’, but I say to you, anyone who even looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart…’
And so on.
So by the end of it, we are left with an overwhelming sense of how high and lofty and unattainable God’s standard of righteousness really is… and how Jesus alone has the authority to rightly define and apply God’s law.
Listen what He says about Murder…
Matthew 5:21–24 (ESV):
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
22 But I say to you…
And by the way, this is not Jesus against Moses… or Jesus against the Law… this is Jesus against the faulty interpretation of God’s law.
that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment;
whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council;
and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
Three parallel statements that all drive at the same point: when we harbor hatred in our hearts towards our fellow human beings, it moves the needle on the murder meter of God’s moral economy… and that is enough to render us sixth commandment breakers before a holy God.
When we are resentful, angry, and hateful towards our fellow human beings who are made in the image of God… we are actively breaking His sixth commandment. Maybe not in blatant action… but in spirit.
Now, to be clear: Jesus is not saying that hatred is the same thing as murder… Actual murder is obviously much more serious than hatred in the heart… He is saying it is not only those who commit the act of murder who are in danger of judgment… it’s also those with hatred in their hearts.
In fact, according to the Bible…
Hatred is a barrier to worship
Hatred is a barrier to communion
Hatred is a barrier to prayer
Hatred is a barrier to salvation
1. Hatred is a barrier to worship
Jesus said…
23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Think of how this applies to us:
If we have hatred in our hearts towards someone else in the body of Christ… we need to get that cleared up before we come to worship the Lord.
If we know that someone has something against us, we need to get that cleared up and apologize before we come to worship the Lord.
So, harboring hatred in our hearts is so serious that it is a barrier to worshipping God.
2. Hatred is a barrier to communion
Paul writes to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 11 to scold them because while they thought they were coming together to take communion, the rich people were pigging out while the less wealthy members of the congregation were literally going hungry… Paul goes, ‘this is terrible… you think this passes as taking the Lord’s Supper? No way!’
And then Paul says something shocking…
1 Corinthians 11:27–30 (ESV): 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
So some within this local church had been experiencing the judgment of God in the form of sickness and death because they were making a mockery of communion by doing it while at the same time showing disdain for their fellow believers.
3. Hatred is a barrier to prayer
Jesus said…
Mark 11:25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
In other words, an unforgiving heart… a heart that harbors hatred… is disconnected from a prayerful relationship with God.
4. Hatred is a barrier to salvation
1 John 3:15 (ESV): 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 2:9–11 (ESV): 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
So according to these verses, hatred is completely incongruent with a heart that is flooded with the light of Christ.
Jr Highers and High Schoolers- on Friday night in youth group we talked about how Jesus is the light of the world, and if we follow Him we will not walk in darkness.
Notice, here it says that hatred is one of the signs that we are still walking in darkness. When Jesus gives us a new heart, one of the things He does in us is enable us to forgive others and not hate them.
So the sixth commandment reminds us of God’s moral standard, not just regarding murder but regarding hatred towards our fellow human beings.
But like all of God’s commandments, it does more than that.
It also points us towards our desperate need for Jesus our Savior.
Because when we measure ourselves up against the sixth commandment, we find that we fall desperately short of God’s standard.
When we take an honest inventory of our own hearts, we see that we are woefully susceptible to hatred in various forms. None of us are immune or without guilt.
And so… we are driven to the only One who can drive hatred from our hearts… and offer complete and total forgiveness.
the One who lived without any hatred…
the One who died to pay for the sin of hatred (and all other sins),
and who rose again to prove that the evil that led to His death could not prevail over Him or His followers.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only heart-level cure for hatred because it is through believing the gospel that we are given new hearts.
This was promised in the Old Testament, looking forward to the New Covenant:
Ezekiel 36:26-27 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Then we see the promise come to fulfillment in Christ:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV): Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
If you are in Christ, no matter HOW you have violated the sixth commandment—you are made new. You are forgiven. You are clean. And your identity is no longer defined by your sin but by the One who bore your sin.
Romans 5:5 (ESV): …God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Hebrews 8:10 (ESV): …after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
THIS is more than an external law. This is more than behavior modification. This is heart-level change, that alters a person’s core identity and works its way outward into action. This is real transformation. And this is what actually works, because it’s a work of God.
This is what the sixth commandment was always pointing towards… our Savior who would come and drive hatred and murderous intent far from the hearts of those who love Him.
I am aware that Charlie Kirk’s death has caused quite a stir this week.
It struck a nerve for millions of people (including myself). And so I want to close by applying the gospel to that particular situation.
As Christians, Charlie’s murder should remind us of a couple truths:
1. We are living in the ‘already-but-not-yet’.
That is, Christ is already reigning on the throne, but we are not yet free from the influence of evil in our world. One day we will be. One day there will be no more shootings, no more murder, no more sin or sadness or grief or hatred. Only eternal joy with those who belong to Christ. I believe Charlie is currently in the presence of Christ His Savior awaiting that day, even as we are.
Until then, evil should sadden us, but not surprise us.
2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV): 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted
John 16:33 (ESV): 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Which brings us to the next truth:
2. Evil is an enemy only Jesus can defeat.
Charlie was fighting a good fight; He was in many ways fulfilling Jesus’ command for Christians to be ‘salt and light’... to slow the decay of morality in our society. We should do the same. We should stand up for what’s right, help pass good laws, be part of the change where we can…
But even with our most concerted efforts, you and I cannot take hatred out of the human heart. Only Jesus Christ can do that. Legislation without heart transformation is only behavior modification; it doesn’t get at the root of the problem. When we come into a relationship with Jesus by repenting of our sins and trusting in Him as our Savior, Jesus gives us a new heart.
You want to help rid the world of murder and hatred? Then go share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible. For us as Christians, this should always be mission number one… For one, because this is the mission Jesus gave us (Matthew 28:18-20) and also because the more people are able to hear the gospel, the more some of them will respond positively to the gospel call, and be saved, and be given a new heart that is full of love instead of full of hatred.
3. The victory is already certain in Jesus.
The good news is that this mission will not fail. God has ordained that light will drive back the darkness, not the other way around. God will soon crush Satan under our feet (Romans 16), and He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore… (Rev. 21)
One day every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2) , and on that day, all evil (including murder and hatred) will be no more.
So go win souls for Christ, and watch Jesus change them from the inside out, and rest in the fact that you are on the winning team.
Discussion Questions:
What does the sixth commandment, in its fullest implication, forbid?
What are some ways we tend to break this commandment, perhaps without even realizing it? Get specific.
No amount of legislation, activism or moralism can root hatred out of the human heart… What is the only thing that can? How and why does it work?
Why is the gospel the only truly effective tool to create lasting reform in the human heart and in society? Elaborate.
If someone (a Christian) is struggling with hatred, what should they do?