Murder

-The 10 Commandments-

#6 “Thou Shalt Not Kill” (murder)

When is ‘killing’ not ‘murder’
1. Killing plants (Genesis 9:3)
2. Killing animals (Deut. 12:15)
3. Killing at God’s Command (1 Samuel 15:3)
4. Killing accidentally (Exodus 21:12-14, Deut. 19:4-6)

What are the Principles Behind the Command?
1. Life belongs to God (Job 1:21)
2. Human life is very valuable (Genesis 1:27)
3. Murder is the fruit of Satan (John 8:44)

What attitudes can lead to murder?
1. Anger (Matthew 5:21-22)
2. Envy (1 John 3:11-12)
3. Hatred (1 John 3:13-15)
4. Depression (1 Kings 19:3-5)

What activities are compared to Murder
1. Criminal Negligence (Exodus 21:28-30)
2. Neglecting the Starving (Matt 25:40-46, James 5:1-6)
3. Using words like swords (Proverbs 12:18)

Ways in which ‘killing/murder’ is often legalized
1. Abortion (Proverbs 1:10-19)
2. Capital Punishment (Romans 12:17-21, 13:4)
3. War (John 18:11+36)
4. Euthanasia (Deut. 32:29)


The following is from David Bercot’s book
“Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up”

At a time when military valor was considered to be the greatest of virtues, the early Christians stood alone in declaring that war was simply murder on a grand scale. How ironic, therefore, that evangelical Christians in the United States not only condone war but are generally more militaristic than other segments of society…In fact, I know of no war in the entire history of the United States that evangelical Christians opposed in any significant numbers.

But doesn’t a Christian have a responsibility to His country? Shouldn’t a Christian help defend his country? The early Christians would have answered ‘yes – but in a very different way than the world.’ The Romans made the same charge to the early Christians, and the Christians replied:

“We are urged to help the king with all our might, to work with him in the preservation of justice, to fight for him…Our answer is that we do, when occasion requires, give help to kings, but in a divine way, ‘putting on the whole armor of God.’ The more anyone excels in holiness, the more effective is his help to kings, even more than is given by soldiers who go out to fight and slay as many of the enemy as they can…None fight better for the king than we do. Indeed, we refuse to fight under him, even if he demands it. But we do fight on his behalf, forming a special army- an army of righteousness- by offering our prayers to God.”

We may be inclined to call their view unrealistic; the early Christians called it trust. Who is right? History would indicate that perhaps these Christians weren’t as naïve as they might seem to us. During the period from the birth of Christ to around the beginning of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire didn’t experience even one successful invasion… In contrast, after the time of Constantine, when Christian teachers such as Augustine began teaching the doctrine of ‘holy war’ and Christians supported Rome with the sword, the entire western Roman Empire collapsed within a few decades.

Consistent with its position of not legislating righteousness in other areas of life, the early church made no law that Christians should not serve in the army… Generally speaking, the church did not permit a Christian to join the army after his conversion. However, if a man was already a soldier when he became a Christian, the church did not require him to resign. He was only required to never use the sword against anyone.

Christians viewed capital punishment much the same way they viewed war: A Christian should not execute a criminal, watch public executions, or even bring a capital charge against a fellow human being. In short, the early Christians utterly abhorred the taking of human life whether by war, execution or abortion. However, Christians did not purport to tell the secular government what it could or could not do in punishing criminals. The early Christians recognized that God allowed secular governments to use the sword.