Title
The Sixth Commandment
Scripture
"You shall not murder."
(Exodus 20:13)
Devotional
Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time to kill.[11] Jesus told us, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer."[12] Is there contradiction in the Bible? No! The Bible teaches us that there is a time for the justice of the law to be imposed. Capital punishment is not a dictate of man, but of God. There are crimes that the punishment is to be death. This is not the cruelty of a merciless god, but the righteousness of a just God. The Sixth commandment instructs that there is to be no unjust taking of life. The taking of a life is never to be out of vengeance. Vengeance belongs to the Lord.[13] The Lord Jesus takes the Command to the fullest extent of its meaning. "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer."[14] Murder is an attitude of the heart as much as it is an action of the flesh. Every murder first takes place in the heart and mind. Let us not foolishly confuse murder with killing. Both take lives; one is evil and the other just. Let me close with a thought: how do you think God categorize abortion?