The Death Penalty The Sixth Commandment He who unjustly takes a life shall justly forfeit his own. Leviticus 24:17 “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.” Leviticus 24:21b “…and whoever kills a person shall be put to death.” The fact that this sanction existed before the Ten Commandments and is explicitly continued in ...
Guard Your Heart The Sixth Commandment Murder begins in the heart. Leviticus 19:17, 18 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, ...
Honor Life The Sixth Commandment We are our brother’s keeper. Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.” Deuteronomy 5:17 “‘You shall not murder.’” This commandment which prohibits the taking of life also obligates men to do whatever is necessary to preserve and defend it. Cain’s question, “Am I my brother’s keeper,” (Gen. 4:9) is, in this commandment, answered ...
You Shall Not Murder The Sixth Commandment God alone is the Lord of life. Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.” Deuteronomy 5:17 “‘You shall not murder.’” Murder is the unlawful, willful, and premeditated taking of the life of another. God forbids murder, requiring the life of one who murders as appropriate retribution (Gen. 9:5, 6). God is the ...
Honor the Creation The Fifth Commandment No excuse for the wanton destruction of creation. Deuteronomy 20:19-20 “‘When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall ...
Conserving Creation The Fifth Commandment We are stewards of God’s creation. Deuteronomy 22:6, 7 “If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You ...
Honor Debtors The Fifth Commandment Even those in debt deserve honor. Deuteronomy 24:10-13 “When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. ...
Deference to Elders The Fifth Commandment God’s people must honor their elders Leviticus 19:32 “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.” Luke 14:7-11; Romans 12:10-17; 1 Peter 2:17 The reference here may be specifically to a ruler ...
Concerning Kings The Fifth Commandment Kings and all governments must serve the Law of God. Deuteronomy 17:14-20 “When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that ...
Referrals and Appeals The Fifth Commandment Speedy justice deters transgression. Deuteronomy 17:8-13 “If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise ...