[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:19) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Access more audio, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.
Our topic is: "What Makes Christians Guilty of Murder?" Part VI of our Ten Commandments series. Here's Rick and Julie.
[Rick] (0:22 - 0:28) Welcome everyone, I'm Rick. I'm joined by Julie, a longtime contributor. Julie, what's our theme Scripture for this episode?
[Julie] (0:29 - 0:31) Exodus 20:13: "You shall not murder."
[Rick] (0:32 - 1:31) Well, that's straightforward. In this Ten Commandments series, we're looking at each commandment individually to see how they all apply to our present-day personal Christian lives.
In our systematic examination of each of the first five commandments, we have seen a powerful interconnectedness that deepens their meaning to us. The first three focus us only on God as our sole object of ultimate worship and loyalty. The Fourth Commandment--to remember the Sabbath--teaches us as Christians to rest in God through Jesus, making sure our motivations in life are continually spiritually focused.
The Fifth Commandment--honor your father and mother--was the first one to fully focus on our interpersonal human relationships. This respect and honor towards parents is the clear foundation for the rest of the commandments, which set rigid guidelines for the mutual respect we should have for all of humanity.
[Julie] (1:31 - 1:52) That Sixth Commandment is straightforward. Again, it's "You shall not murder," but that word for "murder" in Hebrew means "to dash in pieces; that is, to kill a human being." The root word literally means to shatter a life.
It has this sense of violently crushing or breaking a life, not merely killing it.
[Rick] (1:52 - 2:34) Okay, so this is an "external instruction." It's a direct command to honor the sanctity of that human life you were just talking about, and it's given in the powerful context of honoring the sovereignty of God. That's what we have.
Now look, there are several words for "kill" or "slay" in the Old Testament. This one describes a person who takes a life of another outside the limitations of the Law, and implies passion and rage behind the deed. There's a lot to this, it's very focused, and we need to understand just how it applies.
"You shall not murder" is the only commandment repeated in some form in all five books of the Torah, which is the first five books of the Bible.
[Julie] (2:35 - 3:29) Right, so starting in Genesis, right after Noah and his family came off the Ark, this is one of God's commands in Genesis 9:6: "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man." From that we learn that human life is sacred because we bear God's image, and anything that destroys life, dignity, or crushes the vulnerable violates the image of God. The prohibition against murder is again found in the commandment itself here in Exodus, and again in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
But that leads to the big question: How can the God who forbids killing also order it? Remember, he commanded Israel to kill the surrounding pagan nations, he asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, he allowed Jesus to be killed on the cross as part of the bigger plan. Is God contradicting Himself?
[Rick] (3:29 - 4:31) That's a really important question, and we want to look at that, because the fact that it is mentioned in the first five books of the Bible makes you really, really think, what does this mean? We need to also think, what doesn't it mean? Because there is a difference, there is a fundamental difference between human violence and divine judgment.
God knows all, is above all, is wise, is loving, is compassionate, is merciful, and He is just. So His judgments have much bigger reasons than our reactions. Killing done in war, in judicial justice, or by accident amongst human beings, is never in the Bible labeled by this word for "murder" or "murderer" at all.
It's important to recognize God's stance is far above ours, and we only in certain circumstances fit into this particular category for "murder." Let's look at an example of looking at God's justice in Psalms 94:1-2.
[Julie] (4:31 - 4:42) From the New Living Translation, it says: "O LORD...O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth! Arise, O judge of the earth, give the proud what they deserve."
[Rick] (4:42 - 4:45) Now see, we can read that and say, yeah, give them what they deserve!
[Julie] (4:45 - 4:46) Get them!
[Rick] (4:46 - 6:04) Yeah, but God's justice isn't like that. God's justice is eternal. Remember, His plan is for salvation for every man, woman, and child who ever lived.
Therefore, if God says this nation has to suffer because of their wrongdoings now, it's with His full knowledge, within His full plan to say they will be raised later to go through reconciliation. God's judgments and strains of war and all of those kinds of things have the eternal picture in mind. When we react, we don't.
That's really the big difference. The Sixth Commandment is testifying to the sacredness, and you said this already, it's the sacredness of human life as a direct creation of God. It's warning against acting upon one's own passion, rage and sense of personal retribution.
That's huge. Let's make sure that we understand that's where we cannot go. This Sixth Commandment Old Testament standard regarding murder is a definitive line in the sand.
It is a line that has been drawn clearly. It is something that you simply don't do. When someone was appropriately judged to be guilty of murder, the Law called for the death of that person--
simple, straightforward line in the sand.
[Julie] (6:04 - 6:43) That's how serious it was. For example, Numbers 35:30: "If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness." In other words, if you look at the Hebrew words with "kills" and "murderer," it says if someone strikes another person in a way that causes death, and it's determined to be an unlawful killing, that person is a murderer.
In fact, this entire Numbers 35 draws a clear legal line between accidental killing and murder, and Jesus is going to take that line as we're going to see, and he's going to move that line inward into our heart.
[Rick] (6:43 - 7:30) Yeah, Jesus' teachings on this for his followers-- now, these are the teachings for his disciples-- he takes that line in the sand and he moves it to a higher, more challenging position.
Julie, when we're through with this, we're going to see how much more challenging the position really is, because it really is dramatic. We see the line in the sand in the Old Testament; now let's go to the New Testament.
Let's look at the Beatitudes, Matthew 5, "Blessed are they..." You know, we all know the Beatitudes. After unfolding the Beatitudes--this is the Sermon on the Mount--Jesus taught all of his followers how different our calling is.
We would become--this is what he taught us--we would become the light that shows the way back to God for Israel and for the whole world. Let's drop in Matthew 5:14, 16:
[Julie] (7:31 - 7:44) "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
Rick, we're to be lightbearers.
[Rick] (7:45 - 9:08) Yes, "let your light shine before men." Keep this in mind when we go through this "thou shalt not murder" aspect of how Jesus teaches, because we are to be lightbearers, and that light should be something that others see and see our good works and they glorify God. Not us--they glorify God because of what they see.
Now going a little further in Matthew 5, Jesus next gave a series of practical examples of what standards of godliness would look like for his disciples. In Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 38, 43-44 and on and on and on, they all carry a very, very strong similar theme; building upon, correcting, and lifting.
Those three things-- building upon, correcting, and lifting the requirements of the Old Testament Law to a new, higher Christian standard. He taught us this with a very simple phrase.
Depending on the translation, it could be, the phrase is, "for I say to you," or King James, "but I say unto you." When Jesus, in Matthew 5, gives an example and then he says "but I say to you," or "for I say to you"-- however--you've got to stop, you've got to think, because okay, I need to be ready to be taught,
and what's going to be taught is not going to be easy. Let's look at how this unfolds. Julie, let's go to Matthew 5:20.
[Julie] (9:08 - 9:48) Here's the phrase: "For I say to you (let's pay attention), that if your righteousness may not abound above that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye may not enter to the reign of the heavens." The King James says "the kingdom of heaven." Jesus is telling them that unless their righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, they're not going to enter the kingdom.
This would have been shocking for his listeners, because they had been taught their whole lives that these elevated religious people were the most righteous ones in Israel. But in reality, they were often twisting God's law with loopholes and man-made traditions, and they distorted the purpose and meaning of the Law.
[Rick] (9:48 - 10:10) Jesus is telling his true followers, "for I say to you," your righteousness has to be above that. Christianity is called to a level of spirituality that's higher than all other examples, both then and now. "For I say to you"--be prepared, he's going to teach you something difficult.
Let's go further, Matthew 5:21.
[Julie] (10:11 - 10:54) Jesus is going to quote directly from the commandment: "Ye heard that it was said to the ancients, Thou shalt not kill (that word means murder, not just any kind of killing), and whoever may kill shall be in danger of the judgment." "The judgment" here refers to the lowest local court that handled ordinary civil and criminal cases in several cities in the area. It was made up of seven judges, and they had limited authority.
Let's continue the verse. "...but I say to you, that everyone who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment." Jesus is now connecting anger without cause to this first level of judgment in the local court.
[Rick] (10:54 - 11:46) Now remember, this is in the context of "thou shalt not murder," and he says, "for I say to you." In other words, that's what the Law says. We saw the line in the sand, but here's what I say.
That's right. Pick it up and pick it up to a high level. Everyone who's angry at his brother, angry, provoked, or enraged, exasperated with his brother, is in danger of that court that you had just mentioned.
Remember, for the local people back then under the Law, they would have gone to the court. Jesus is saying, if you are exasperated with your brother, you're liable for that. I mean that's a powerful, powerful statement.
Now let's take that teaching that Jesus gave and let's look at how it's given back to us again in Ephesians. Let's look at Ephesians 4:26-27:
[Julie] (11:46 - 12:00) "Be ANGRY (that's that same Greek word, provoke, enrage, exasperated), AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger
(different word for anger, meaning rage or indignation), and do not give the devil an opportunity."
[Rick] (12:01 - 12:10) "Do not give the devil an opportunity." Here's the first thing to notice. First thing to notice is Jesus raises a standard.
In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul repeats the raised standard.
[Julie] (12:10 - 12:10) Okay.
[Rick] (12:11 - 13:09) He's helping us recognize that this is really important. He says, don't be angry, don't be exasperated with your brother, and don't let the sun go down on your indignation. Basically what he's saying is, don't let the sun go down on your conclusions.
You have the feelings of exasperation and frustration, but don't let the sun go down on the conclusion of indignation. I'm just mad at them. We are not supposed to be that way.
Don't give the devil an opportunity. When Jesus says, you have heard it said, but I say to you--he's talking about being angry in the context of what was known as murder. That's a huge change.
We look at this, the Christian Responsibility to the Sanctity of Life, in the words of Jesus, by the teachings of the Apostle Paul. Here's what we've seen so far: If our anger or exasperation with our brother or sister is not appropriately checked, it can bring us to the same moral category as murder.
[Julie] (13:10 - 13:10) Yikes.
[Rick] (13:11 - 13:19) Yes, that's a good response. That is a very powerful response. It is serious.
[Julie] (13:20 - 13:53) That's very elevated, and I think about driving. Driving these days has become like a blood sport because somebody cuts you off, and before you even have time to think out comes something like, what a jerk or what a moron, and then you start driving aggressively and take it out on other drivers. That moment is a practical way to show how fast anger can turn into contempt, and how easily contempt can turn into dangerous behavior. Road rage has led to literal murder, but even when it doesn't, that instinctive anger without real cause is exactly what Jesus warns us about.
[Rick] (13:54 - 14:00) We have to look at this and say, in principle, I need to be careful as to how I react.
[Julie] (14:01 - 14:01) Yes.
[Rick] (14:01 - 14:30) Because my reactions may easily open and invite a response based on that reaction, and it comes down to recognizing that Jesus says, if you are angry, if you're exasperated with your brother, you're on the same level as murder. We'd better think, wait, wait, wait. Okay, I'm reacting.
Maybe it's not such a good idea. Maybe I need to learn to back up a little, especially with the driving. Take a breath.
Just take a breath. Wonder what kind of day that person's having.
[Julie] (14:31 - 14:32) That's one way to say it.
[Rick] (14:32 - 14:39) Well, and I do that because it's frustrating, and you're right. Sometimes you're like, what is happening around me and what? I wonder what's in their mind.
[Julie] (14:39 - 14:41) Maybe they're having a really bad day.
[Rick] (14:41 - 14:49) Yeah, maybe they're not. Maybe they're just angry. Whatever it is, I don't want to enter into that.
Other examples:
[Julie] (14:49 - 15:29) Well, the problem is unchecked anger can lead to contempt, which can lead ultimately to dehumanization. This happens when we reduce people to stereotypes or we label them as "those people." In our polarizing politics--I hate to bring up politics, but it's easy to look at somebody who sees things differently and think, how could they be so blind?
Don't they get it? Don't they see what I see? Look in the mirror and ask this question:
Have I ever decided that someone who sees politics differently is much less reasonable, less intelligent, or less deserving of respect?
[Rick] (15:29 - 15:47) Especially apply that to our brother and our sister. Do I do that with my brother and my sister? If I do, what am I actually doing?
I am walking into the territory that Jesus says is likened to murder.
[Julie] (15:47 - 15:50) Yeah. Our brother and sister in Christ, you mean?
[Rick] (15:50 - 16:10) Yes, yes, yes. Pause and consider the seriousness of this. Here's the thing, okay?
This is enough to go, oh my gosh, this is really something. But Jesus doesn't stop here. Oh no, no, no, no, no.
When we said he's going to raise the level, he raises the level. Let's go a little bit further. Matthew 5:22:
[Julie] (16:11 - 16:57) "...and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the Sanhedrin..." Young's literal translation that I read from uses the phrase "empty fellow," but the underlying Aramaic word Jesus spoke was "raca," a common insult meaning "empty-headed" or "worthless." This captures that everyday contempt that people show towards one another.
It was a real-world personal insult. The Sanhedrin was the highest Jewish court, so they handled major religious and national cases. It was located in Jerusalem.
Do I think contempt is no big deal? Jesus says God sees it as a serious offense, as serious as having to stand before the highest court in the land.
[Rick] (16:57 - 17:48) When you think about the audience he's speaking to, and he says if you say, if you have contempt for your brother, again, for your brother, for your brother in Christ specifically, you would be liable just like it would be to the Sanhedrin. That's like going to the Supreme Court in the United States, okay? You're going to go to the Supreme Court, and you think, well, come on, it can't be that big.
Jesus says it is. If he says it is, am I going to argue, or am I going to find a way to comply with what he's teaching me and how he's teaching me to respond? He's talking to the Jewish society of his day using the systems they understood to make his point.
He quantified the seriousness of anger and rage against our brothers in terms of their legal system to get their clear, focused, undivided attention.
[Julie] (17:48 - 18:12) Right, it's a metaphor. Anger is like being liable to the local court, but now contempt for your brother is being liable to the Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin. Human laws could only address this outward act of taking a life, but Jesus taught that God's standard goes much deeper, because we know God judges the inner attitudes and the beginnings of anger that lead to murder long before any blood is shed.
[Rick] (18:13 - 18:27) Yeah, we've already mentioned that Jesus is raising the standard really high, and sometimes you think, well, he's just giving examples. We already quoted the Apostle Paul in Ephesians standing up for his example. Well, now let's go to James in James 1:26 and see what he says.
[Julie] (18:27 - 18:37) This is harsh. Okay: "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless."
[Rick] (18:38 - 19:31) Your religion "is worthless." You get the point that what Jesus taught his truest followers took to heart, and they spent a lot of time reteaching and reminding us. James says, if you don't bridle your tongue, your religion is worthless.
I mean, think about it. It's like taking God's name in vain, the Third Commandment. We don't want to be stuck with that, but that's what James is saying.
That's where we will be. Folks, when we listen to this Jesus saying "for I say to you," and then he's raising this standard, we had better pay close attention. Again, Christian Responsibility to the Sanctity of Life: If our insulting and degrading speech against our brother or sister is not appropriately checked, it can bring us to the same moral category as murder.
The same moral category; let that sink in.
[Julie] (19:31 - 20:02) Well, let's talk about destructive speech. Sometimes the people that we hurt most are the ones closest to us, because with our family or our church family we drop the verbal filters that we'd use with strangers. We get too casual, too sarcastic, maybe too quick with a quip or an insult because familiarity makes us careless--and those careless words, they can hurt.
Jesus' warning about contempt isn't just for strangers; it's especially about those we live with and worship with.
[Rick] (20:03 - 21:07) I'm glad you brought that up, because that is a big thing. For me, in my life experience, I've had lots of wonderful privileges in working with the brotherhood on all kinds of issues--lots of things just like this, in a marriage where the filters get dropped, and then you're just shooting poison arrows at one another, and having to break that down and then rebuild something different, and to work on the language. That's why, Julie, you probably noticed that I'm very, very careful in responding to things.
I've seen it too much. I've watched the pain and the suffering and sometimes irreparable damage. In correspondences with the brotherhood when there's something that needs to be really seriously focused on, you know how I sign my name, right?
"Brother Rick." If it's something more casual, it's "Rick." But when I write "Brother Rick," it's because I want to make sure we are just not even getting close to, if we're having challenges, we need to settle down, take a breath.
So this is really important to me. Other examples?
[Julie] (21:08 - 22:05) Well, I think we can murder with words when we tear down someone's identity. We tell them or show them that they're worthless. We mock their abilities.
We use sarcasm that wounds. Online, the damage just multiplies with cyberbullying and shaming or comments that we just want to throw in a zinger, and we want to humiliate that person for some reason. Scripture says reckless words are like sword thrusts in Proverbs 12:18.
Even without physical violence, words can break a person down. They cut, they hurt, they scar. So here's the hard question:
Have I ever used my words, spoken or typed, in a careless way that wounded someone's identity, diminished their worth, or treated them as less than human? Ouch. We really have to think about this.
These words just come out.
[Rick] (22:06 - 22:41) Jesus is talking about just the reaction, and when we have the reaction, we need to pause. Reaction, pause, response-- we've talked about that many times in the past.
It applies dramatically here. Okay, you react, you can't take that back. But you can pause and not follow through with it.
Because if we're following through, we're showing a disdain for our brother or sister, and that is not healthy. As a matter of fact, let's go to 1 John, another one of Jesus' followers.
Let's see what he says about this idea of Christian potential murder of our brother or sister. 1 John 3:15-16:
[Julie] (22:41 - 23:16) "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." This word for "hates" is "to detest," or it sometimes can mean "love less." But the context here makes it clear that John is talking about active hostility, that kind of heart-level rejection that Jesus identified as the root, that root that needs to be rooted out, that root of murder.
Let's continue with verse 16: "We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
[Rick] (23:16 - 23:46) There you go. He laid down his life for us, and so instead of getting lost in hate and frustration and contempt and all of those things, maybe we ought to think about laying our lives down for them, about putting them first, about raising them up and humiliating, being humble in terms of ourselves in front of them. Maybe, just maybe, Jesus and all of these followers that are writing in the New Testament are teaching us a lesson about personal humility--
and Jesus isn't done yet.
[Julie] (23:46 - 23:46) Oh no. Oh no.
[Rick] (23:47 - 23:51) No he's not. Let's go to Matthew 5, the latter part of verse 22.
[Julie] (23:51 - 24:03) He continues with: "And whoever may say, Rebel! (or fool, in the King James Version) shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire (meaning utter destruction). Wow.
[Rick] (24:03 - 24:54) Again, you say they're a fool, you're in danger of gehenna, the fire of destruction. You're in danger of losing everything. That's really God's judgment against you.
So it started with the lower court and went to the Supreme Court, and then it says you're in danger of losing everything. You see how he's elevating the circumstances, saying pay attention, pay attention, pay attention, because this is so important. We need to be clear that we don't get stuck in these things.
When you talk about somebody as being a fool, you've lost your respect for them. If they're your brother, who do we think we are, losing our respect for them? What right do I have to lose my respect for my brother?
I don't have a right. God is the judge, not me. Let's go back to James and just see what he says about this very thing.
James 3:8-10:
[Julie] (24:55 - 25:27) "But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God..."
We talked about this earlier in Genesis. God forbids murder because humans bear His image, and only He, not human rage, has authority over life and death. We'll continue with James 3:10:
"...from that same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way."
[Rick] (25:27 - 25:50) James is telling us there is a fundamental contradiction when from the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. If we are engaging in those rage things, in those diminishing things towards others, in that contempt, in that divisiveness--if we're engaging those things, there's a fundamental issue. It should not be so.
That's what James says.
[Julie] (25:50 - 25:51) Because your religion is worthless.
[Rick] (25:52 - 25:56) Right. You've lost the value of everything you've been taught. That's really what it's saying.
[Julie] (25:56 - 26:19) Remember, Jesus started the discussion back in, we were talking about Matthew 5:14, 16. "You are the light of the world." "Let your light shine..."
You glorify your Father. Because we're called to be lightbearers, Jesus shows us how the Law reaches deeper than just outward behavior and actually killing someone. Cursing those who have been made in the likeness of God isn't going to bring honor and glory to God.
[Rick] (26:19 - 27:16) Isn't that the whole point? If you're the light of the world so that God can be glorified by your works, all of these things are contrary. That's why Jesus makes it more and more serious, and that's why the brethren who wrote the New Testament jump on the bandwagon with him and show us how serious it really is.
Again, we look at the Christian Responsibility to the Sanctity of Life: If our contempt and disdain for anyone is not appropriately checked, if we don't just say, wait a minute, there's something wrong with this picture, it can bring us to the same moral category as murder. Think about this.
Think about what Jesus has been teaching in Matthew 5. He wasn't just tweaking the Law. He wasn't just turning and saying, well, you know, you got to be a little...
He is revolutionizing it for those who are following him. The standard is higher. This is what you are bound to, and it's not just Jesus who said it.
Go ahead, let's go into some examples.
[Julie] (27:16 - 28:03) Well, I think modern life makes this commandment even more challenging. You know, we may never take a life, but have you ever thought of murdering someone's hope and potential? This can happen when we tell someone, oh, you'll never change, or when we have constant criticism that crushes someone's confidence.
Think about between parents and children, or spouses have a really bad way of doing that. When our digital world overwhelms our teens with impossible beauty standards and fake comparisons and AI, we know it accelerates all these harms because it can spread damaging content faster than the truth can catch up to it. When we strip away somebody's belief in their own worth or their own future, we're committing a quiet kind of murder.
It's this killing of potential.
[Rick] (28:04 - 28:26) We're calling them a fool, and we have diminished them before themselves. When you, as an outsider, plant a seed of doubt into somebody else's heart and mind, you have no idea how deeply that can damage and destroy. Seen it in real life too many times, and it breaks my heart whenever it comes up.
[Julie] (28:26 - 28:37) Yeah, well here's a question: Have my words, attitudes, or online actions ever made someone doubt the possibility of their growth or the value of their own life?
[Rick] (28:38 - 28:45) Think about it, think about it, and think about it. While you're thinking about it, let's just go back to James one more time. James 4:11:
[Julie] (28:46 - 28:55) "Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the Law and judges it..."
[Rick] (28:55 - 29:34) There you have, it's a simple statement. Don't slander one another. All of these things fall into the category of slander.
We're belittling our brother before God. Who do I think I am if I'm doing that? Looking at this whole picture now, for Jesus' disciples--belittling, contempt and slander toward our brother or sister can be a recipe for attempting spiritual murder.
Think about it. Jesus finishes this teaching with a very simple solution, and the solution is...wait for it...it's humility. Let's look at Matthew 5:23-24:
[Julie] (29:34 - 29:47) "So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."
[Rick] (29:47 - 30:35) Let me just give you a Rick paraphrase on that to fit it into the context, not only in modern language, but of exactly what we're speaking about. Therefore, do not be content with outwardly serving God while you are not in harmony with your brother or sister. Instead, approach them.
Work to make things right, and you will be living your dedication to God instead of just making a presentation to God that outwardly looks good. That Third Commandment, "Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain"-- you don't carry the name of Christian without being a Christian.
That's what this is saying. Be humble in all of this. Lastly, let's go to Peter as we begin to wrap all of this up about this concept of what Christian murderer can look like.
1 Peter 4:15-16:
[Julie] (30:35 - 31:02) "Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name." Murder begins with attitudes that diminish life, and as disciples called to be the light of the world, our words, our thoughts, our actions must protect the worth of every person made in God's image.
[Rick] (31:02 - 32:18) That's a pretty strong, high, and lofty standard. Our Christian responsibility to the sanctity of life is really simple. Jesus' teaching was to avoid any movement toward murdering our brother or sister by humbly living the principles of godliness in all ways at all times.
Unchecked disrespect for our brother or sister can and will escalate. You know where it leads. The results are disastrous as we may end up murdering their reputation and any and all aspects of their worth before others.
Let's instead live as Jesus did. What did he do? He sacrificed himself for all.
Just maybe we should look at this, and instead of having that contempt and disdain and distress, maybe we should be sacrificial toward our brother and sister. Maybe we should work to lift them up. Maybe we should look at giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Maybe we should look at our own selves and say, where is that vault inside of my heart that I'm thinking these things? Let's be careful to honor, not murder. Think about it.
Coming up in our next episode--Part VII of our Ten Commandments series; "Is Adultery More Subtle Than We Think?"
Final Notes: copyright @2026 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.