08 Mar Misquoted Commandment
Genesis 9:6 – “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17 – “You shall not murder.”
In two different books following the book of Genesis, God gives Moses the 10 Commandments at Mount Sinai. These are so important that they’re recorded not once but twice – both in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.
The sixth commandment – “You shall not murder” is oftentimes misquoted as “You shall not kill”, but that’s not what it’s actually saying. There’s a distinct difference.
To kill someone is simply to take a life but, to murder, is the pre-meditated killing of another human being. Sometimes, police or military service members must kill another human, take their life, to stop this person from continuing to murder them or others.
Christians believe that human life is sacred and those who willingly take human life should face justice. We believe this because it is precisely what God says. In Genesis 9, the terms of God’s covenant with Noah include not taking innocent human life but being able to eat animals. Why? Because human life is more sacred than animal life, and people who don’t know that act like animals and take the lives of animals and people. The existence of just laws, law enforcement, and military personnel is needed to obey God and preserve human life. In recent years, those cities that sought to reduce the enforcement of law have seen murders increase and the quality of living decrease, because people are sinners just as Genesis and the rest of the Bible says.
Progressivism will say that we as a humanity are good and getting better, but the Bible-based truth is that we’re actually bad and getting worse. Without accepting a relationship with God, we have a bad heart, and our desire is to do bad. Consequence, punishment, and the rule of law helps to restrain human evil. Only because of His restraining grace towards us are we able to not have a completely fallen, dark, sinful heart and world where things become hell on earth. This is why the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ is so vital. Rather than making us better people, God’s plan is to make us new. Rather than working around our hard, sinful, and selfish heart, God’s plan is to give us a new heart so that all of our life flows from the new heart ruled by the Holy Spirit.
Are you a Christian? If so, what major desires have changed in you since God gave you a new heart?
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