Holy Men of God - 07
· You kill your cat, you may be cruel but you are not a murderer
- There are two purposes behind this command.
A. To demonstrate and maintain the nature and value of human life
§ The sanctity of life is tied to the belief that humans are created by God in His own image.
*Aggression against another human is also aggression against God and for this reason is wrong.
B. To protect human life in our evil world.
§ Those who believe that there is no God can easily be led to believe that human life is only as valuable as the service it renders to society.
· i.e. - if you are poor, handicapped in some way, old, etc. your life is not valuable because you do not contribute much and vice versa.
§ In nations where belief in God is widespread, every person is considered equally important because of their nature not their productivity.
§ Where there is no belief (i.e. communism), there is also no problem with abortion, killing people who speak out, eliminating people like the poor, the sick and elderly, because they are a burden and no more than just flesh - old flesh.
· The danger in our country is the growth of humanistic philosophy in the last 100 years.
§ Humanism is dangerous because it denies the existence of God but uses ideas that come from a belief system that does.
· I.e. they believe that caring for the sick and poor is a good idea since this is the best way to run a society and promote peace.
· They do not do it because it is a divine command; rather they do it because they see that a system based on the principle of "loving your neighbor" really works and serves their social goals.
· The danger is subtle here but very real. You see, it is not a big step from believing in God with love to disbelieving in God with love to disbelieving in God without love.
· If someone comes along and says that they have a better plan for society (do it my way or I will kill you) and they have the muscle to back it up, there is no moral authority to stop them.
*This command establishes God as the final arbitrator over life and death, over how we treat each other - not man.
I. What is the rule?
· You shall not murder. The unlawful taking of another human life.
- What does this mean in every day terms?
1. Unlawful physical aggression.
A. One continuous life of unlawful aggression beginning with anger and including violence, rape, murder.
· Jesus connects anger and murder in the sense that both are on the same continuum.
2. Suicide
A. We can permit a terminally ill patient to die naturally without keeping them on a support system which might prolong their lives.
B. We cannot kill someone who requests to be killed because of depression or pain.
C. There are many reasons why people kill themselves (depression, substance abuse effects, pain) but these do not justify the act.
· As Christians we believe that God will not allow us to carry more than we can bear, physically or emotionally.
3. Abuse
A. Unnecessary risks to our or other's lives.
- Risk in order to feed our egos.
o Our bodies belong to God, not ourselves, foolish risks to gain fame or approval or excitement are presumptuous before our creator.
B. Abuse of our bodies through consumption of unlawful, harmful, overindulgence of various substances, habits, etc.
· This includes alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, overindulgence of food, prescriptions, etc.
· Also includes damaging our bodies with overwork, over-exercise, overdoing...
o Christians are to bring honor to God with their own bodies and honor the bodies of others as they honor their own.
II. What the Command does permit
· This command does permit killing in certain circumstances.
A. Hunting and Fishing.
§ Animals are not human, not made in the image of God, do not face judgment.
§ There is no intrinsic difference in the value of the life of a bird, an elephant, or a whale - only size and species.
§ The issue here is not murder but stewardship.
· We are the stewards of the earth's resources of animals, are we managing it well and without cruelty?
B. Capital punishment
§ The Bible considers life so precious that to unlawfully take one leads to the forfeiting of one's own in many cases (Gen. 9:6; Deut. 19:11-13; Rom. 13:1-ff).
§ All murder is killing but not all killing is murder.
§ God gives the State permission to execute criminals. This is seen in both Old and New Testament.
- Rapist - Deut. 22:25
- Kidnappers - Ex. 21:16
- Murderers - Gen. 9:6; Rom.13:4; Acts 25:1
§ Of course there are those that argue that a God of love and mercy would not condone such a thing - and this is a Biblical argument for the other side.
§ The balance is found in Ex. 23:7
- "Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or righteous, for I will acquit the guilty"
§ The goal in the consideration of the death penalty is not to stop rape and murder (these will always be because of sin), the goal is divine justice carried out by God's servant - the State.
· In doing its job the State must make absolutely sure that justice is carried out fairly in every case because in the end God will demand a reckoning from the accused as well as those carrying out His justice.
C. Police Work
§ I Peter 2:13-14 (submit to legal authorities)
§ We are not allowed to take the law into our own hands because we have not been given this right by God or the State.
§ Law is the deity of government and God will judge those who have served in this way.
· You may have a good reason to want personal revenge but you have no legal right or spiritual support for it. Rom. 12:19.
D. Self-Defense
§ "If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account." Ex. 22:2 (NAS)
§ God makes provision for us to use legal means to protect ourselves.
§ This extends to national defense as well.
· In Luke 13:14,Acts 10, the soldiers in question were not obliged to give up their roles to follow Christ.
· In Rom. 13, Paul speaks of the legitimate right the government has to use force in defending society.
o Justified self-defense is where an individual or a country defends itself against unjustified aggression against itself or those it is responsible to protect.
III. How do we keep this command?
- Matt. 5:38-45
vs.38
· Refers to the Jewish law of restitution that said that you must repay what you have lost, stolen or damaged.
· The purpose was to "regulate" restitution so that it would not escalate to revenge (2 eyes for 1 eye, etc.)
· In a broader sense this also refers to the role of government - to regulate justice and mete out punishment fairly for everyone.
vs. 39-43 - refers to the "law" by which the Christian lives. This law is above the law of government.
o The idea is that the Christian does not build upon evil for evil but overcomes evil with good.
· Christians do not run the government but in their personal lives they do control the law by which they will live - Christ calls us to this higher law.
· This does not mean a Christian cannot protect himself or seek protection or justice from the State.
o Even Jesus said that if His battle was on earth He would call 10,000 angels to defend Him - John 18:36.
· Allowing a murderer to attack your family or violate your home and responding by "turning the other cheek" is foolish and not really loving your family to whom you owe your first loyalty in society.
o This type of misguided attitude encourages evil.
· Obeying this command as Christians requires us to exercise Christian love and forgiveness with wisdom and proper judgment.
o I.e. I will pray for and forgive the drunk driver who kills one in my family but I will also support the government's right and duty to punish this person according to the law.
o Both are required of me and the government by God.
Summary
1. The 6th Commandment establishes that human life is precious because it is created by God in His own likeness and to willfully damage our own or someone else's life is an act of aggression against God.
2. Because of sin and evil in the world, God allows government to protect society against evil by punishing and executing criminals (in fairness and justice) and also defend the nation against evil power in the world.
3. The Christian attitude toward evil and violent people is to try to win them over with good whenever possible but not at the expense of what is good.
· I do not allow someone to harm me or others in order to show them I love them. (Next Week part II - Abortion Debate).