October
1 – LD 40, Day 1: Murderers by Nature
by Pastor
Steven Key
Romans 13:10: “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour:
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
As we progress to our
treatment of the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt
not kill," we must be reminded that mere outward observance of the
Old Testament letter of the law will not be accepted by God. "Love
is the fulfilling of the law," and love is essentially an activity of
the heart. Mere external conformity which proceeds not from love will be
counted as worthless dead works and will receive God's just damnation. God
requires a holy, spiritual love. That love must be first and essentially, love
for God. Proceeding from that love must be love expressed toward the neighbour. That means that love for the neighbour
is out of the question where there is no love of God in Christ Jesus in the
heart.
In that light we are reminded
that according to our natures, we are murderers. That becomes even clearer to
us when Jesus spells it out with specific application in Matt 5. The finger of
God is pointed at you and me. In that passage, and especially Matt 5:21-22,
Jesus does not even speak about the actual act of physically murdering someone.
Very seldom does a citizen of the kingdom of heaven actually take a life by the
shedding of blood. But then, we must not think that because we are the citizens
of God's kingdom, and do not shed man's blood in murder, we escape the sin of
violating the sixth commandment. That is how the Pharisees interpreted this
law. They said, "..whosoever shall kill shall
be in danger of the judgment." But Jesus says, "But I say
unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to
his brother, Raca, [idiot, blockhead], shall be in
danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger
of hell fire." Very broad is the scope of the sixth commandment. We
must see, once again, not only our murderous natures; but we must see our
salvation in Jesus Christ and the positive way towards which this precept
directs us.