Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1746
September 6, 2026
Deuteronomy 5.17 Click here for audio worship.
Dr. Ed Pettus
(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)
“Sixth Commandment – What is Forbidden”
“You shall not murder.”
What is Forbidden:
- Taking of Life
We have been on a journey through the Ten Commandments with two sermons per Commandment, one on what the Commandments require followed by the next which the Commandments forbid. Today we will finish the Sixth Commandment that forbids murder. Last Sunday we learned how the Sixth Commandment seeks to preserve life, defend life, and have a disposition of charity for life. We expressed the obvious that murder is the unlawful killing of another person. We also explored how this Commandment touches on the killing of soul, spirit, reputation, or ambition. As with all the Commandments, we see that they are expanded beyond the simple first reading. Therefore, we are called to consider that God’s Commandments embrace more for life than we might have considered before. The Sixth Commandment provides us more for life as well, particularly as the Sixth Commandment begins the second tablet directed at love for neighbor.
The primary act that is forbidden in this Commandment is the taking of life. We shall not take the life of another and not take our own life. I quoted Genesis 9.6 in the last sermon because it incorporates both murder that is forbidden and the permission lawful killing in capital punishment, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” The punishment for breaking the Sixth Commandment is severe because murder is an affront to God who created us in His image. As we know now, death can be understood as physical but also in other ways as I have already indicated. Proverbs 1 teaches us how people can even destroy themselves by their evil plans, “For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, 18but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. 19Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors” (1.18-19). It is the paradox of those who lie in wait with evil plans or seek unjust gains will kill their own spirit and soul and may even destroy their life physically as well.
It can be tempting to hope that those who are evil will fall into their own traps and often the Bible speaks to that end. The Bible even prays that way from time to time. But we know well that the Bible also calls us to pray for our enemies and only return good for evil. Part of this Commandment might be to leave vengeance to the Lord so that we are not tempted to desire death in any way on the wicked. There are some days when we might want to claim prayer for the wicked and other days when we might want to pray for their demise. In the end, we shall desire the will of the Lord! What we should desire, is the best for life and the gift of life from the Lord.
The Larger Catechism teaches three areas where killing is not forbidden, so these are the exceptions for today. The first is in the pursuit of public justice. Numbers 35.31, 33, “31Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death... 33You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.” As we all know, there has been debate over the issue of capital punishment in our society for many years. To this day some states allow it and others have abolished it. It is not my intention to debate it today but to show that the Bible seeks justice and protection for society through what is considered lawful killing.
The second area where killing is allowed is in a lawful war, sometimes called just war. Deuteronomy 20.1, “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
Another cause for killing another is self-defense. Ex 22.2-3, “If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, 3but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
- Neglecting the Means for Life
The second category in our outline on what is forbidden is neglecting the means for life. That is, we are called in the Sixth Commandment to do whatever we can and do so wisely for the sake of giving life to others. Jesus taught this in Matthew 25 in the parable of the sheep and the goats, failure to preserve life… “For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me” (42-43).
We read in the letter of James 2.15-16, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” I know that we would all be blessed to study the Westminster Confession and Larger and Shorter Catechism to see how much the Reformers drew out of Scripture to feed the church what is revealed in the Bible. This single point to not neglect the means for life falls under the Commandment not to murder. There is a link in all the Commandments but particularly for life in the Sixth that what we do or do not do is reflected in how we do or do not do what is required and what is forbidden when we take on the words “you shall not murder”. Murder, killing, doing harm, causing injury, these and anything that threatens the means for life is a breaking of this Commandment.
- Diminishing Life
In the same way that we are forbidden to neglect the means for life, we are also forbidden to do anything that diminishes life. As with all the Commandments, everything depends heavily on our disposition and character. The traits that diminish life for ourselves and for others are things like sinful anger, desire for revenge, or hatred. These kinds of things fester within our being in ways that kill our spirit and soul. These kinds of things also harm the life of others because anger and hatred lead us to treat others inappropriately. Last Sunday we heard from Matthew’s gospel when Jesus spoke of anger setting us up to judgment or calling someone a fool making us liable to the “hell of fire”. On a similar note, we read in 1 John 3.15, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” Envy is also forbidden under this Commandment, Proverbs 14.30, “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.” Once again, we see that a certain disposition harms ourselves. Envy makes the bones rot.
Anxiety is also forbidden, along with quarreling, causing injury, drunkenness, sexual immorality, or any conduct in all areas of life that may bring any kind of destruction to life, physical or spiritual. So, the Bible teaches us to lay aside harmful emotions, Ephesians 4.31, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”
An amazing thing develops when considering anything that diminishes life because the breaking of any of the Ten Commandments can cause harm to ourselves and to others. In essence all the Commandments are tied together in such a tight weave that we cannot break any of them without harming ourselves and others. We cannot reduce the Commandments to a simple single meaning. The Bible calls us to trust in God’s Word, to live by the Spirit, and follow Jesus by the fullness of His righteousness and not our own. When Jesus summarizes the Ten with the two great Commandments to love God and to love neighbor, there is a central disposition of love that we continue to foster that we might live in obedience to God’s Commands with God’s help and grace. But sin has so distorted the ability to love in the fullness of how God intended, that a we need Jesus day by day and moment by moment, to love God and one another as Jesus has loved us. May be live by the Spirit toward deeper maturity and a greater obedience to God’s Word. Amen.
