In response to the sixth commandment, mankind naturally fails in keeping it. He fails accidentally, as a manslayer, because he lives in a rebellious world ruined by sin. He actively fails in his premeditation, proving the filthy, wretchedness of his own heart. God communicates the warning “You shall not murder,” because he knows what is in all men. Men will kill because they are murderers. Jesus Christ beautifully developed this command in Matthew 5:21 – 26 by attributing hate of one another as equal to murder. Later in Matthew, in response to the rich young ruler’s response to have kept the Ten Commandments, Jesus’ reply points out that the young man was still not righteous (Matthew 19:18-22). Jesus would state that most important command is to love the Lord with all you heart and love your neighbor as yourself. The command against killing is not meant to provide humans with an ethical checklist in the sense of creating their own righteousness. As murder is equal to hate, the point of the command is to drive man in-ward, into his own soul, to arrive at the conclusion that he cannot keep this law, or any law that God demands, perfectly. What is then communicated in the law is the separation of the character of man from the character of God, and this leaves man helpless. Glory be to God, that Jesus Christ comes in flesh and fulfills the entire law, including “you shall not murder” and offers the gift of salvation from bondage of sin to those who would become children of God.
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