The sixth command forbids us to murder. The reason is given in Genesis 1 and 9 – we are made in God’s image. As image-bearers of God, human life is sacred and to be respected. Jesus teaches that this respect for human life must go beyond our actions to include our attitudes and words. We must not let our anger burn against others or speak contemptuously to others or of others (Matthew 5:21-22). John adds that we are murderers if we hate others (I John 3:15). We cannot murder with our hands or our thoughts or our words. Our hearts and words as well as our actions must be governed by respect and love.

By this definition, we all break the sixth commandment. How often are we angry with others because they get in our way? How often do we refer to others as idiots or morons? How often does hate lurk in our hearts? And both Jesus and John tell us that such attitudes and words deserve judgment in hell. We are all guilty, and in desperate need of a Savior.

And so this command drives us to the cross. It drives us to Jesus who died to pay for sins just like these. But Jesus also fulfilled this command by keeping it perfectly. The most dramatic example of his fulfillment is at the cross. As he is surrounded by angry hate-filled attackers, he asks his Father to forgive them. He doesn’t express hate or anger. As they mock and insult him, he does not respond in kind, but looks to his Father, trusting in Him throughout the ordeal (see I Peter 2:22-24). And through faith in Jesus, we are clothed in his perfect righteousness, his perfect fulfillment of this command.

And his perfect fulfillment then serves as an example for us to follow. By the power of the Holy Spirit as we too place our trust in the Father, we can follow Jesus in living out this command. So let us repent and put away our anger and hatred. Let us guard our tongues from speak contemptuously against others. And let us instead show respect and love towards those who are made in the very image of our God.