Lord's Day 32

The sixth commandment is clear a declaration of the sanctity of life. God forbids murder, and in  so doing places great value on the gift of life that God has given to each of us. Positively, this  command requires us to do all we can to preserve our own lives and the lives of others; which  includes such simple things as exercising and staying healthy. But the command speaks to the  way we treat one another, preserving and honoring the lives of those around us; defending the  weak, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry. 

We can apply this commandment to the larger questions that we face today regarding abortion,  euthanasia, capital punishment, self-defence, and war. In 1941, German pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was involved in a plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Struggling with the  implications of his actions and his obedience to God’s commandments, Bonhoeffer said, “If I see  a madman driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders, then I can't, as a Christian, simply  wait for the catastrophe and then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle  the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.” He knew that there is no way to kill without  entering into guilt, but reasoned it is worse to be evil than to do evil.  

Most of us will not wrestle with this command on such world-wide scale, but if we say that we  have kept this commandment because we’ve never committed murder, we miss the spirit of this  particular law. Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, “I say to you that everyone who is  angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the  counsel; and whoever says ‘You fool!’ Will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matt 5:22). Perhaps the  best way to keep this commandment, then, would be, “If possible, as far as it depends on you,  live peaceably with all” (Rom 12:18).