Guilt, Grace and Gratitude Ep. 40

Lord’s Day 40 - Are Christians Pro Life?

Q&A 105 Q. What is God’s will for you in the sixth commandment? A. I am not to belittle, hate, insult, or kill my neighbor— not by my thoughts, my words, my look or gesture, and certainly not by actual deeds—and I am not to be party to this in others;1 rather, I am to put away all desire for revenge.2 I am not to harm or recklessly endanger myself either.3 Prevention of murder is also why government is armed with the sword.4 1 Gen. 9:6; Lev. 19:17-18; Matt. 5:21-22; 26:52 2 Prov. 25:21-22; Matt. 18:35; Rom. 12:19; Eph. 4:26 3 Matt. 4:7; 26:52; Rom. 13:11-14 4 Gen. 9:6; Ex. 21:14; Rom. 13:4

Q&A 106 Q. Does this commandment refer only to murder? A. By forbidding murder God teaches us that he hates the root of murder: envy, hatred, anger, vindictiveness.1 In God’s sight all such are disguised forms of murder.2 1 Prov. 14:30; Rom. 1:29; 12:19; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 John 2:9-11 2 1 John 3:15

Passages Leviticus 20 (whole chapter)

Psalms 82: 3-4 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Luke 10:27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.