As codes of moral ethics are abandoned, and all men are being forced by technological advances into greater interdependence in the pursuit of their livlihoods and pleasures, a society characterized by sinful anger is emerging as never before. Laws protecting men from fraud and violence in their business transactions cannot be written rapidly enough, and the nation’s courts are filled with lawsuits over trivial and groundless offences. The divorce rate for all marriages has climbed to over fifty percent, and the children of angry parents have turned public school classrooms into battlefields of disorder, disrespect, and indecency. The higher their so-called standard of living rises, the more quickly are people infuriated by anyone or anything that poses a threat to it. The Sixth Commandment of God’s moral law, “Thou shalt not kill.” (Ex. 20:13), is still consented to, but the true meaning in these words is sadly forsaken.
In His Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus Christ enlarged upon the commandment written by Moses forbidding murder: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:” (Mt. 5:21,22). To be angry with another without a cause is to be hastily angry before all facts have been learned, or to be angry for a wrong reason, as when Cain through jealousy murdered his brother Abel. Christ continues by saying, “and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council:” (v. 22). The term “Raca” simply refers to a loud or violent accusation to malign the character of another for the sake of gaining mastery in some disputed issue, but concerning this the scripture teaches, “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” (Jude 9). And finally the Lord warns, “but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” (v. 22). Calling any person a fool, a blockhead, etc. is a denunciation and condemnation of his very person and soul, a right that God reserves to Himself alone, as the Apostle James explains: “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?” (Jas. 4:11,12). In all these ways the Sixth Commandment is clearly violated without a finger needing to be laid upon another to harm him physically, and the Apostle John summarizes the sin of murder by saying, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (I Jn. 3:15).
It needs also to be searched out what is in man’s heart that causes him to become angry without just cause, to hate, and to murder his fellowmen. Again, the words of Christ and His apostles give answer to this question: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” (Jn. 15:18; I Jn. 3:12; Jas. 4:1,2). Rebellion against the Lordship of Jesus Christ and love for sin and self are at the root of murder, but to the praise of the grace and mercy of God, such wicked hearts can be forgiven and changed, as was the Apostle Paul’s, “Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious:” (I Tim. 1:13). Reader, you too may be forgiven and set free from an evil and persecuting heart. Repent of these dark stains, and cry to the living Christ, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). His blood will cleanse and transform you.