You shall not murder. The sixth commandment establishes the absolute value of human life. Murder is not merely the taking of life but the unauthorized taking of the life of one who bears the image of God — Genesis 9:6 grounds the prohibition in the image: whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed, for in the image of God has God made mankind. Matthew 5:21–22 extends the prohibition inward: anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Jesus does not abolish the sixth commandment; He shows that its root is in the interior life of contempt and rage, which is the seed of which murder is the fruit. 1 John 3:15 says anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer — the commandment reaches into the heart.

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