Question 105: What does God require in the sixth commandment?
Answer: I am not to dishonour, hate, injure, or kill my neighbour by thoughts, words, or gestures, and much less by deeds, whether personally or through another; rather, I am to put away all desire of revenge. Moreover, I am not to harm or recklessly endanger myself. Therefore, also, the government bears the sword to prevent murder.Question 106: But does this commandment speak only of killing?
Answer: By forbidding murder God teaches us that He hates the root of murder, such as envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge, and that He regards all these as murder.Question 107: Is it enough, then, that we do not kill our neighbour in any such way?
Answer: No. When God condemns envy, hatred, and anger, He commands us to love our neighbour as ourselves, to show patience, peace, gentleness, mercy, and friendliness toward him, to protect him from harm as much as we can, and to do good even to our enemies.
One of the most profound points made in scripture is that sin is more than just what a person does. It resides within a person and the act of sin that the world can see is merely a manifestation of that sin. This is why a man who has lusted after a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Man can only see the outside presented to him. God searches the heart.
Jeremiah 17:10
“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.â€
This is a terrifying thing to those who have been busy cleaning the outside of the cup, and I am pointing “three fingers back at myself” on this one. I have had times when I would think I pretty much have it together when I have refrained from certain sinful acts, but this reliance on my own self-control is certainly not God-honoring. It is merely a way for me to show the world how much better a person I am and how much less I have to bring before the Lord. I stand convicted of such hypocrisy.
This reality is one that many people try not to think about. We assume that it is fine to think murderous thoughts and lust after some person we pass on the street just as long as no sinful acts manifest from our thoughts, but God demands more than obedience from us. He demands that we obey Him willingly and from the heart. Because mankind has been in a depraved state from the fall, this has never been possible. There has never been a person who did not need the atoning sacrifice of the messiah. It is this very truth that will condemn everyone, no matter how pious they may seem on the outside, and instill within them their own need for a savior.
And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Those who are saved no longer need to fear their sinful selves. Their salvation is authored by God, and only He holds the keys to death and Hades. Christians have divine intercessors from the moment they trust in Christ alone for their salvation. The intercessors include the Holy Spirit and also our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Just as creation came into being by the word of God, we are justified by our faith granted us by God. And it is impossible for such a radical change to be made in a person without the gradual manifestation of the change taking over a person’s thoughts.
I say gradual because our sanctification is never complete in this lifetime. There is always another way we need to change that we may reflect our savior more accurately. But this reflection will begin not on the outside in our actions, but on the inside in our hearts. It will be completed by God at our glorification, when the outside of our “cup” finally shows the splendor that Christ has made of the inside.
Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Very encouraging. Thanks!