We must begin by following our Lord’s direction and confronting the murderous tendencies of our own hearts. In his sermons on the Ten Commandments, Henry Bullinger singles out anger and envy as twin, deadly tendencies. Sinful anger is a sense of injury that intends to resolve itself to the hurt of the one who offended us.

The sixth commandment is “You shall not murder.” (Exo 20:13)[1], or, in the memorable KJV, “Thou shalt not kill.” The later vividly captures the word picture of the original, meaning, “to slay, or strike down.” The former is, however, more precise given occasions when taking life is authorized. Most famously, God told Noah after the flood, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.” The reason: “for God made man in his own image” (Gen 9:6). The unwarranted taking of life is rendered vile because of each individual human being having been created in God’s spiritual likeness. It is also that exceeding preciousness of human life that necessities a full application of justice to curb the homicidal tendencies of fallen humanity.

Before we go further though, we should note the indispensable light our Lord sheds on this commandment. Jesus makes it clear that the sixth commandment not only forbids outright murder, but also all hot emotions, insulting words, or antagonistic actions that tend to it (Mt. 5:22). “Anger” is singled out, not meaning righteous hostility to sin as such, but animosity toward other people: “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” (Jam 1:20, KJV) Positively, Jesus requires us not only to forego anger, but also to pursue reconciliation even as a prerequisite to offering worship to God (Mt. 5:23-24). In summary, the sixth commandment forbids everything that tends to devalue or destroy human life and requires everything that promotes the dignity of human beings as the crown of God’s creation.

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