The doctrine of murder
1. The devil was said to be a
murderer from the beginning — John 8:44.
2. The devil motivated reversionistic
Cain to commit the first human race murder — 1 John 3:12.
3. Mental attitude sins as reactor
factors motivated the first murder — Genesis 4:5. Cain was jealous.
4. Murder is definitely prohibited
by the Word of God — Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17; Matthew 5:21. The problem
with the one in Exodus 20:13 is that it is mistranslated — “Thou shalt not
kill.” The word for “kill” is qatal,
and it is not found in this verse which does not mean “Thou shalt not kill.”
What we have is the qal imperfect of ratsach
which means to murder. It should be translated, “You will not murder.” There is
a difference between qatal and ratsach. Qatal is what you do as a
representative of your country in time of war; ratsach is what you do not do, which is to murder.
5. Capital punishment or the death
penalty is the administration of justice for murder — Genesis 9:6; Numbers
35:30,31; Romans 13:4. Capital punishment is the basis for controlling crime.
6. Murder is listed as one of the
seven worst sin in Proverbs 6:16-19. Furthermore, murder is the only overt sin
in that list.
7. Anger as a mental sin is a
cluster which leads to mental murder — Matthew 5:21,22.
8. Murder always involves certain
mental attitude sins. There are two passages where jealousy precedes murder and
becomes the motivator — Romans 1:29; Galatians 5:21.
9. Murder is a part of crime and
should be punished by death — Matthew 26:52, gar o(i labontej maxairan e)n maxairh a)polountai: “For the one taking the
sword [the criminal] by the sword shall be destroyed.” This has nothing to do
with military service.
10. While murder is the worst of all
overt sins it still can be committed by a believer out of fellowship or in reversionism.
David is an illustration. Cf 1 Peter 4:15. 1 John 3:15 — “Every murderer does
not have eternal life abiding in him.” The startling thing about that statement
is that those who have eternal life do commit murder.