God’s Image Study • Commandment 6: You Shall Not Murder
Jesus’ instruction concerning anger and reconciliation leads us to another question: How are we to respond when someone directs hostility toward us?
Later in the same chapter, he says:
“love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”
— Matthew 5:44, LSB, excerpt
Love beyond those who love us
Jesus directs attention to the Father, who provides sunshine and rain for both the righteous and the unrighteous. He then asks what distinguishes loving only those who already love us, or greeting only our brothers. Read Matthew 5:45–48.
The instruction includes people whose conduct toward us is hostile. Their hostility does not remove our responsibility to follow what Jesus commands.
Love and the rejection of evil belong together
Romans 12:9 places sincere love alongside abhorring evil and holding firmly to good. A few verses later, Paul directs believers to bless their persecutors and refuse to repay wrongdoing with wrongdoing. Read Romans 12:9, 14–17.
Love does not require calling evil good. The passage names evil while directing how we respond to it.
What depends on us
Romans 12:18 includes two important qualifications: whether peace is possible, and what depends on us.
The Greek εἰρηνεύοντες — eirēneuontes, from εἰρηνεύω — eirēneuō (G1514), describes living at peace. The surrounding wording preserves both our responsibility and its limits: we can pursue peace without controlling another person’s response. Examine Romans 12:18 in Greek.
The question becomes: Am I doing what depends on me?
Leaving repayment to God
Paul forbids personal revenge and refers to the written word:
“VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY”
— Romans 12:19, LSB, excerpt
The capitalized quotation points back to Deuteronomy 32:35. The speaker in that passage is God, YHWH (יהוה); Paul grounds the instruction in God’s authority to repay. Read Deuteronomy 32:35–39.
Paul then gives practical instruction concerning an enemy’s hunger and thirst, drawing from Proverbs 25:21–22. Care for another person’s needs remains part of the response. Read Romans 12:20 alongside Proverbs 25:21–22.
How is evil overcome?
Romans 12:21 uses two forms of νικάω — nikaō (G3528), meaning to overcome or conquer. The first warns against being overcome by evil; the second directs us to overcome evil through good. Examine Romans 12:21 in Greek.
This keeps our examination of the sixth commandment connected to our own conduct. When encountering hatred, persecution, or false testimony, we must also examine what our response is producing.
Threads to Follow
Love fulfills the law: Examine how Paul explicitly connects the command against murder with loving our neighbor. Romans 13:8–10.
Life and death: Keep the choice before us alongside the instruction to love and obey God. Deuteronomy 30:19–20.
Love expressed through action: Return to John’s comparison between hatred and laying down one’s life for others. 1 John 3:14–18.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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