LIVE AND LET LIVE
by Curt Dodd
Scripture: ECCLESIASTES 3:1, EXODUS 20:13, GENESIS 1:31, GENESIS 9:3, I PETER 5:7, JOB 12:10, JOB 14:5, NUMBERS 35:20-25, PROVERBS 3:5-6, PROVERBS 3:14-20, PROVERBS 3:30-31, PROVERBS 3:34-35, PSALMS 139:13-16, PSALMS 139:19-20, ROMANS 13:1-4
LIVE AND LET LIVE
Exodus 20:13
"You shall not murder."
The average citizen in the United States according to statistics
has one in one-hundred and fifty-three chances of being
murdered. Did you know that the intentional killings and
murders rank fourth among U. S. Debts? This is a very violent
land in which we live even eighty-seven percent (87%) of the
comic books published have themes of violence. If you think
about it, just about every toy for boys has that theme,
violence, hurting someone. No wonder we have problems in our
country faced with the fact as a parent that by the time a child
reaches the sixth grade, they have witnessed eight-thousand
murders and one-hundred-thousand acts of aggression. I can't
help but believe that what we see is often what we become.
Do you realize that every twenty-two seconds an American is
shot, beaten, strangled or stabbed to death? We are leading the
homicide rate in the world. More kids this year will die from
violence than from illnesses. No wonder the Lord said:
"You shall not murder."
As we look at this passage, we can't help but see two basic
things (1) the exemptions to the commandment as well as (2) the
emphasis of the commandment. Let's first look at the
exemptions:
I. EXEMPTIONS
There are four basic areas that this commandment does not
address, it does not address prohibition of taking life for
these four reasons: (1) provision, (2) punishment, (3)
protection, (4) predicament. Let's look at these very quickly.
This commandment does not speak about the taking of life for:
1. Provision In fact, Genesis 9:3 says this:
...
Exodus 20:13
"You shall not murder."
The average citizen in the United States according to statistics
has one in one-hundred and fifty-three chances of being
murdered. Did you know that the intentional killings and
murders rank fourth among U. S. Debts? This is a very violent
land in which we live even eighty-seven percent (87%) of the
comic books published have themes of violence. If you think
about it, just about every toy for boys has that theme,
violence, hurting someone. No wonder we have problems in our
country faced with the fact as a parent that by the time a child
reaches the sixth grade, they have witnessed eight-thousand
murders and one-hundred-thousand acts of aggression. I can't
help but believe that what we see is often what we become.
Do you realize that every twenty-two seconds an American is
shot, beaten, strangled or stabbed to death? We are leading the
homicide rate in the world. More kids this year will die from
violence than from illnesses. No wonder the Lord said:
"You shall not murder."
As we look at this passage, we can't help but see two basic
things (1) the exemptions to the commandment as well as (2) the
emphasis of the commandment. Let's first look at the
exemptions:
I. EXEMPTIONS
There are four basic areas that this commandment does not
address, it does not address prohibition of taking life for
these four reasons: (1) provision, (2) punishment, (3)
protection, (4) predicament. Let's look at these very quickly.
This commandment does not speak about the taking of life for:
1. Provision In fact, Genesis 9:3 says this:
...
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