Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: Genesis 4:5–8
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From the Confessions: The Small Catechism – part 64
The Fifth Commandment
You shall not kill.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do our neighbors no bodily harm nor cause them any suffering, but help and befriend them in every need.
Pulling It Together
It is an instinct that goes all the way back to Cain: we imagine that we may solve our personal problems with violence, and if necessary, the final violence of death. We must rule over our nature and the dishonorable and unrighteous acts that seek to oblige the flesh. In the heat of a moment, murder is considered an easy way out. It is not at all easy on the victim, nor is it trouble-free for the conscience. But chiefly, God commands life because life and death are under divine authority.
Prayer: Empower me, Lord, by your Holy Spirit to hold my tongue and my hand from my neighbor unless it be to help and befriend. Amen.
Click here for resources to learn the Ten Commandments.
Many in the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) remember the loyalty, strength, and uniqueness of our Lutheran tradition and the necessity of "Christ Alone." Stand and Confess explores these traditions in light of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.
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Author
Rev. Mark E. Ryman serves as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC. Previously, Pastor Ryman has served other congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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