"You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:13

“At least I never killed anyone!” So goes a common cry of self-justification. The idea is that (a) murder is the worst sin, and (b) if one hasn’t committed the worst sin, one is not a sinner. Nice try.

I would agree that murder is arguably the worst sin one can commit against a fellow image bearer of God. But is murder the worst sin? If it is, why isn’t it at the top of the Ten Commandments? Why isn’t murder even the first commandment in the second table of the law? (1)

The reason is that sins directly and exclusively against God Himself (the first for commandments), are the worst sins. Why, because God is infinitely holy. This means that while sinning grievously against another person may indeed be horrific, it isn’t infinitely sinful. Sinning against God Himself is infinitely sinful! (2)

In addition, don’t miss that murder is not even the list-topper on the second table of the law. It is second to dishonoring our earthly parents. Why is that? Because earthly parents are assigned a place of representing our Heavenly Father. So those who dishonor earthly parents are, in a way, dishonoring our Heavenly Father.

Lastly, for this time, according to God in Genesis 9:6, murder is a most grievous sin because it is a desecration of an image bearer of God. It is therefore a grievous sin not only against the one who is murdered, but against God, in whose image the murdered person was created.

Notes:
(1) Remember, the first table of the Law—the first four commandments are about sins directly and exclusively against God, whereas the second table of the law (the last 6 of the commandments) are about sins directly against other people.
(2) By the way, every sin is against God because when we sin in any way against another human being, we are breaking God’s law.

In coming posts we’ll consider the difference between taking a human life and murder, the relationship between hatred and murder, was Jesus murdered?, and more.