Exodus 20:13

II. THE SHALT NOTS.

13. Thou shalt not kill.

Life is placed at the head of these commandments, not as being the highest earthly possession, but because it is the basis of human existence, and in the life the personality is attacked, and in that the image of God. Genesis 9:6.-- Keil. The peculiar sacredness of human life lies in this, that man is. responsible being, liable to be rewarded or punished according to his deeds. Life is the reward of obedience, and death is the penalty of disobedience. The circumstance that this life is to the sinner the season of invitation to return to God, who will have mercy on him, deepens immeasurably the crime of cutting short his life in the midst of his impenitence. Life is also used in. pregnant sense in Scripture. It raises from the mere natural life to the spiritual life which is rekindled in the dead soul by the spirit of life through the word of life. This widens immensely the scope of this commandment, and if we now advance from the mere negation of refraining from evil to the position of abounding in good, we behold opening before us. boundless prospect of well-doing for the children of God.-- Murphy. The spirit of the precept plainly interdicts all those callings, occupations, and practices which are injurious to the health or safety of the community--such as the manufacture or sale of articles of diet or beverage which we have every reason to believe will be abused to the hurt or the death of men's bodies, to say nothing of their effects on the undying soul. The Savior also prohibits the feelings of anger or malice which might lead to violence.