Theological term
Antitheses
5 sermons · All terms
The Sixth Commandment, Part 5
The sixth commandment, 'You shall not murder' (Deuteronomy 5:17), is grounded not in mere legal convention but in the theological reality that man bears the image of God — an image that persists from conception through old age, in sickness and health, in the handicapped and the mentally ill. Drawing on Genesis 1, 5, and 9, alongside Jesus' exposition in Matthew 5:21-22 and John's application in 1 John 3, this study traces the commandment's reach inward to unwarranted anger and character assassination, and outward to the present cultural crises of abortion, euthanasia, and the neglect of capital punishment. Because the image of God is the theological rationale for both the prohibition of murder and the mandate of capital punishment, opposition to abortion and support for the death penalty are not contradictory positions but necessary corollaries of the same conviction about the sanctity of human life.
The Fourth Commandment, Part 2
What does Jesus's ministry teach about the continuing obligation of the Sabbath commandment, and how does the resurrection determine which day Christians must observe? This study works through the Fourth Commandment (Deuteronomy 5:12–15) in its New Covenant application, examining Christ's relation to the law in Matthew 5:17–20, his correction of Pharisaic Sabbath-keeping in Matthew 12, and the testimony of all four Gospel accounts that the resurrection occurred on the first day of the week. The moral principle of one day in seven devoted to God is shown to be trans-covenantal and perpetual, while the positive-law element — which day — shifts from Saturday to Sunday with the resurrection of Christ, establishing what the 1689 London Baptist Confession calls the Christian Sabbath.
Death Penalty, Part 3
Romans 13:1–7 furnishes the New Testament's clearest warrant for civil government bearing the sword, including capital punishment — yet common objections, both biblical and pragmatic, continue to challenge this teaching. This third installment of a study arising from Leviticus 20 addresses the two most significant biblical objections: the pacifist misreading of Matthew 5:38–42 and the attempt to leverage John 8:1–11 against lawful execution. The sermon argues that Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is correcting the misapplication of the lex talionis to personal relationships, not dismantling civil jurisprudence, and that his handling of the woman caught in adultery actually upholds Mosaic evidentiary law rather than nullifying capital punishment. Five pragmatic objections — that the death penalty is incompatible with Christian forgiveness, lacks mercy, risks executing the innocent, fails to deter, and forecloses salvation — are each answered from Scripture and reason.
A Defense of Self-Defense
Matthew 5:38–42, the fourth antithesis of the Sermon on the Mount, is frequently invoked to condemn self-defense, capital punishment, and military service — yet a careful reading reveals that Jesus is not contradicting the lex talionis of the Mosaic civil code but rather correcting the Pharisaic habit of applying that courtroom principle to personal, day-to-day relationships. The contrast is not Jesus versus Moses but Jesus versus bad hermeneutics: what the civil magistrate is authorized to do with the sword (Romans 13:1–4) stands entirely intact, and Exodus 22:2–3's legitimization of self-defense is nowhere repealed. The sermon works through Jesus' four illustrations — insult, property disputes, conscription, and benevolence — to show that Christ is calling his disciples to a disposition of patience and forbearance in ordinary life, not to a pacifism that would render them incapable of functioning in civil society.
The Sixth Commandment
The sixth commandment, 'You shall not murder,' forbids not only the external act of taking innocent life but also the internal dispositions of hatred, unwarranted anger, and character assassination that flow from the same malicious heart. The sermon distinguishes murder from three lawful forms of killing — capital punishment, just war, and self-defense — grounding each in the abiding authority of Scripture from the Noahic Covenant through the New Testament. The image of God in every human being is the theological foundation for the commandment's reach across abortion, euthanasia, and the neglect of capital punishment. Hearers are called to clarity on the law's three uses, to renounce internal murder within the church, and to find in the gospel the only remedy for sinners who have violated this commandment in heart or deed.