Question 68: What is required in the Sixth Commandment?
Answer: The Sixth Commandment requireth all lawful endeavours to preserve our own life, and the life of others.
Dear Neighbor,
The great commandment in the law is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt. 22:37-39) The sixth command makes the meaning of the second great commandment apparent.
Psalms 82:3-4
Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Rescue the weak and needy;
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
Ephesians 5:28-30
So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.
To think of other people as oneself requires godly love. One should love oneself and other people equally. I confess that this is difficult because I am a sinner fallen short of the glory of God. I am self seeking; therefore I will seek my own life before the lives of other people. This commandment causes one to think laterally about the lives of other people. It is right for Christian’ s to advocate for all human life.
Michael Peek
Your Servant for Jesus’ Sake
