Taking Life: Capital Punishment – The Law of God and Public Policy: Policies Regarding Life (6)

Taking Life: Capital Punishment

The Law of God and Public Policy: Policies Regarding Life (6)

The death penalty has not been revoked; however, it must be postponed as long as possible.

“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.” Leviticus 24:17

Murder was not the only sin for which capital punishment could be applied under the Law of God. It was also applied, among other situations, in cases of adultery, rape, recalcitrance, idolatry, and homosexual practice. In ancient Israel all these offenses were seen as being hostile to the divine economy of love for God and neighbors and subversive of the institutions created by God to ensure a just society. The Spirit of God had not yet been given, and the surrounding cultures, where such sins were more common, offered a continual threat to Israel’s well-being. Thus, while these penalties seem harsh to us, they were altogether appropriate in their place and time.

But we must not seek a one-to-one application of the death penalty for our day. While government still has the right to bear the sword against evildoers, Christians must work to create space and allow time for grace to work in the lives of those whose offense has been judged to deserve capital punishment. Moreover, there are certain sins for which the Old Testament required capital punishment which would not seem to merit that punishment today. In the New Testament many who formerly hated their parents, practiced idolatry and homosexuality, and committed adultery and fornication became Christians. They were living testimony to the power of God’s Spirit to create new beginnings in people’s lives.

Christians today should support public policies that make room and allow time for God’s grace to work in people’s lives. We do not deny the sinful state of such practices, or try to redefine them in a manner more in line with the spiritus mundi; yet we do not believe that capital punishment is, in this age of grace, the proper application of justice for those sins which can be cured by repentance and faith in Christ.

We create room for such repentance by giving sinners, and especially those condemned to die, access to the Word of God through the ministries of churches and other Christian agencies. We create time for them to repent through the lengthy appeals process of our judicial system. We do not “downgrade” the sinful state of the aforementioned practices. Nor do we remove from particular governments the right to enact such judgments and penalties as can be shown to be consistent with Biblical practice and rationale. Overall, however, Christians must contend for the preciousness of life and the priority of love, even as they rest in the authority of the State to administer just policies.

Subscribe to Crosfigell, the devotional newsletter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. Sent to your desktop every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Crosfigell includes a devotional based on the literature of the Celtic Christian period and the Word of God, highlights of other columns at the website, and information about mentoring and online courses available through The Fellowship.

–

In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.