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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Genesis, Chapter 9. Genesis, Chapter 9. While you're 
turning there, just a brief report. I went on the weekend to the 
church in Ridgecrest, California, where they installed Pastor Michael 
Crawford into their eldership. He'll serve there, God willing, 
for just a few short months, and then he's relocating to Baltimore, 
Maryland. Basically, the church, there's 
a Reformed Baptist church called Trinity Reformed Baptist Church, 
the outskirts of Baltimore, but they want to plant a church in 
the inner city. Apparently there's a handful 
of black guys there that already embrace good theology. So it 
does seem that there is a core of men that are willing and desirous 
for church. So Pastor Crawford, who's long 
desired such a ministry to the inner city, will be relocating, 
God willing, with his family in the summertime. A lot of things 
have to happen. in order for that to take place, 
so I know he would value your prayers. I hope to have him up 
here before he goes, maybe next month or the month after, so 
that we can see him. Hopefully it won't be the last 
time. We will see him, God willing, 
in heaven as well. But I'm sure once he's on the 
East Coast, it won't be as easy for us to have him here with 
us. So please be in prayer for that. Well, Genesis chapter 9, we come 
to consider a biblical view of capital punishment. I realize 
we have been studying this doctrine of Christian ethics for a few 
weeks now. It actually does jive with our 
studies in Colossians. When we return to Colossians 
in chapter 2 at verse 6, Paul says we are to walk in Christ. The part of walking in Christ 
is thinking Christ's thoughts after him. And Christ not only 
thinks in terms of gospel blessing and salvation for his people, 
but Christ thinks in terms of criminal justice. Christ thinks 
in terms of biblical law. And it is good for his church 
to think his thoughts after him so that we, in a morally relativistic 
age, can have objective standards by which we can counter the sorts 
of things that we see going on all around us. It will be the 
argument this morning that capital punishment is not only commanded 
by God, but that nations or magistrates are in sin when they fail to 
carry out this particular aspect of biblical law. Genesis chapter 
9, we'll read verses 1 to 17. So God blessed Noah and his sons 
and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast 
of the earth. on every bird of the air, on 
all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They 
are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives 
shall be food for you. I have given you all things, 
even as the green herbs, but you shall not eat flesh with 
its life, that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will 
demand a reckoning. From the hand of every beast 
I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of 
every man's brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds 
man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image 
of God he made man. And as for you, be fruitful in 
multiplying, and bring forth abundantly in the earth, and 
multiply in it. Then God spoke to Noah and to 
his sons with him, saying, And as for me, behold, I establish 
my covenant with you, and with your descendants after you, and 
with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, 
and every beast of the earth with you. Of all that go out 
of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish my covenant 
with you. Never again shall all flesh be 
cut off by the waters of the flood. never again shall there 
be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the sign 
of the covenant which I make between me and you and every 
living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. I set my rainbow in the cloud, 
and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between me and 
the earth. It shall be when I bring a cloud 
over the earth that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud. and 
I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every 
living creature of all flesh. The waters shall never again 
become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbows shall be 
in the cloud and I will look on it to remember the everlasting 
covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh 
that is on the earth. Thus said the Noah, this is the 
sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all 
flesh that is on the earth. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for the Old and the New Testaments, and we confess 
and acknowledge that they are God-breathed, and they are profitable 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness. And it is our desire, God, that 
you would thoroughly furnish us unto every good work. Help us to realize that we are 
not of this world, but we certainly do live in it. And we need to 
think in terms of biblical law. We need to think in terms of 
what God has said concerning life in this lower world. We 
just pray that you would help us to take these thoughts to 
our prayer closets. Help us to take these thoughts 
in the public arena when we have opportunity to speak to others. 
For we know, Lord God, that your way is the excellent way, that 
your way will certainly afford a good context for men to live 
with one another. We just pray that you would forgive 
us now for all of our sins. We pray that you would fill each 
one of us with your spirit. We pray, God, for the brothers 
that will go out to pass out tracts this afternoon. Give them 
boldness. Give them grace. Give them opportunity 
to point sinners unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his 
name that we pray. Amen. Well, basically, what we 
want to do this morning, excuse me, this morning and this evening, 
because there's too much material to try and cram it in for this 
morning. I want to do first of all a biblical theology of capital 
punishment. What biblical theology simply 
means is that you start at the beginning and then you flow through 
redemptive history and you touch on all the places that speak 
to this particular issue. So that's what a biblical theology 
will consist of. And then secondly, we'll look 
at some common objections to capital punishment. I'm not foolish 
enough to think that we live in a world where everybody says 
yea and amen to all that is written in the world. And I think it 
is helpful for us, as God's people, to consider some of those common 
objections and seek to answer them according to the Scripture. And unfortunately, we'll have 
to break down those common objections, not only into what we'll call 
pragmatic or practical arguments, but there are actually biblical 
objection. There are some who would claim 
that the Bible not only does not teach it, but the Bible speaks 
positively against capital punishment. So it would be good for us to 
take up those passages and seek to give exposition of them. Well, 
as we begin this biblical theology of capital punishment, of course 
we must look at Genesis chapter 9. Genesis chapter 9, you'll 
remember, is after the flood. As we have read here, it is God's 
covenant with Noah. It is a new beginning, as it 
were. And this section breaks down 
into two main portions. God institutes ordinances to 
safeguard his forebearing program of blessing to his people. In 
other words, before the flood, the earth was exceedingly corrupt 
and full of violets. It was not the context in which 
gospel grace could be proclaimed. So here, after the flood, the 
Lord institutes certain things so that he can provide an environment 
of common grace wherein the gospel of special grace can be preached. and proclaimed. And then in verses 
8 to 17, God sets forth, or God gives this sign to guarantee 
His promise of forbearance. And of course, the sign is the 
rainbow. We will not take up all of that. 
We will focus primarily on chapter 9 and verse 6. Notice, first of all, the context 
within the passage. He speaks of the propagation 
of life. Propagation means to make it 
happen. Notice in verse 1, God blessed 
Noah and his sons and said to them, be fruitful and multiply 
and fill the earth. That is repeated from Genesis 
1, 26 and 27. again in chapter 9 verse 7, and 
as for you, be fruitful and multiply, and bring forth abundantly in 
the earth, and multiply in it. So the propagation of life. But 
secondly, what is taught in this chapter is the protection of 
life. That is something we have to 
come to grips with. God values life. God prizes life. God is not for planned parenthood. God is not for abortion. God is not for indiscriminate 
murder. God opposes that. God is about 
life. The devil is about death. The devil, according to Jesus, 
in John 8, verse 44, was what? A murderer from the beginning. Well, it is not the case with 
God. He is about the protection of life, and we find that built 
into this Noahic covenant. Notice in 9, verse 2, "...the 
fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast, 
of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on 
the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into 
your hand. The animals will fear you, so 
as not to kill you." Now, that doesn't always happen. To be 
sure, don't wander into a lion's cage sometime and say, well, 
God has said you fear me, so I'm just going to run amongst 
you. No, don't do that. That's not 
good. Don't put your head in the mouth 
of a hippopotamus or a crocodile. claiming this promise. We do 
live in a fallen world and animals are under the curse in a fallen 
world. It's always intrigued me that 
there's that little game for children called Hungry, Hungry 
Hippos. Hippos are one of the most vicious 
creatures on the face of God's earth. Teaching a child that 
they're cute and that they're something to play with is probably 
not a good message to give to little children. Notice in verse 
4, man's life is to be protected even against animals, but you 
shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Sure, 
I'm sorry, yeah, the protection of life. Even man is to respect 
the life of an animal. God says we can eat animals, 
contrary to Peter and the others that think that It's wrong to 
eat animals. God says you can eat animals. 
Don't ingest the blood though. Have some respect for the sacredness 
of life. And then of course verse 6 is 
a statement concerning the protection of life. And then the context 
as well speaks to the sustaining or the sustenance of life. So 
that's what's in view here. Life. How do we do life? How do we live life? How do we 
promote life? This is the Noahic covenant. It has to do with life. Notice, secondly, the offense 
spoken of in verse 6. Whoever sheds man's blood. That means the unlawful taking 
of another person's life. Again, you go back to chapter 
6 in the book of Genesis, and one of the reasons why God is 
provoked to send the flood is that the earth is exceedingly 
corrupt and filled with violence. Well, there must be a means put 
into place to deal with violent behavior. Again, we live in a 
fallen world. If Adam and Eve hadn't fallen 
into sin, if there was no effect of depravity on us, there would 
be nothing to worry about. There wouldn't be rapists trying 
to target helpless women. There wouldn't be robbers who 
are willing to kill you for your money. There wouldn't be that 
senseless murder that is so rampant in the world. But God knows this 
world, and so he has built into place a particular means to protect 
human life. So the offense is the shedding 
of man's blood. Notice the punishment in view 
for those who would shed blood. Verse 6, "...by men his blood 
shall be shed." That's the punishment. Remember, one of the things we 
have seen in our consideration of biblical ethics is that law 
of retribution, or in Latin, the lex talionis. What does that 
mean? It means the punishment must 
fit the crime. And in this instance, when you 
murder someone, when you take their life, the punishment that 
is fitting is that your life be taken. Notice the agent that 
is in view with reference to this. By man his blood will be 
shed. Man is the agent. Some would 
say, oh no, only God can do that. Yeah, God does do it through 
His agent. This is why in Psalm 82, as we 
just sang, God addresses judges as Elohim, gods. Man is God's image-bearer. God has given man the agency 
to carry out execution of criminal offenders. Bruce Waltke said 
human beings are God's agents for exacting compensation by 
capital punishment. They stand in God's stead as 
rulers. The legislation here lays the 
foundation for government by the state. As Matthews states, 
exacting retribution is not a personal matter, but a societal obligation. See, God is telling Noah how 
life is to look in the post-flood world. You are not to allow this 
world to be exceedingly corrupt and filled with violence. There 
is another confirmation of our Lord's prayer when He says that 
God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The Lord doesn't 
like His world being exceedingly corrupt and filled with violence. 
We accept it. We make peace with it. We give 
very little concern to it. We just conclude and reason, 
well, it's just going to get worse and worse and worse, so 
why bother anyway? God doesn't argue that way. God 
doesn't think that way. God says that the magistrate 
has the sword to execute offenders in this particular arena. Martin 
Luther, in his comment on Genesis 9, verse 6, said this. He said, 
this was the first command, having reference to the temporal sword. 
By these words, temporal government was established, and the sword 
placed in its hand, says, by God, This wasn't just a human 
convention, a human imagination here. Hey, this might work. No, God says, this is the way 
you're to carry out life in my world. So we ask the question, 
what's the reason for this command? Whoever sheds man's blood, by 
man his blood will be shed. Why? Well, because it hurts people. Absolutely. It hurts families 
when their husband or father has been murdered, yes. It hurts 
the church when one of her members is no longer there because they 
were murdered, yeah. It affects society when we have 
an arena where people are afraid to go downtown. Yeah, all those 
things are true, but the reason really is theological. Whoever sheds man's blood, by 
man his blood will be shed. Why? For in the image of God, 
he made man. That's why. Some argue that this 
is the reason why man is the agent to execute wrath. I don't 
think so. This is the reason for the penalty. When we go out and we murder 
someone, as bad as it is for that person murdered, as bad 
as it is for his wife, as bad as it is for his church or his 
society, it is a direct assault on the image of God. That's why 
in the matter of abortion, it's God first, then babies. Oh, that sounds callous. No, 
it's theology. God always calls us to think 
theologically before we think otherwise. That is the reason 
for this command. And this is why this transcends 
the argument, well, that's in the Old Testament. Thankfully, 
you won't say that to me. Maybe in your heart you're thinking 
it. Some of you might be thinking, well, this is the Old Testament. 
This is a very common argument outside of Reformed church. Well, 
that's the Old Testament. Remember, we're doing a biblical 
theology. We'll end up in the New Testament. It confirms everything 
that is set forth here in Genesis 9. But, just for a moment, consider 
again the context. This is why it's so important. 
This isn't God speaking to just one family about his own way. It is a significant epoch in 
the life of mankind. After the flood, here's how you 
do society. So that when the earth begins 
to get exceedingly corrupt again, and when it's filled with violence, 
there is a pressure valve. There is a means. There is a 
manner by which you deal with criminal offenders in the civil 
realm. Why is this so hard for us? Why 
do Christians suspend their thought process when it comes to this 
most important element of living in this world? Why are we so afraid to combat 
humanistic thinking with the word of truth? And why would 
anybody redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ ever belittle 
the Bible in this way and say, well, that's in the Old Testament? 
God have mercy on that type of thinking, and may He root it 
out of us and our churches by the power of His Spirit through 
the faithful exposition and application of His Word. This is the reason 
Gerhardus Voss, in his biblical theology, said, in life slain, 
it is the image of God, the divine majesty that is assaulted. That's 
why we care so little about murder. That's why we care so little 
about abortion. That's why we care so little 
about euthanasia, because we care so little about God. That's the issue, brethren. Don't 
let anybody ever try to tell you otherwise. Because if we 
prized God, if we valued our Lord, we would value death. Jesus, speaking his wisdom in 
Proverbs 8, says, all they that ate me loved death. Death-loving culture, which is 
indicative of that reality, that they hate Jesus Christ. of the 
church. I've actually met ministers who 
said, oh, I don't preach on abortion. It's too controversial. Get out 
of the ministry! Get out. Oh, why would you preach 
on the death penalty? It's too controversial. What 
are we supposed to preach on? What are we supposed to teach 
on? Is this not a part of the whole counsel of God? We live in a day and age where 
life is valued so little, and the reason is because men hate 
Jesus. That's why we don't pray for 
God to end abortion. That's why we don't pray for 
God to put his fear in the hearts of civil rulers so that they'll 
implement the death penalty. Oh, that sounds harsh. No, it's 
theologically correct. Our problem is that we don't 
value God. That's the issue. So we move 
on in our biblical theology of capital punishment. We get to 
the mosaic economy. That time wherein God legislated 
through Moses how the nation of Israel should live. Just touching 
on three particulars here. There is first a distinction 
made within the law concerning the shedding of blood. General 
principle of Genesis 9-6, whoever sheds man's blood, by man his 
blood will be shed. For in the image of God he made 
man. We get to the book of Exodus 
and we learn there is a distinction. If I accidentally kill you, I 
am not to be executed by the state. If I engage in an activity 
of swinging my axe and the head flies off and hits my neighbor, 
I didn't premeditate it. I didn't have malice aforethought. 
I didn't plan it. It wasn't because I despised 
him. It was a legitimate accident. That's manslaughter. That's not 
murder. That man gets to live. He goes 
to the city of refuge, and he is there for a period of time. 
So in Exodus 21, we see that distinction. It is repeated in 
Numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19, in the cities of refuge. That distinction is very helpful, 
so that when we read that statement of Genesis 9, if you accidentally 
run someone over with your car, you may not necessarily be liable 
to capital punishment. You see, this law, which everyone 
says is so barbaric, equitable, and just, and righteous, and 
holy. Why? Because it reflects the 
very character of God himself. In fact, the law is the expression 
of God's thought process. We learn in the Mosaic economy 
an identification of additional capital crimes. It's not just 
whoever sheds man's blood, but for one very pertinent illustration, 
rape, according to the book of Deuteronomy, is said to be just 
as the crime of murder. Well, because it's just as the 
crime of murder, then it too is punished capitally by the 
governing authorities. If you're interested in that 
list of other capital offenses, see me or ask me. I will send 
you the notes. It's all right there. But then 
the third element within the mosaic economy that we need to 
reckon with is the declaration given concerning its necessity. Numbers 35, you may turn there 
to Numbers 35. After having discussed the cities 
of refuge, after having given that haven wherein the manslaughterer 
may flee without fear of capital punishment, we then read about 
the necessity of capital punishment for the crime of murder. Numbers 
35, beginning in verse 29. And these things shall be a statute 
of judgment to you throughout your generations and all your 
dwellings. Whoever kills a person, the murderer 
shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses. But one 
witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death 
penalty. You see this? One of the arguments 
against the death penalty is that innocent people get accused, 
convicted, and executed. That's not the fault of God's 
law. God's law requires witnesses. And in an age of DNA fingerprinting, they can trace you from a speck 
that you can't even see? That is solid corroborating evidence 
that greatly reduces the potential of an innocent man being capitally 
punished. Notice in verse 31, moreover, 
you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is 
guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. Now there 
are certain instances in the law where the death penalty applies, 
but the victim may choose not to have the man put to death. 
One of the instances is the ox that gores. And I know for us, 
we go, man, we don't have oxes. We don't think about goring. 
But I think there's some carryover to drunk driving and things like 
that that we need to start thinking about. But if an ox gored somebody, 
and it was like, unbeknownst to the owner, it never happened 
before, there was monetary payment involved. If, however, the owner 
knew that this ox was given to Boring and didn't take steps 
necessary to prevent this ox from Boring, the victim's family 
could ask that he be put to death. However, they could also choose 
monetary compensation. Why? Well, let's say it was their 
son, and he got bored. He was no longer around to work 
the family farm. So the father, after much deliberation, 
thought, I'd like to see the owner of this ox be executed, 
but I'd also like to see his gold in our account, since my 
brother, or my son, rather, is no longer around to make us any 
money. We say, oh, that's carnal. No, 
it isn't. It is the rights of victims being 
given their due. It's beautiful. It's the way 
it ought to be. Those are real life considerations 
after a family loses someone. It's not carnal to think in terms 
of, well, we don't have a moneymaker here anymore. I once read in 
Rashidi, talking about in his random notes in the Chalcedon 
Report, that it was very common during the Puritan era, at the 
funeral of a man, for his wife to be proposed to. At the gravesite. You say, oh, that's barbaric. 
No, it isn't. It's righteous. She needs something 
more than fresh air to fill her belly. And if there's a man there 
willing to marry her, praise be to God. Only the most wretched 
of us would yell out from the grave, don't marry him, honey. 
Life goes on. There has to be something in 
place for the doers on. That's what the biblical law 
is all about. That's why I just, you know, 
I do the face palm when I meet people. Oh, the Bible, it's so 
harsh and antiquated and barbaric. You know, I actually think what 
we're living in is barbarism. When a man can commit repeated 
rape of his ex-wife and spend four years in prison out of a 
20 year sentence, I call that barbaric. Not Bible law. But notice what we see here in 
verse 32. Or in verse 31. So verse 31 says, 
money cannot ransom a murderer. Money cannot ransom a murderer. If you murdered my son in cold 
blood, I couldn't say, well, you know, my son isn't around 
to work the farm anymore, so I want money. That's not an option 
in murder. That is not a potentiality with 
the crime of murder. Why? Notice in verse 32, You 
shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, 
that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of 
the priest. So you shall not pollute the 
land where you are, for blood defiles the land, and no atonement 
can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, 
except by the blood of him who shed it. This is one of those 
top ten scary verses in the Bible. Because we live in a nation that 
is saturated with unrequited blood. Remember what God said 
concerning Abel, the blood of your brother cries out from the 
grave. Think about all the blood of 
all those babies crying out from the grave. Think about the blood 
guiltiness of North America, and yea, the world that has such 
a callous approach to babies in the womb. Think about what 
the Lord is saying here, that blood defiles the land, and that 
there is nothing that can wash it away except for the blood 
of Him who spilled it. And then ask yourself, Are we 
really being more righteous than God when it comes to this whole 
idea? Well, capital punishment isn't 
what we should be about. Don't be surprised when God's 
wrath comes upon nations. God is not mocked. He hears Abel's 
blood. He hears Baby's blood. He hears 
the drive-by shooting victim's blood. Hears the blood of a person 
when he's run down by a repeated drunk driver. God, see, he really 
cares. I'm convinced we just don't care 
at all compared to God. He cares about these things. 
He legislates these things. Therefore, verse 34, do not defile 
the land which you inhabit in the midst of which I dwell, for 
I the Lord dwell among the children. of Israel. So within the Mosaic 
economy, we find distinction, identification of additional 
crimes, and the declaration given concerning its necessity. As 
we turn to the New Testament, we'll see four pieces of evidence 
that substantiate or confirm that this view of capital punishment 
is still abiding. The first is most obviously the 
crucifixion of Jesus Christ. At no time during His trial At 
no time during his arrest did he stand as a reformer of the 
penal system and say, well, capital punishment is barbaric. And I 
realize that's an odd argument to make because that's not the 
purpose for which Jesus came. But you know what, brethren? 
Paul does essentially the same thing later in the book of Acts, 
which brings us to Acts 25, verse 11. We get the crucifixion of 
Jesus, we see that same model, motif, mindset imitated by the 
Apostle Paul in Acts 25 as he stands before Festus, a governor 
of Judea, and King Agrippa II. This is in the latter half of 
the Book of Acts, where Paul is being accused of great crimes 
by the Jews. They have turned him over to 
the civil authority, to the Roman magistrate. They want him to 
die. The Roman magistrate actually 
says he hasn't done anything worthy of death. In fact, Paul 
of Festus and Agrippa, at the end of chapter 26, will say, 
if he had not appealed to Caesar, we would have let him go. There's 
no reason to hold him. But notice in chapter 25 at verse 
10, Paul invokes his citizenship. Paul is a Roman citizen. Jesus 
had said that he is going to go to Rome in order to preach 
the gospel. So Paul pulls out his green card 
and he says, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat where I ought to 
be judged. to the Jews I have done no wrong, 
as you very well know. For if I am an offender, or have 
committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to 
dying." His beef isn't with capital punishment. His beef isn't with 
the death penalty. His beef is very simple. I'm 
innocent. Right? You see that? And the 
language implies that there are more capital offenses than just 
murder. If I have done anything, there 
will be, there are some, in fact, some reform guys argue that yes, 
the death penalty is a reality only for the crime of murder. 
They would hear me advocate it for the crime of rape and they'd 
say, oh no, you're way off your rocker. I don't have the time 
now to get into all of those particulars, but suffice it to 
say, some would say that death penalty is only for the crime 
of murder. Paul's language doesn't imply 
this. If I have done anything worthy of death, I don't refuse 
to die. And remember the particular context in which Paul stands. 
He is being accused of both Jewish crimes and woman crimes. That's a lot of crimes that he's 
being accused of. So it's not just the death penalty 
refers to Jewish law. The death penalty refers only 
to Roman law. No. The death penalty refers 
to every human being in God's earth. So the crucifixion of 
Christ, the example of Paul, the role of the magistrate according 
to Romans 13. Romans chapter 13. We'll finish 
off with our survey of the biblical theology of capital punishment 
this morning. We'll take up the common objections 
with you, if God willing, this evening. But I do want to see 
the role of the magistrate, Romans 13, verses 1 to 4. The context. Again, it's most important that 
we understand the context. I actually think the context 
is immediately found in Romans 12, verses 17 and following. Romans 12, verses 17 and following. Perusing Doug Moo's commentary 
on Romans, he makes a good point that Paul is probably further 
qualifying what he says in verse 2 of Romans 12. Do not be conformed 
to this world, is what the Christian is told. What could the Christian imply 
from this? I'm not to be conformed to the 
world, so I'm not to care about it at all. See, we're good at 
extremes. Romans 13, 1 to 7 says, you better 
care about it. Do not interpret Paul's statement 
of not being conformed to the world to be a statement saying, 
I don't care about the governing authorities. I don't care about 
the civil magistrate. I don't care about taxes. I'm 
going to go run off. I'm going to chant. I'm going 
to pray. And I'm just going to wait for 
Jesus. No. You're not allowed to do 
that. Remember in the prophet Zephaniah, 
when God, through the prophet, says, the day of the Lord is 
coming. What does he say? Seek the Lord. 
Seek righteousness. Seek humility. Don't run and 
hide and pray. Pray, but don't run and hide. 
So do not be conformed to this world. Romans 8 talks about this 
world being under a curse and groaning until the redemption 
of Christ. Christians, well-meaning, well-intentioned 
Christians say, well, then we shouldn't care about the world 
at all. Let them do whatever it is they're going to do. No, 
Paul says, you're not of the world, but you're in it. You 
need to function properly. There is a magistrate put there 
by God for God's specific role and purpose. You are not only 
to submit to him, you're to pay your taxes too. So not only, 
which is in a sense the supreme demonstration of one's allegiance 
to his government, is the tax form. Now, again, we're not going to 
get into what tax this, because I know my brother's here. What 
about this tax? What about that tax? Well, generally speaking, 
we ought to pay our taxes. That's a whole other discussion 
on this tax, that tax, how much tax. Other far more able men 
than I can deal with that. But suffice it to say, Romans 
13 verses 1 to 7 is something of a corrective to the mindset 
that says, I'm just going to chant and pray all day, not think 
about the world, not think about society, not think about anything 
that goes on around me, and I'm just going to wait for Jesus. 
You say, well, people don't really do that. Ah, yeah, they do. The 
Thessalonians did that. You know those two letters in 
your Bible that says 1st and 2nd Thessalonians? Why do you 
think Paul said, if a man does not work, neither shall he eat? What do you think the context 
of that was? Jesus is coming. Let's quit our jobs, let's sit 
on our roofs, and let's watch and wait and pray. Paul says, 
Jesus is coming. Watch and wait and pray while 
you're working. Don't show up at the fellowship 
meal and say, I'm so holy, I don't work. Paul says at the fellowship 
meal, they don't get to eat. Oh, that's harsh. No. It's Bible. Six days you shall work and do 
all your labor. Up until the day that Jesus comes 
back. In fact, tomorrow, if you knew 
Jesus was coming back on Tuesday, you better go to work tomorrow. You don't tell your boss, Jesus 
is coming back tomorrow. Oh, OK, man. What did Luther 
say? If I knew Jesus was coming back 
tomorrow, I'd plan a tree today. All right. God doesn't call us to go sit 
on a mountain top. The monks and whatever, they 
do all that. We're to be salt and light within 
a crooked and perverse generation seeking by the grace of God to 
win man to the Lord Jesus Christ. So that if on Tuesday Jesus was 
going to return, you in your workplace during your lunch hour 
could tell your friend, hey, Jesus is coming tomorrow, believe 
the gospel and be saved. So this is a corrective. You 
don't leave the world. You're in the world. There are 
social structures. There is a criminal justice system 
in place. There are these things given 
by God for the well-ordering of society. That's the context 
of Romans 13 broadly. Romans 13's context, narrowly, 
is verses 17 to 19 in chapter 12. Notice. 12, 17. Repay no 
one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in 
the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as 
depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not 
avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is 
written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. What happens? We get to Romans 13 and we are 
given a means by which we may give place to wrath. Christians 
take this and they think all kinds of nonsense as well. Oh 
no, we can't want any bad things to happen to them because God 
said we're not to avenge ourselves. Yeah, we're not to take the 38 
and blow their heads off. That's what's forbidden here. 
but to want the governing authority who wields the sword as a messenger, 
a minister of God's wrath, to actually do their job is to be 
like God. You know, so much of what is 
behind all of these attempts at trying to reduce what the 
Bible actually says is this ungodly desire to be holier than God. One of the arguments, one of 
the pragmatic arguments, the death penalty is not a valid 
expression of Christian mercy. So we're going to be more merciful 
than God who commands it? You will never go wrong imitating 
God. Ever. You can't. So that's the contents. Chapter 13 just continues Paul's 
argument. There's no and, there's no but, 
there's no adversative. It just flows. If you did not 
have chapter 12 heading and chapter 13 heading, which originally 
wasn't there, you wouldn't think there's any big contrast between 
the two chapters. It flows naturally. You as a 
private Christian, you as an individual person, are not to 
avenge yourself. You're not to be Charles Bronson. 
You're not to be Death Wish 1, 2, 3, and 4. You're not to buy 
big guns and go downtown and try to coach in bad guys so you 
can let them have it. God has instituted an expression 
of his wrath that is called the Governing Authorities. They are 
supposed to do their job. This is another reason why we 
need to think these thoughts so that we can pray to our God 
that our magistrates would function the way they're supposed to. 
I've often thought of the illustration several years ago when we would 
go to the laundromat to wash our clothes. We'd be sitting 
there in the laundromat, some of the little girls, the kids 
at that time, the girls were little, they'd be going through 
looking for, you know, stuff in the washers. Find a penny 
here, a nickel there, a dime here. Hey, cool. It's a good 
day at the laundromat. I'd be sitting there, and you'd 
see some kid that was a rebel. Wretched, horrible kid. Not by 
me saying that. Well, my kids, angelic little 
beings with halos around their heads. Oh, I really think that. That's not what I'm trying to 
convey here. But you see that kid, and he's undisciplined. 
And the mother doesn't do anything. You want to clobber him. You 
want to let him have it. That's what happens when the 
government doesn't do its job. We sound like bloodthirsty beasts. Oh, I hope he gets this, and 
I hope he gets that, and I hope he gets ravaged. It's not necessarily 
righteous. I'm not saying there's, I understand 
the motivation behind it, But if the magistrate was doing his 
job and wielding that sword appropriately, we wouldn't sound like a bloodthirsty 
mob of Christians. Paul says, don't do it yourself, 
but rather acknowledge the praise that God has given to the civil 
magistrate. Notice he says there is a duty 
to submit. Verse 1 of Romans 13, let every 
soul be subject to the governing authorities. That's your general 
operating principle. You may not like everything the 
governing authorities say. You may think that the speed 
limit should be about a hundred more kilometers an hour than 
what it is. Your general operating procedure 
as a Christian man or woman in God's world is to be subject 
to the governing authorities. You are not to be lawless. You 
are not to be wicked. You are not to be unrighteous. You're not to be the one that 
always pushes the envelope. You are to be subject to the 
governing authorities. Why? Notice in verse 1, part 
B, For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities 
that exist are appointed by God." Notice, he doesn't qualify this. He doesn't say the good authorities. He says the authorities. It's 
not that God only appoints the Josiahs, but he also appoints 
the Manassas. It's not that God only puts Hezekiah 
into power. But he puts Nebuchadnezzar into 
power. I'm discussing this whole thing 
with Pastor Crawford recently, that there's a biblical law and 
all that sort of thing. Some people say, well, the law 
only applied to Israel. Tell that to Nebuchadnezzar. 
Well, he's sitting there eating grass for seven years saying, 
oh, Nebby, what are you doing? That law only applied to Israel. 
Yeah, right. Tell me something else. Why were 
the Canaanites dispossessed from the land? Because they violated 
God's law. Why did Sodom and Gomorrah get 
destroyed? Could you imagine being a preacher 
and walking into Sodom and Gomorrah and saying, oh, don't worry about 
it. God's law doesn't apply to you. Here. These are some of 
the arguments that are going out in the name of Jesus. God installs the governing authorities. Psalm 82, we just sang it. Christ speaking as wisdom in 
Proverbs 8 says, By me, kings reign. Proverbs 21 tells us that 
the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, and he turns 
it however he wishes, like the water. Daniel 4, 17. That's Daniel's lesson to Nebuchadnezzar, 
that God installs power. That's why when you look out 
in the current political atmosphere, you cannot be an atheist. You 
have to be a theist. And if a man is not ruling righteously, 
it is more than likely a sign that God's judgment is upon us. 
That's what it was in the monarchy in Israel. was a sign that God's 
judgment was on the people. Things haven't changed. God is 
the same yesterday, today, and forever. He says, therefore, 
whoever resists the authority, resists the ordinance of God, 
and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. If you 
resist the authority, you're resisting God. Now, we have the 
principle of lawful resistance exemplified in the case of the 
apostles in Acts chapter 5. When they were commanded by the 
authorities not to preach in the name of Jesus, they said, 
we must obey God rather than them. When the governing authorities 
command you to violate the law of God, we have that principle 
that we must obey God rather than men. And then notice the 
purpose of God in the installation of authorities in society. For rulers are not a terror to 
good works, but to evil. I believe the implication is 
works. They are not a terror to thought 
crime. They are not a terror to what 
you think. They are not a terror to what 
you conceive in the dark recesses of your heart. They are a terror 
to your evil works. When those works leave the evil 
recesses of your heart, and they are applied in society, then 
the magistrate is to step in, in the name of God, and lawfully 
punish you. That's his purpose. Rulers are 
not a terror to good works, but to evil works. Notice, it has 
a deterrent effect. But if you do evil, be afraid. What are the arguments against 
the death penalty? It doesn't deter crime. Oh, it 
most certainly does. It deters crime in at least one 
instance. The man executed won't go out 
and reviolate. But if it is conducted consistently, 
biblically, justly, the rest will see and fear. This was one 
of the reasons in the book of Deuteronomy for this very punishment, 
that Israel will see and fear. Oh, there is great deterrent 
effect in capital punishment. and it is very simply an execution 
of God's wrath. For he does not bear the sword 
in vain, for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on 
him who practices evil. Now the sword equates to the 
authority to put to death. John Murray said, the sword which 
the magistrate carries as the most significant part of his 
equipment is not merely the sign of his authority, but of his 
right to wield it in the infliction of that which a sword does. It 
can be wielded to execute punishment that falls short of death. We 
saw that. Restitution, corporal punishment, 
or other means of dealing with a criminal. He goes on to say, 
but to exclude the right of the death penalty when the nature 
of the crime calls for such is totally contrary to that which 
the sword signifies and executes. The sword equates to death in 
Matthew 26, 52, Luke 21, 24, Acts 12, 2, Acts 16, 27, Hebrews 
11, 34, and the beast in Revelation 13. in verse 10. So you see, God's 
purpose, with reference to the magistrate, is for good, for 
a deterrent, and for the execution of his wrath against offenders. Well, that concludes our survey. 
I'll just mention, in closing, Hebrews 2.2, where there is a 
contrast set up, and it says in Hebrews 2.2, for if the word 
spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression 
and disobedience received a just reward. Not a barbaric reward, 
not a wicked reward, but a just reward. That's how the author 
of Hebrews viewed God's punishment of criminal offenders. That's 
the biblical theology. Certainly there are other texts 
we can touch on. God willing, we'll take up those 
common objections this evening. A few of the more popular ones, 
with reference to the scriptures, the King James translation of 
Exodus 20 in verse 13, thou shalt not kill, is taken as a prohibition 
against capital punishment. Matthew 5, 38 to 42, turning 
the other cheek. And then, of course, the woman 
taken in adultery in John 8, verses 1 to 11. Those will be 
the three Biblical objections that we will take up this evening, 
close with some pragmatic objections, and then make a few applications. 
But for our application this morning, we need to consider 
the death penalty in the civil magistrate. And if we say that 
the magistrate is armed with the sword and should carry out 
capital punishment, who decides what crimes should be punishable? See, some Christians, I think, 
jump the boat here, too. They say, well, capital punishment 
is biblical. Murder is certainly punishable. 
The state is free to decide on others as well. I don't roll 
that way, man. At all. Because the state may 
decide that Christianity is a capital offense, as they have in various 
Middle Eastern countries. I argue that if we say capital 
punishment is a reality, its application must be specified 
by biblical law. We don't want totalitarianism. We don't want Orwellian thought 
police. We should never want someone 
executed for what they think. And that is never the reason 
why God gave it. By whose standard is the question? I argue by God's. It must be 
biblical law that not only informs the punishment, but informs the 
crimes that are punished accordingly. And then listen to this quote 
by Thomas Watson, that old faithful Puritan brother. He says, to 
kill an offender is not murder, but justice. A private person 
sins if he draws the sword. A public person sins if he puts 
up the sword. A magistrate ought not to let 
the sword of justice rust in the stabbing. That is precisely 
what is happening in Western civilization. The sword is musty. We have installed and we have 
replaced biblical punishment with humanistic, man-centered 
punishment that is barbaric to the very core. We must see, by 
the grace of God, thinking at least first in His people, that 
season recognizes the beauty of God's holy law. God's holy 
standards, so that we'll take that to the throne of grace, 
and we'll pray with David in Psalm 2, that the judges and 
the rulers of our day would be wise. That they would be wise, 
and they would be instructive, and they would serve the Lord 
with trembling, that they would kiss the Son lest He be angry, 
and they perish in His way when His wrath is thinner than a little. 
But we'll never pray if we don't know what the Bible says. one 
of the driving reasons for this series on biblical ethics. And 
for those who are not saved here this morning, capital punishment 
or the death penalty is not the gospel. We don't go out and preach 
death penalty for the salvation of sinners. We preach Christ 
crucified, Christ risen, Christ glorified for the salvation of 
sinners. But the death penalty should 
serve to show you what God thinks about sin. It always amazes me 
the Christians who reject capital punishment but paradoxically 
affirm everlasting punishment in hell. I don't get that discommitment. The death penalty is but a foretaste. is but a down payment, is but 
a small indicator of what God really sees sin in time of life. The God who has commanded in 
his word that the magistrate execute wrath on criminal offenders 
is the God who will execute you if you do not repent in hell. Nothing worse can be that. Nothing worse than that. The way of salvation, the way 
of escape is by faith. in the Lord Jesus Christ and 
in him alone. You believe on him, and the Bible 
says, you will be saved. So let us pray. Father, we thank 
you for the scriptures. We thank you for their clarity, 
for their beauty, their unity, and for their sufficiency in 
all matters of faith and practice. We just pray that you would inform 
our minds and our hearts and give us grace, Lord God, to pray 
biblically, to think biblically, to speak biblically concerning 
these issues. And for any that do not know 
you here, Lord God, I pray that you would open up their hearts, 
open up their eyes to behold the glory of Jesus Christ. We 
ask that you would go with each one of us now, watch over us 
and protect us and help us to bring glory to you in our lives. 
We ask through Christ.