Romans chapter 12. This morning we looked at the topic or the subject of abortion. Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday. I thought we would look at capital punishment this evening.
Now I realize many would think that is inconsistent to affirm capital punishment while all the while promoting life. But I believe that God has instituted capital punishment, and it serves as an argument or an illustration for just how much He does, in fact, value life. I don't believe these are inconsistent positions, and I hope and trust that God, by His Spirit, will instruct us from His Word, specifically Romans 13 this evening and Genesis 9. But I'll just pick up reading in Romans 12, beginning in verse 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. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.
Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid.
For he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing.
Render, therefore, to all their due, taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we thank You for the written Word.
We thank You that You spoke through the prophets and through the apostles. And in the last days, You spoke to us through Your Son. I pray that You would grant us ears to hear. God, I pray that we would receive Your Word with joy, with thanksgiving.
And as well, Father, we would use that Word to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. We know, Lord God, Life is held in great disregard in our own nation. We just pray, God in heaven, that you would revive your people, that you would cause us to think biblically, cause us to think your thoughts after you. Paul says we have the mind of Christ.
It is our duty, our responsibility to fill up on the word of truth. We as well pray, God, for awakening in the land. We pray that a great multitude would turn from their idols and turn from their sins and embrace the true and living God through Jesus Christ the Lord. We pray, Father, for that day when abortion will be criminalized, when it will be unthinkable.
And we pray, Father, that You would do this for Your glory's sake and for Your honor and for Your praise. And we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, as we consider this topic or this doctrine of capital punishment tonight, Basically, I want to do two things.
Biblical Theology of Capital Punishment
First, is set forth a biblical theology of capital punishment. That means you start in Genesis and run through the scriptures and see what the Bible says concerning this most important doctrine. And then
Objections to Capital Punishment
secondly, I want to take up some common objections to the doctrine of capital punishment. We'll look at biblical objections and then some pragmatic objections, and then we'll conclude with some final thoughts.
Three Forms of Civil Punishment
But first, remember that in the Bible there are three ways for punishing criminals. That is, there are three methods that the magistrate, the government, is to use when it comes to civil punishments. The first is restitution or compensation. If I steal from you, God says I'm not to go to prison so that I can pay my debt to society, but rather God says I am to pay you back.
If I take from you, I must give back to you. Secondly, there is corporal punishment. That means a punishment that is not capital, it is not lethal, but however, it is a physical punishment, hopefully to deter the criminal from engaging in such activity again. And then thirdly, and of course, capital punishment.
By capital punishment, I mean that the government, the civil magistrate, has the right and the prerogative and has been equipped by God for carrying out execution on those who have been lawfully tried. They have gone through the process. The Bible includes very stringent procedures with reference to capital offenses. But having gone through that, God has given the sword to the civil magistrate so that he may inflict death upon a criminal offender.
The sword, as John Murray said, which the magistrate carries is the most significant part. I'm sorry, he says 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. 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." I think that is an appropriate comment there on Romans 13 and the sword.
Genesis 9: The Foundation
But let's first start in Genesis. You may turn to Genesis chapter 9. Genesis chapter 9, as we sketch briefly, a biblical theology of capital punishment. Genesis chapter 9, you remember the context.
It is after the flood. It is after Noah and his family have come out of the ark, and God has given them instructions with reference to life in this new world. He speaks of the propagation of life in chapter 9, verses 1 and seven, they were to be fruitful and to multiply. He speaks of the protection of life in verses two and four and six, and he speaks of the sustenance of life.
In other words, you are able to eat these animals in order to live. So that's the framework. That's what he's dealing with. And it's in the context here that we find this statement in Genesis 9, 6.
It says, whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed. For in the image of God, he made man. The first thing we need to observe here is the offense. It is the crime of murder. whoever sheds man's blood.
He is dealing specifically with murder. Later on in the Mosaic economy, there is a distinction made between murder and manslaughter. There are instances when we may unwittingly and unhappily, of course, kill somebody, we may run somebody over with our car, but if we didn't plan it, if we didn't predetermine it, if we didn't have malice aforethought, we will not be tried or convicted of murder, but rather it'll be homicide. Could be negligent homicide, but it is accidental, it is manslaughter rather than the act of murder.
But in this context, what we're dealing with is murder. That is the offense. Notice the punishment that is in view. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed.
We saw that this morning in Exodus 21, 22 to 25. The Lex Talionis, the law of retribution. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. In this particular command, having come out of the ark as they seek to regulate life in God's world, God calls upon them to institute this particular law, that if there is a murderer, then that murderer sacrifices or rather gives his life in the commission of this particular crime.
Notice thirdly, the agent that is involved. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed. He is not saying God will take care of it. He is saying that there is man to take care of it.
This is the magistrate. This is the civil government. They alone have a monopoly on this. We are not to be individual vigilantes.
We're not to go buy guns and ammo and gun down every offender of God's law or of the law of the land. It is a monopoly of vengeance entrusted to the state itself and solely to the state. We cannot condone unlawful persons acting on their own, contrary to the will and mind of God, who go out and take matters into their own hand. That is simply unacceptable.
But God has instituted the civil government. He says, by man his blood shall be shed. Martin Luther comments here, he says, 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 by God.
It is God's law. It is God's institution. It is God's economy. Gordon Clark states, God gave the right of capital punishment to human governments.
He intended it to be used wisely and justly, but he intended it to be used. Abolition, that means getting rid of the death penalty, presupposes the falsity of Christian principles. So if we advocate the riddance of the death penalty, that presupposes the falsity of Christianity itself. God instituted this in a very unique way with Noah post-flood for the regulation of society.
We've seen the offense, we've seen the punishment, we've seen the agent. Now notice, fourthly and finally, the theological reason. He says, whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed. Why?
For in the image of God he made man. Now some relate this to the fact that man executes the criminal offender. In other words, he is an image bearer of God and therefore stands as God's vice regent and therefore can carry out capital punishment. I take the view which says that God demands that men are executed for slaying innocent life because man bears the image of God Most High.
I referenced Gerhardus Voss this morning. Here's the quote. He says, in life slain, it is the image of God, i.e., the divine majesty that is assaulted. So this is the undergirding reason.
Notice, it's not because society thinks that this is best. It's not because there was a referendum and all of the family of Noah and all the people agreed that, yeah, we really ought to institute this. No, the death penalty or capital punishment is undergirded theologically. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed.
Why? For in the image of God, he made man. so that when you take the life of a judicially innocent person, you are assaulting God Himself. God will not have that. God institutes the death penalty, and nations who forsake that are raising their fists in opposition to the God of Holy Scripture.
That's Genesis chapter 9. We see, as I said, some interesting additions in the Mosaic economy. the covenant made by God with Israel through Moses. There is a distinction made concerning accidental homicide and murder, so that whoever sheds man's blood. Again, now if I run somebody over accidentally in my car, and I'm not advocating that we do that by any stretch of the imagination, but that's a lot different than if I willfully and calculatedly know that of a truth there's going to be this guy on the street and I veer out of my way, I go out of my way with malice aforethought to run the man over so that I can take his life.
There's a difference between accidental homicide and murder. The scripture makes the distinction with reference to a man handling an axe. He's chopping wood. If the axe head flies off and hits his neighbor accidentally and it buries itself in his head and he dies, well, the man swinging the axe didn't murder him.
He didn't do this with malice of forethought. He didn't pre-plan it or pre-meditate it, but rather it was an accident for which there was refuge, there was escape from criminal liability. But if the man sits in his bush, he pre-meditates it in his heart, he knows that his neighbor comes home at 5.30 from work, and he rears back and he chops his head off, that's murder. Moses makes that distinction, or God through Moses makes that distinction.
As well, there is an identification of additional capital crimes. Here in Genesis chapter 9, verse 6, the primary offense is murder, the taking the life of another person. Well, when we get to the Mosaic economy, these are several of the crimes that are punishable by the sword. Murder, of course, adultery and unchastity, bestiality, homosexuality, rape, incest, the incorrigible son, Sabbath-breaking, kidnapping, solicitation to apostasy, witchcraft, sorcery, and false pretension to prophecy, and as well, blasphemy.
And we're not going to get into each of these crimes and ask whether that's what the Magistrate of Canada should be executing for. I'd be quite content if they just saw the abomination that is murder and would pick up the sword against that particular crime. But under the Mosaic economy, that identification of additional capital crimes is given. But then as well in the Mosaic economy, in Numbers 35, there is a declaration given concerning the necessity of capital offense.
Notice in Numbers 35, or capital punishment. Notice in Numbers 35 at verse 31. Actually, we'll pick up reading 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, it has built-in mechanisms. I don't just walk into the magistrate and say, hey, my neighbor did something wrong.
Get him. Now, Deuteronomy 19 is very clear. If I go to the magistrate and allege that my neighbor committed a particular crime, if the judges hear the case and reckon that he is innocent, I will be guilty and receive the punishment that would have fallen upon him. It's quite ingenious.
You know what it did? It discouraged soo-happy Israelites. It discouraged gossip and tailbearing. It discouraged the ruin of a man's reputation.
Because you knew in your heart of hearts that if you failed to present your case and they rendered in his favor, whatever his punishment would have been now falls upon you. That's what God does as he regulates the application. 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. And 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. Therefore 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. This morning I mentioned that case in the law of Moses with reference to the ox that doors. Remember, if your ox gets out and it gores somebody, you're held responsible for that.
If it's determined that your ox had done that in the past, and you failed to put proper safeguards on it, the one he gores, or the family of the one he gores, can demand your life. But he could also demand financial remuneration. Again, it was a bit of a different shade than standing there waiting and trying to bury the ax in the guy's head. But with reference to murder, with reference to flat out what we call cold-blooded murder, premeditated, malice of forethought, there is no ransom payment.
There is no price that one can give. It must be the blood of him who shed the blood. Think back to this morning, 100,000 abortions in Canada per year. Think back to this morning, a million plus abortions in America per year.
All that blood I know. That blood has polluted the land. We stand under the wrath of Almighty God when you start to piece these things together. God is angry with the wicked.
God does not turn a blind eye. God does see these abominations in the land. So there is distinction made in the Mosaic economy, identification of additional crimes, and declaration given concerning its necessity.
Capital Punishment in the New Testament
We flip over to the New Testament. Several lines of evidence tell us that capital punishment was in fact practiced and was not rejected or rebuffed by the Christian church. The Lord Jesus was capitally punished. He didn't stand out with a sign and say, crucifixion is wrong.
The state shouldn't be executing criminals. No, he went willingly to death. The Apostle Paul, in Acts 25, as he appeals to Caesar, he's standing before the civil authority. He says in verse 10, 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. Acts 25, 11, he says, for if I am an offender or have committed, notice, anything deserving of death. It seems broader than just murder. He says, if I have done anything deserving of death, he doesn't then stop and say, you ought to abolish the death penalty.
It's harsh. It's barbaric. It's cruel. No, he says, if I have done anything worthy of death, I do not object to dying.
But if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar. And then, of course, the passage that we read at the outset of our time together,
Romans 13 and the Civil Magistrate
Romans chapter 13. You may turn there. Romans chapter 13. The first thing we need to notice here, again, is the context.
Don't interpret your Bibles apart from the context. Notice how chapter 13, verse 1 begins. It says, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. It doesn't say and, it doesn't say but, it doesn't say I'm launching into a new subject now.
No, it continues Paul's argument from Romans 12, specifically beginning in verse 17. Notice Romans 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. It's a great rule. It's a great principle. That's the way we ought to roll.
It's the way we ought to function. He says, Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. There's this common misunderstanding out there.
For a Christian to actually want wrath, it's bad. But that's not what Paul says. Paul says, do not avenge yourselves. Paul says, give place to wrath.
Whose wrath? God's wrath. Vengeance is mine, God says. I will repay.
That's why when we turn to Revelation 6 and we see those souls under the altar crying out for God to avenge the beloved martyrs and the saints who have died, that's not wicked. That's not wrong. That's why when Pastor Cam reads from Psalm 58, we shouldn't go, oh, that's icky or that's bad. No, they're praying out to God to execute his wrath.
Notice in verse 20, verse 19, beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath for it is written vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink, for in so doing you will heat coals of fire on his head.
Personal ethics, individual function, individual activity. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And then he launches into this statement concerning the place of the civil magistrate in the lawful execution of God's wrath. Everybody see the context?
Don't avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. If you start to cry out and say, but what's going to fix my situation right now? I know God's going to deal with everything at the end, but sometimes things happen in this world of a criminal nature that we need regress. We need help.
We need solutions. Notice how Paul refers to the civil magistrate. He is God's minister to execute wrath. It's the same word we translate in a church context as deacon.
He is God's deacon. You see, in the church there are deacons. They're ministers of mercy. But in the civil sphere, there are deacons.
There are ministers specifically of God's wrath. So one way to give place to wrath is by not going and getting a gun and shooting your enemy, but by redressing your situation to the civil court. God has given them the sword for the express purpose of executing his wrath in time and history before the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the context.
That's what Paul is dealing with here. Notice secondly, the duty that we have to submit. Verse one, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. Don't complain.
Don't grumble. Don't argue. When Paul wrote this, he was writing at the time when Nero was the emperor of Rome. Now, admittedly, Nero wasn't as bad as he would be a few years later, but he still was no bulwark of righteousness.
He was still no bulwark and gem of godliness and good societal relations. So what does Paul say to the Christian? Be subject to the governing authorities. Notice, thirdly, the reason we are to submit.
For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Proverbs 8, Jesus speaking his wisdom, he says, by me, kings reign. Nebuchadnezzar learned this lesson very well in Daniel chapter 4. It is God Most High who raises up men to rule.
So God may raise up a good man to be a blessing. He may raise up a bad man to be a scourge. But the duty that we have is to submit because there is no authority except from God. Notice fourthly the sin of resistance.
It says therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. Do you want to have no problems in society? Do what you're supposed to. I realize there can be wicked oppressive regimes and you can be, you know, framed and all that sort of thing.
But as a general rule, especially here in North America, as long as you do what you're supposed to do, you probably will not bring down a lot of heat on yourself. That's what Paul's saying to the people in the Roman Empire. That's what he's saying to the Christians. Now certainly there is built in a mechanism by which we are to disobey if the magistrate commands us to sin.
We see that in Acts 5 verse 29. The apostles are told they are forbidden to preach the gospel. Peter makes that declaration. We must obey God rather than men.
So if the magistrate commands you to sin, you may lawfully rebel or reject that command. That's generally not the way it's going to go, though. The idea here is that you need to submit. Notice, fifthly, God's purpose with reference to the magistrate in society.
Verse 3, for rulers are not a terror to good works but to evil. We ought to supply works there too. They're not out to punish sin. All crime is sin but not all sin is necessarily crime.
Make sure you get that distinction. Let me say it again so that no one stumbles yet. All crime is sin. But not all sin is necessarily crime.
In other words, if you sin in your closet, God's going to deal with you. But if you take that sin out of the closet and into the public square, and you engage in an evil work, it's that that the magistrate is supposed to address. You get that? We're not dealing with Orwellian thought police here.
We're not dealing with thought crime. We're not dealing with a magistrate running around with the sword, punishing everybody who has a sinful thought. That's not Paul's point. Paul's point is that God gave the magistrate the sword so that when there are evil works carried out in society, the magistrate steps in and punishes that evil work.
Notice, he is God's minister to you for good. It's a good thing. There's people called anarchists. They want no government whatsoever.
I must confess sometimes that appeals to me based on what governments do today. However, anarchies don't work well because sin is in our hearts. But government in and of itself, I know there's abuse, I know there's bad things, but in and of itself it's instituted by God and it's for our good. Notice in verse 4, if you do evil, be afraid, 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.
Opponents of the death penalty will often argue that it has no deterrent value. It certainly has deterrent value on the person who is executed. He will not be a repeat offender. He will not be a professional criminal.
Once he has been terminated, he will not go out to engage in his deeds again. But Paul says it ought to promote fear in the people of God. See, I believe just the opposite, that if the magistrate is carrying out what they're supposed to do, people will fear. That's why God has instituted.
See ye what the Lord thinks of that public act of wickedness and fear Him. Fear the repercussions. So those are the primary texts. We saw the other night in Hebrews 2.2 as we referred to that.
If the word spoken through angels proved steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, It wasn't barbaric. It wasn't outdated. It isn't bad. It isn't horrible.
No, it was a just reward for when you engaged in public acts of evil. That's a brief biblical theology. Several other texts could be adduced. We could look at other things, but I hope that at least gets us in the ballpark.
Let's look at some common objections, the biblical ones.
Biblical Objection: Thou Shalt Not Kill
The first is the argument from Exodus 20, verse 13, based on the King James version says thou shalt not kill. And some would say well therefore the magistrate ought never to kill anybody. The preferred interpretation or translation of the word is you shall not murder. For the very Old Testament authorizes killing in defense of oneself in a legitimate war and in capital punishment.
Biblical Objection: Turn the Other Cheek
A second text is Matthew 5, 38-42. Matthew 5, 38-42. You may turn there. Matthew 5, 38.
You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you not to resist an evil person. Whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him too. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you, do not turn away." So those are people opposed to the death penalty say, well right here Jesus reverses it. He says that we're not supposed to want the execution of criminal offenders. Doesn't this sound a lot like Romans 12?
Repay no one evil for evil. Be at peace with all men. What was Paul dealing with? Personal ethics.
Don't be a vengeful, spiteful wretch that wants to kill people because you've been wrong. That's what Jesus is dealing with. He's not dealing with the place of the civil magistrate. He's not doing away with Romans 13.
He is not calling for the abolition of the death penalty. He is saying that in your individual personal lives, don't be like the Pharisees and the scribes. Don't be a retaliator. Don't be one who's always insisting on his own rights.
He's not saying to lock your door at night. He's not saying that if somebody breaks into your house and rapes your wife, you tell them, hey, my daughter's in the last room. Why don't you go have her too? He's not saying that.
If this text is pressed as the opponents want to press it, then we ought never to call the cops. We ought never to appeal to the governing authorities. We ought never to desire any justice in this world. We ought to let people run roughshod all over us.
But that's not what Jesus is talking about. It is very similar in nature to what we find there in Romans 12. Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
Francis Turretin says blameless protection is not prohibited in Romans 12, 19, but private revenge. Blameless protection is not a problem. Somebody breaks into your house, you try to stop them. You don't say, the money's in my third drawer.
Look underneath the socks. Take everything. Now, you may barter in your own mind at that particular time, and for the price, you know, valuing of your life, you give them some money and get out of it. Fine.
The point of the passage, though, is private personal ethics in difficult situations. Not what the civil government does, or doesn't do.
Biblical Objection: Woman Caught in Adultery
A third passage is John 8, 1-11. Again, so much more could be said in each of these. I'm just giving a sketch, hopefully again, just to get us in the ballpark and to be thinking along these lines. John 8, 1-11, the woman caught in adultery, the offense.
The woman was caught in adultery, a capital offense, according to Leviticus 20 and Deuteronomy 22. Notice John alerts us to something peculiar about this situation. You've got to be a reader with some attention here. You've got to track.
You've got to listen to the text. You've got to listen to the apostle. You've got to pay attention to details. Notice verse 1.
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now, early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act.
Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? Notice what John tells us. This they said, testing him, that they might have something of which to accuse him.
What's missing in this picture? The man. Right? I'm not a biologist, I'm not a scientist, I'm not a physicist, but I know this much, that if a woman is caught in the act of adultery, there's a willing man participating right there with her.
You can't commit adultery solo. You can commit other sins of a sexual nature solo, but not adultery, at least as they're defining it here. Let me just qualify that. If you commit those sins solo, you may be committing adultery.
That's not the point. That's another thing for another time, another discussion. But notice, they are showing that they don't care about the law. Do they?
If they were do-gooders, if they wanted to rid Israel of all its pollution sexually, that man would have been right there with them. They don't care about that. They don't care about the law. They don't care about Moses.
And John tells us as much. This, they said, testing him. They want everybody to have a bad picture of Jesus. You see, if Jesus sends the woman home, he doesn't care about the law of Moses.
But if Jesus says, yes, based on what Moses said, execute this wretch, then he isn't the compassionate, gracious Savior that everyone believes him to be. So they have, in effect, put him on the horns of a dilemma. So what does Jesus do? He answers it beautifully.
The first thing he does is that he upholds the law of Moses. How does he do that, you ask? He says, bring the witnesses. Bring the witnesses.
Right? So when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them, he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. I take this, and other commentators do, to mean this particular sin of adultery. When he tells this woman to go and sin no more, Jesus isn't Wesleyan.
He's not a perfectionist. He does not think for a moment that a sinner can live sinlessly in this world until the eschaton. When he says, go and sin no more, he means, don't go commit adultery anymore. Repent of your sin.
So when he says, he who is without sin among you, I think the background is Deuteronomy 19. That the one who brings the person to trial must himself not be guilty of this particular sin. So, in effect, he is upholding the law of Moses. He says, get the witnesses here.
And again, verse 8, he stooped down and wrote on the ground, then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last. Several of the commentators will tell you it was quite common for them to have a girl on the side. to have their wives, to have their lawfully wedded spouses, but as well to be adulterers, to be profligate, to be wicked. So you see, they are in a sense convicted by the law that they say they're actually concerned about. One by one they depart.
So Jesus upholds the law of Moses. But then Jesus demonstrates His gracious, merciful, kind, forgiving Savior. He says to the woman, where are these people? He says, neither do I condemn you.
Go and sin no more. He exercises mercy. He exercises forgiveness. He exercises grace.
So he does, in a sense, uphold Moses and his character as a gracious Savior. It's a blessed response. I wish that we could all learn how to respond to people the way Jesus did.
Pragmatic Objections Answered
Pragmatic objections. Capital punishment is not consistent with the Christian's attitude of forgiveness. Well, then any punishment violates this. Right?
We should do away with writing tickets, because that's unmerciful. You should just forgive that guy when he goes 85 in a school zone. No, we don't think that. That's not right.
We all believe that the punishment must fit the crime. Life imprisonment certainly does not look like forgiveness to me. It's not just the opposite. If I was a convicted felon, I'd much prefer the capital punishment that God mandates than life in prison with a criminal class of violators.
Secondly, capital punishment is not an expression of mercy. What about the mercy the victims of violent crime deserve? And are we more merciful than God? I dare say we're not.
And God who is merciful and God who is gracious has mandated in his word that capital violators be punished. Capital punishment thirdly is used on innocent people. That's a horrible thing. We ought to pray that such would not be the case.
But again, if you look in the scriptures themselves, there are safeguards. There is the law of witnesses with DNA fingerprinting and the strides that have been made in science. God willing, those innocent ones would be kept to a minimum. The appeal process is about a 12-year period, bottom line.
Capital punishment does not deter crime. Fourthly, we've already dealt with that in Romans 13. You ought to be afraid. You ought to fear.
There ought to be a healthy dose of fear in you before you go out and commit a crime. And then the final pragmatic objection is that capital punishment will prohibit salvation. In other words, if we capitally punish somebody, we're cutting them off from the kingdom of God. We're putting them into a position where they cannot be saved.
Well, that does not do just regards the sovereignty of God. God is sovereign. If a man has committed a capital offense, God will send a preacher in there to call him to repentance and faith if he's one of his elect. Isn't it interesting in death row, you know the only one that gets to go in at the end is a minister?
Your wife doesn't get to go in. Your buddy at school doesn't get to go in. Your work chums don't get to go in. Do you know who gets to go in?
It's a minister. It's a beautiful thing. They get to hear the gospel prior to entering into eternity. I believe as well that if a man is legitimately repentant, he will be like that thief on the cross.
This man has done nothing worthy of death, but we suffer justly for our crimes.
Application
Well, brethren, the death penalty or the capital punishment and the church, we ought to think through these issues. The sanctity of life is about abortion. It is about euthanasia. It is about drive-by shootings.
It is about drug taking to the point of death. It is about peddlers of drugs pushing that garbage on little kids. It's also about capital punishment. God says, for in the image of God, he made man.
It is a theological necessity which drives us to embrace this particular doctrine. As well, the inspiration, the inerrancy, and the infallibility of Scripture are at stake in this debate. Who do we think we are to disregard the sword that God has given to the magistrate that Paul prescribes in Romans 13? Secondly, the death penalty and the civil magistrate, or the civil government.
It's funny how in our reformed world we use these words that are obsolete. Remember, Josh at school used magistrate. They marked that out. No, government.
Okay, whatever you want to call it. Thomas Watson speaks to this very well in his book, The Ten Commandments. 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 scabbard. It is a sin for a private person to take up the sword. It is a sin for a public person to put down the sword.
To kill an offender is not murder. It is justice. We need to listen to these Puritan forefathers as they understood and rightly interpreted the Bible. And then finally, the death penalty or capital punishment and the loss.
Capital punishment is not the gospel. We don't go out and preach death to all violators of the law. The magistrate has that monopoly. The church is to preach the gospel.
The church is to call sinners to faith in Jesus Christ. The church is to make much of Christ and Him crucified. The centrality of the cross, the centrality of Jesus, the life, the death, the resurrection, the ascension and current session of Jesus Christ must be proclaimed. We have spent a day looking at these life issues because they are vital.
They are contained in the whole counsel of God. But the church's primary task is to preach justification by faith alone in a crucified and resurrected Savior. If you are outside of Christ tonight, believe on the Lord Jesus. Learn what God thinks of crime.
Learn what God thinks of sin. See how He despises it. See how He abominates it. See how He loathes it.
And then look to His provision, the Lord Jesus Christ alone, who can save you from your sins. So, Christian brothers and sisters, uphold the law. Uphold the gospel. Proclaim Christ with all your heart, with all your earnestness, and with all your zeal.
Tell sinners about the wrath of God. Tell sinners about the judgment of God. Illustrate it, if you will, with capital punishment. But set forth Christ in His doing, in His dying, and in His rising again.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your Word, and we thank you that it speaks to every area of thought, every area of faith and practice. We thank you, Lord God, that you are merciful and kind to forgive sinners like us. God, we probably could all look through the Scriptures and see various reasons why we should have been executed, why we should be on death row, why we should be in hell. And yet you have reached down in your mercy. because of your great love and you have called us out of darkness into marvelous light.
We rejoice in the gospel. We rejoice in the good news of Jesus Christ and him crucified. We praise you that he is resurrected and that he reigns at your right hand and that he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. I pray that you would go with us now, help us to think clearly and biblically in this world.
As these various issues are brought before our eyes and minds and our hearts, as we speak in the workplace or in society, give us an ability to stick close to your word. And we ask through Christ our Lord, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation and be dismissed.