Love and Capital Punishment
Hello everyone. It's great to back! After reading some interesting blogs, regarding, capital punishment, I thought of sharing a biblical and moral perspective on the topic.Capital punishment, the intentional execution of a guilty person, a muderer, was originally instituted because of a lack of respect for man made in the image of God (Genesis 9:6). It was reinforced in the Mosaic law (Exodus 21:23-25), recognized by Jesus (John 19:11), and restated by Paul when he reminded Christians that the ruler "does not bear the sword for nothing. he is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrong doer " (Romans 13:4). It is a serious thing to exact capital punishment, so the identity of the murder must be beyond question and his responsibility for the murder beyond reasonable doubt.
Capital punishment, when justly administered, is a kind of mercy sacrificing of the guilty for the innocent. Contrary to popular sentiment, capital punishment is not an expression of barbaric disrespect for a murder's life. It is the murderer who has barbaric disrespect for the worth of human life, not the court that justly sentenced him. Love demands that we ask for whom mercy should be shown, the innocent or the guilty. If we fail to insist on justice by sacrifice of the guilty for the innocent, we show disregard for biblical love and disrespect for the value of an innocent life.
The same justice of God that demanded a substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, life for life, is at the root of the morality of capital punishment. There was no other way to satisfy God's justice than for Christ to give His life for ours (Mark 10:45; 1 Peter 2:24). And there is no other way to satisfy God's justice and ensure a just and respectful social order than to insist that the life of a murder be sacrificed. Utter hateful disregard for the value of individual lives cannot be tolerated by love; love must condemn it. It is loving to value and to protect human life, and capital punishment was instituted to do that very thing. A person's realization that he will lose his life if he takes the life of another will deter most from murder. And one thing is sure: No one who received capital punishment has ever repeated the crime!
Love is Always Right: Norman Gesiler
God's love and blessing to everyone on the blogs! Serendipity
Comments (13)
btw.....
In SA...the horror of the most heinous of crimes is part of our daily lives...and it does not make sense to see those who committed these crimes walking free...many have seriously questioned the existence of a loving God
@Kitty, I love that Kitty, you couldn't have said it better for me.
Thanks...
Great blog.
I just hate to hear about innocent people executed. However, it is hoped, that the long process to discover any claims of innocence in some will work for all innocent people.
The worst travesty was the execution of "minorities" for the color of their skin or place of origin.
I hope you had a nice vacation?
Hello sir.
In reference to your question, it is interesting to note that God gave the power of capital punishment to human government. There was capital punishment before the time of Noah, but it was left to relatives to avenge the murderer (Genesis 4:14). By instituting capital punishment, God took justice out of the families of the deceased and placed the sword in the hands of human government (Genesis 9:6). In this way justice could be more objectively exercised by eliminating the personal revenge factor and the emotional anger.
God bless!
Chame1eon
Yes, I had a great time.
God bless!
Even the judges will be judged by their good or wrong actions.
A well-researched blog ... thank you for your hard work!
I really enjoyed the observations of C.S. Lewis you included in your comments.
I agree, that there will be a day of reckoning, at the day of judgment, where every wrong will be made right.
Thanks for stopping by.
God bless!
Richard D
Nice to see you. Glad you enjoyed my blog.
Indeed, C.S. Lewis is one of the favorites I like to quote.
God bless!