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Question:        What about capital punishment?

Intro: Some believe it is just and fair retribution for certain
crimes; others say that it is simply not the solution. Still others
believe that it violates the commandment: "Thou shalt not kill."

1. Patriarchal Age. When Noah and his family left the ark after the
flood, God said, "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall
be shed; For in the image of God He made man" (Gen. 9:6). Capital
punishment was to be meted out to the murderer. No other punishment
was ever given. The basis for the law is the fact that man is made
in the image of God. When God said, "by man shall his blood be
shed", He was not merely giving His permission to execute the
murderer, not was He making a suggestion. The phrase is a strict
imperative; He is commanding that this be done. The nature of
murder is such that the murderer actually forfeits his own right to
live.

2. Mosaic Dispensation. God made capital punishment a part of his
divine law given at Mt. Sinai. For example Ex. 20:12: "Thou shalt
not kill." NKJV: "You shall not murder." The one who violated this
commandment "shall surely be put to death" (21:12). Also,
kidnapping (21:16); bestiality (22:19).

3. Christian Dispensation. But the real question is, what does the
NT say about it? It is included in the New Testament. It is the
only just retribution for certain crimes. Some fail to see that
there are crimes for which one is worthy of death (Rom. 1:32). Cf.
the statement of the Apostle Paul in Acts 25:11.

     Rom. 13:4. The Government did not use the sword for spanking;
it was used for capital punishment.
     That does not mean that one as an individual can take the law
into his own hands; it is a judicial process; a responsibility of
the civil government. Leupold said, "When lawgivers attempt to
tamper with this regulation [the death penalty] they are trying to
be wiser than the Divine Lawgiver and overthrow the pillars of
safety that He Himself provided for the welfare of mankind.

















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