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.