Christ Upheld Capital Punishment

(Article for publication week of 7-16- AD 2015)

 

"For Moses said, 'honour thy father and thy mother;' and 'whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death'; But ye say, 'if a man shall say to his father or mother, 'it is a Corban, that is to say, it is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 'he shall be free.' ' And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or mother; making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do" (Mark 7:10-13).

With the recent mass murders in Charleston, South Carolina, and some other recent happenings, the subject of capital punishment has been in the news and a subject of a number of op-ed columns. As  always I am labouring to teach the word of God and convince our readers to consider "what saith the scriptures" and apply Biblical Truth to every area of life, and to think Biblically. The Law of God commands that capital crimes be punished by execution (Exodus 21:12). Whether or not execution is a deterrent to crime is in one sense beside the point. The point is that God requires the civil magistracy to be ministers of justice, and execution is the just penalty for such crimes as murder (Exodus 21:24-25). God has ordained civil government to keep the peace and administer justice (I Timothy 2:2; Romans 13:4). On the other hand, God has not ordained the civil government to provide for people's needs and every effort to use the power of the sword for such purposes is opposed to the Law of God. A State that desires peace and the blessing of God must submit to the Law of God. Herein is the root of the troubles in our State and the Nation- we have rejected the Law of God. (I say "we" collectively, for a few true men of God continue to cry out to all who will listen to submit to the law of God.) Chaos and disorder prevail because of the rebellion of our people and our ungodly "leaders."  God's law requires that murderers, and other capital criminals be executed.

Now I refer you to our text and ask that you consider it prayerfully and carefully. I will have you to note first of all that the Lord Jesus called the words of Moses the "word of God." Our Lord accepted the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, and affirmed that it is the inspired of God. In the Passage, our Lord quotes Exodus 20:12 and Exodus 21:17 saying "Moses said," and then in verse 13 he told the Pharisees that they made the "word of God" of no effect.

Secondly, note well that our Lord corrected rabbinical teaching and called the Jews back to the word of God and gave them the true meaning. Our Lord often did this, notably in Matthew 5:21-48. Our Lord never found fault with the inspired word of God in the Old Testament, nor with the moral, civil or ceremonial laws given in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The fifth commandment says, "honor thy father and thy mother," and one of the positive duties of the fifth commandment is that we care for our parents in their infirmities. The rabbis had falsely interpreted and applied the law of God by allowing a man to pretend his wealth was dedicated to some sacred use, thus relieving him of his obligation to care for his aged or infirm parents. Our Lord plainly told them that they were breaking the law of God by their false teaching and practice.

Thirdly, notice that our Lord taught that the civil code that God gave Israel as a State was in perfect harmony with the Moral law encoded in the Ten Commandments. The moral principle is "honour thy parents." The application is, "whoso curseth his parents, let him die the death," which is part of the civil law. The civil law of Israel was grounded in the moral law. It is the application of the moral law to civil jurisprudence. While modern States are not obligated to the civil laws of Israel in the same way as the now defunct nation of Israel, their general equity should be the basis of all civil codes (that is if a nation desires the blessing of God).

Finally, (and note very well) the Lord Jesus Christ gave His full approbation of the death penalty. I refer to this text because when we advocate capital punishment not a few will claim that it was allowed by the Old Testament, but not the New. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nowhere will you ever read where Christ or His Apostles condemned the death penalty. And in this text Christ gave His full endorsement of the death penalty for a capital crime, in this case cursing your parents. Read the passage again. The Lord quoted Moses (as an inspired oracle of God), upholding God's words, but condemning rabbinical tradition.

It is time for the LORD to work, for they have made His law void.

Hate Crimes

(Article for publication week of 7-9- AD 2015)

 

"For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another" (Titus 3:4).

Our text tells us the awful condition of humanity. The text describes us who are saved before we were regenerated by the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. And our text perfectly describes everyone of you who are unsaved. We are not basically good, we are basically evil, and only the sovereign grace of God that comes to us through the saving work of Christ will ever change us. We are by nature "hateful and hating one another." We have all come short of the glory of God and have failed miserably in loving Him with all our being and in loving our neighbour as ourselves. All of us, including you dear reader, and me have hateful hearts by nature. Thanks be unto God for the washing of regeneration that renews our hearts. And thanks be unto God that in His goodness, God restrains the hatred in the hearts of unconverted people. Were it not for God's restraints of the government of the home and the civil magistrate, and the common operations of the Holy Spirit, the world would be unbearable. By such external influences the hatred in the human heart of all of us is restrained so that the world is at least bearable. But again I emphasize that only God can change a sinner inwardly so that he can quit hating and being hateful.

Now this is the reason that it is unreasonable and actually an evil thing for the civil government to try to enact "hate crime" laws. The fact is that all sin is hateful. People do not murder, fornicate, steal and lie out of love, but out of hate. Note well, I said fornication is hateful. Men seduce other men's wives and daughters because of base lust, not because they love the objects of their lusts. Sexual sins are not acts of love, but acts of hatred, as are murder and theft and lying. Now in the case of murder, the wretched murderer is to be put to death (Exodus 21:12; Mark 7:9-13; etc.). It matters not if he murders a person of his own race, or a person of another race, the murderer is to be put to death. God's law recognises all sin as criminal, and establishes just penalties for such criminal acts. The murderer does not owe his victim life in prison, he owes his life. (Note well, God did not establish prisons in His law; capital crimes were punished by death and property crimes required restitution.) This is the reason that it is an evil act for a civil government to try to enact and enforce "hate crimes" because it insinuates that some crimes are not hateful. It also insinuates that some human lives are more important than others. (By the way, this is the reason that it is also wicked for the State to enact harsher penalties for killing policemen, or for committing murder with certain weapons.) Murder is to be punished by the execution of the murderer, regardless of the victim's race or station, and regardless of the weapon used to kill.

When the State seeks to make "hate" criminal, it sets itself up as God by claiming omniscience. The truth is, only God can rightfully judge a person's heart, for only He knows infallibly the human heart within us. "Hate crime" legislation seeks to govern the heart of man which only God can do. Thus the government seeks to declare itself as omnipotent, another attribute exclusively God's. The civil laws of a commonwealth must be in accord with God's law, or there can be no true justice. Our civil law must always be objective, not subjective, for such subjectivity can be swayed back and forth by popular whim usually excited by demagogues. It is time for the Lord to work, for they have made His law void.