User: What do You think??

The crime was that a woman had committed adultery but it appears she was repentant. The OT civil laws legislated the death penalty for that. The laws were meant to govern Israel while she was a theocracy. Those civil laws were to no longer be in place. The passage is not talking about capital punishment for murder. Look at Romans 13

I wonder if it might not be better to look at the Biblical teachings on this matter rather than to make this a Democrat/Republican or Liberal/Conservative issue. Biblical teaching seems to see no inconsistency in a stance that would be against Abortion but in favor of Capital punishment. I wonder if the apparent inconsistency that some might see doesn’t come from a misunderstanding of God’s view of life and death issues. Let’s walk through them.

First of all, God considers life sacred. By that we mean that he is to hold the beginning of our life and the end of our life in his hands. The right to determine when a life will begin or end belongs to no man, only to God. In Deuteronomy 32:39 he says: “There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life.” The psalmist wrote: “My times are in your hands.” (Psalm 31:15) The “your” in this case is God. Again the psalmist wrote “You turn men back to dust, saying ‘Return to dust, O sons of men.” (Psalm 90:3)

When God says “You shall not murder,” as he does in Exodus 20 he is forbidding that man would take a life that God does not want taken. It is not that God never wants life taken. God has determined that men will one day die and when that life will be taken. Sometimes it happens naturally. Sometimes it happens by an accident, etc. but God is to be the one that makes that happen. No one is to take a life that God does not want taken.

The Bible shows us that there are times when God does want life taken by man. When someone in an appropriate position carries that out, they are actually acting as God’s agent much in the same way our police force does not make laws but they are entrusted with enforcing them. They act in the name of the community when they do that. When God’s appointed representatives take a life that God wants taken, they are carrying out God’s will as his representatives. If it is God’s will, then it is not murder.

Of course, a person needs to be careful then not to take this beyond what God intended it. The lunatic who claims that God “spoke” to him and told him to kill the doctor of an abortion clinic, is not acting as God’s representative but only as a lunatic. He is guilty of murder. But God has made it clear that there is especially one crime for which he expects a person will pay with his life. Consider this:

Following the Flood of Genesis 6-8 God gave this command to Noah. He said: “For your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.” (Genesis 9:5,6) We see this same thought being expressed by God when he ruled over Israel in the theocracy. In that capacity he set up the “laws” that were to civically govern Israel as a nation. He made provisions that a murderer would be punished by having his life taken. This was in fact, capital punishment. The capital punishment itself was not murder because it was a life that God wanted taken. Murder is taking a life that God does not want taken.

Who is to carry out capital punishment according to the Bible? God says this in the New Testament: “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:1-4) The sentence “he does not bear the sword for nothing” refers to the fact that God gives the government the duty to carry out punishment on the wrongdoer. That goes even as far as capital punishment when the crime is murder.

Whether a person agrees with God or not will have to be their choice, but this is what God says and explains why there is no inconsistency in being against abortion and for capital punishment. God wants the life of an unborn baby protected while at the same time wanting the life of a murderer taken. It is the call of the God who brings to life and puts to death.

but these are two totaly differant issues. Death penalty is because they commited some terrible crime. What crime did this unborn baby do to be killed? NONE! It has the right to live as much as you and me.