Following the horrific public assassination of Charlie Kirk I have witnessed a lot of Christians calling for and supporting the calls for the death penalty for suspected shooter Tyler Robinson. This has not sat well with me at all, and it hurts me to the core to see Christians calling for what is essentially the murder of another human being. Bible Hubs biblical definition of murder reads “Murder, as defined in the Bible, is the unlawful and premeditated taking of a human life. It is distinguished from killing in warfare or accidental death, which are treated differently in biblical law. Murder is considered a grave sin and a violation of the sanctity of life, which is a gift from God.” This refers to Gods law not man’s laws. When abortion and euthanasia was legalised in certain countries, we didn’t shrug our shoulders and say, “well it’s not murder now because it’s legal.” We still recognised both as breaching the sanctity of life. Why do Christians do this when the death sentence is involved? It’s hypocritical to declare life precious and preach the sanctity of life in the defence of some and then completely dismiss it when it comes to the death penalty. Shouldn’t we be fighting against the death penalty and voicing our objection while preaching forgiveness, love, grace, mercy and the redemptive power of Jesus instead? Whether we like it or not the manmade death penalty is “the unlawful and premeditated taking of a human life” as it breaks the 6th commandment of God’s law.
It is true that God gave strict guidelines on the death penalty in the Old Testament, but Jesus put an end to stoning’s and the death penalty in the New Testament. The most glaring example is the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11. At that time it was legal for the woman to be stoned to death for her crime but Jesus put a stop to it not only giving the woman the chance to repent and be saved but He also called the executioners and their supporters out with one simple statement “he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” At this moment in time Jesus was making it clear that we are all guilty of sins that qualify for the eternal death penalty, but He also showed that no one is beyond saving no matter their sin. The only unpardonable sin is grieving the Holy Spirit which can only be determined by God Himself. Who are we to determine that someone is beyond saving? Who are we to sit in God’s judgement seat? Gods remnant will be facing the death decree in the future too, can we really support it now then cry out against it later?
The other morning I was doing my morning Bible reading and came across Matthew 5:38-48 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” The Holy Spirit convicted me that this teaching completely did away with the human-on-human punishment of murder for sins including murder. Coupled with His mercy on the woman caught in adultery He has given us verbal and a physical example of how we should treat our enemies, those who hurt us or others. He calls us to love our enemies not exact retribution and vengeance on them. At Charlie Kirks memorial Trump, who declares himself a Christian and who not long ago released a Bible said that he “hates” his enemies! How unbiblical and those calling for or supporting the death penalty are supporting Trumps declaration too showing only hate for their enemy and neighbor. If God wants transgressors to die because He knows if they can be saved, He will allow the secular system to do its thing but that does not give us the excuse or the right to cheer it on. Jesus clearly tells us to love thy neighbor and thy enemies. We are to not retaliate like Peter tried to in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Imagine you were in that crowd surrounding the woman, as a follower of Jesus, and you were cheering the executioners on. Crying out for her to face “justice” and to be killed. Imagine how you would feel if Jesus were looking at you as He declared that the person with no sin should cast the first stone, exposing your broken, sinful nature. Why do Christians not apply that for the death penalty in our time? We can’t declare that we are followers of Jesus when we ignore the teachings we don’t like. We all like to see bad people face justice but our justice is steeped in hypocrisy and sin. Only Gods justice is pure.
We also need to consider that Jesus warns us in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 numerous times to not be deceived in these last days. Satan is working hard to win souls, to cause us to be lost. What better way that to cause Christians to not only declare their hate for their neighbor by calling for them to be murdered but for that person to be innocent. We only know what we are told by other men. Imagine having to explain why you trusted men leading to you crying out for the death of an innocent person. How many times has it been exposed that an innocent person has been jailed or put to death wrongly either by error, malice, laziness or the need to get a quick conviction to appease someone. We preach about living in evil times where the love of many is waxing cold (Matthew 24) yet we’re displaying the very same cold-hearted hate filled behavior. If someone is jailed wrongly, they can be freed and given compensation but a person who receives the death penalty cannot. Imagine meeting them on the sea of glass after repenting yourself and maybe having to apologise for your behavior towards them even thought you didn’t know them or witness their supposed crime.
We talk a lot about the church being in the shaking but neglect to apply it to situations like this. We need to rise above the sin driven need to exact violent punishment on others and start showing every single person, no matter their evil, the love, grace and mercy God shows us when daily we hurt Him by breaking His commandments. In James 2:10 it says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” No matter which commandments we break God has the right to give us the eternal death penalty, but He doesn’t. Jesus is, at this very moment, interceding for us saving us every moment from the deserved eternal death penalty! As followers of Jesus shouldn’t we be interceding for those facing the worldly death penalty? What right do we have to expect love, grace and mercy from Jesus when we can’t offer it to others? Are we truly displaying the character of Christ when were calling for the death of a brother or sister?
Here are a couple of stories (there are many others) to make you think:
Man who served 33 years in prison for murder leads inmates to Christ | Christian Times
Christian Mother Shows Faith to Forgive and Love Son’s Killer
