Topical Sermons - Executable Outlines

2) This is a clear allusion to the administration of capital punishment!
-- Thus the NT supports the government’s right to exercise the death penalty!
2. Consider what Paul said in Ac 25:11
a. He was willing to die if he “committed anything worthy of death”
b. A clear implication that in Paul’s mind were some crimes worthy of death!
Mark A. Copeland
[While the New Testament is focused upon the responsibilities of disciples of Jesus in His spiritual
kingdom, there is certainly no indication that it is wrong for government to administer capital
punishment when necessary. The principle established in Gen 9:5-6, given to all of mankind before the
Old Covenant, remains a responsibility placed upon the governments of men! But what of those
objections that are commonly raised whenever the issue is discussed?]
IV. COMMON OBJECTIONS TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
A. THE BIBLE SAYS “THOU SHALT NOT KILL”...!
1. The word “kill” is best translated “murder”
a. Cf. Exo 20:13 (NKJV, NASV, NIV)
b. This command forbids killing with malice and premeditation
2. In the next two chapters, God prescribes the death penalty for nine different crimes! - e.g.,
Exo 21:12-17
-- The command not to murder is directed toward individuals; one must ignore the con
B. THE BIBLE SAYS GOD HAS NO PLEASURE IN THE DEATH OF THE
WICKED...!
1. It is true that God says He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked - Ezek 18:32
2. But consider the context of this statement:
a. The soul that sins shall die; one shall not bear the iniquity of another - Ezek 18:4
b. Certain sins makes one worthy of death - Ezek 18:10-13
c. God encourages the wicked to repent and do what is right - Ezek 18:21-23
d. But even the righteous person who begins to do wickedness shall die if they do not
repent! - Ezek 18:24
-- The whole thrust of the passage is this: repent before it is too late; God may
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that doesn’t prevent Him from
carrying it out! (cf. God’s death penalty on 24,000 in the plains of Moab - Num
25:1-13)
C. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT DOESN’T WORK, IT DOESN’T DETER CRIME...!
1. This is true to a certain extent, when it is not carried out quickly - cf. Ecc 8:11
a. But it does prevent the person executed from ever killing again!
b. Its ineffectiveness in preventing crime by others is an argument against our system of
administering capital punishment, not the idea of the death penalty itself
2. “Determent” is not the only purpose, there is also the issue of “justice”
a. Justice demands that the punishment fits the crime
b. As God explained when He proscribed the need for capital punishment: “For in the
image of God He made man” - Gen 9:6
c. Some crimes are so heinous, any punishment less than death is not justice!
D. INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE SOMETIMES PUT TO DEATH...!
1. This can happen...
Topical Sermons 52