The Bible is clear about ways to love our neighbor that are very practical and not just pious words. The question is not whether someone is going to die, but the question is who is going to die.  I am afraid that emotions fueled by modern sentimentality, and prevailing misconceptions of love, rule men more today than does the love of God.  Murder is a horrible experience for the individual and the family.  It is an attack on the image of God, and therefore on God himself.

During the last week of March, the Governor of Virginia signed into law a legislative bill that abolishes the death penalty in his State.  As should be expected, one of the arguments for the cessation of capital punishment was racism.

This is the same Governor who also believes that abortion is legitimate into the third trimester of pregnancy.  Even worse, he has made it clear publicly that, after birth, a child could be left to die if certain conditions exist.

I think we are killing the wrong people! The Bible does not sanction the killing of babies in the womb or those infants born and living outside the womb.  However, the Bible does sanction capital punishment of adults who are guilty of the crime of murder.

Genesis 9:6 is clear, and you don’t have to be a theonomist to assert this since it was codified before Moses delivered the Law to the people of Israel: “Whoever sheds mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God he made man.”  The Law of Moses gives us further parameters to assure that the accused will be protected from false accusations.  There must be at least two or three witnesses, and the witnesses must be put on notice that if they are found to be false witnesses, they will be put to death.

In the modern church, the common view of penology is that the penalty of capital punishment ceased under the New Covenant. The response of Jesus to the woman caught in adultery is often used as a proof-text for this position (John 8:1-11).  This has been a controversial text; however, it is important to note that in the confrontation of Jesus with this woman that our Savior did not change the validity of the Old Testament penalties, but on the contrary, he upheld them. He even confirmed them here in this passage by his reference to her deed as a capital offence (casting of stones). Since Jesus told her to sin no more, we know she was guilty, but he let her go free, because there were no legitimate witnesses that could testify in a court case as required by the judicial law of Israel. Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament law in every detail, not to nullify it.

This may sound cruel and unkind to the modern Christian.  Some would call it barbaric.  However, I argue that in abolishing the death penalty, we have ceased to love our neighbor.  I will list a few reasons why.

First, the Bible teaches that a just penalty is a deterrent to crime.  It prevents crimes against other people.  In 1 Timothy 5:20 Paul clearly establishes this principle of deterrence when he says that the public rebuke of an elder caught in sin will result in making the rest “fearful of sinning.” Politicians are trying to solve societal criminality by legislative restrictions on law-abiding citizens, but this is unbiblical. The guilty roam free without fear, and the liberty of law-abiding citizens is slowly being stripped away.

Many of those tempted to murder will be deterred by the fear of the death penalty, especially if it is publicly administered.  This means that fewer members of our neighborhood, our churches, and our families will have to endure such a cruel crime.  We cannot eliminate such an awful crime as murder, but we can reduce its occurrence.  This would be an act of mercy.

There are many victims who would have never been murdered if the church had stood strong without any hesitation for the legitimacy of capital punishment administered by the civil magistrate.  This act by the Governor of Virginia will guarantee an increase in the murder rate in Virginia. But, for some reason, the church has been silent even though reinstituting such a biblical principle would be an act of love toward our neighbor.

Secondly, I think that putting people in long-term detention centers is one of the most detestable and repugnant acts that we can do to our fellow man.  It is the modern equivalent of slavery.  To end this horrific institution of confinement would be a way to love our neighbor.

If capital punishment were applied for certain major crimes, and if restitution were applied for lesser crimes like theft, then we could empty our jails and prisons.  Prisons have become big business, an industrial complex for some corporations and certain government agencies. The expense for holding prisoners for months and years is astronomical.  Modern jails and prisons are helping to bankrupt our nation.  If we would bring an end to this inhumane system, we would be loving our neighbor.

Thirdly, since we are all made in the image of God, there is an inexplicable need to see justice in this life.  Inside we scream for making things right.  We can literally make ourselves sick, and I think that many hurting people do die prematurely.  Too many of our neighbors cry themselves to sleep every night because they must live with the fact that someone got away. To ache for biblical justice in this life is not personal vengeance.  It is a desire for justice administered by the civil authority acting in the name of God (Rms 13: 1-4).  It is the longing for God’s vengeance. This brings peace to the family of victims where otherwise there is no peace. Christians today are expected to forgive when it is not their right to forgive.  They have a responsibility to love the perpetrator, but not to forgive.  Forgiveness negates the necessity of payment which negates the character of justice itself.

Lastly, we could restore to our communities (especially to our larger cities) the ability to go out in public without the fear of being attacked.  Our streets would be safer.  For many of us, there would be no need to carry guns everywhere we go.  A quasi-Christian civilization could be re-established.  We would need less police.  This would again be a concrete way to love our neighbor.

The Bible is clear about ways to love our neighbor that are very practical and not just pious words. The question is not whether someone is going to die, but the question is who is going to die.  I am afraid that emotions fueled by modern sentimentality, and prevailing misconceptions of love, rule men more today than does the love of God.  Murder is a horrible experience for the individual and the family.  It is an attack on the image of God, and therefore on God himself.  To tolerate it without the administration of the death penalty is to degrade the value of the victim and mankind in general.  Failure to administer biblical justice is a failure to love our neighbor.  I think we are killing the wrong people!

Larry E. Ball is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tennessee.