Deserving of
Death
A new governor of Judea is
appointed by the name of Festus. Certain high-ranking Jews inform
him against Paul. He tells them to come back to Caesarea to accuse
Paul in a formal setting. They lay several serious charges against
Paul which they couldn’t prove. Paul’s reply includes a statement
worthy of consideration. Read the first half of Acts 25:11. Paul
here acknowledges the right of civil authorities [primarily the
Roman government in this context] to exercise capital punishment.
Certain crimes are worthy of death. This statement was made during
our dispensation, the gospel age.
Text: Acts 25:11 “For if
I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I
do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of
which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal
to Caesar.” NKJV
Capital
Punishment in the Old Testament
A. Instituted by God
Himself (Genesis 9:5-6) “Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a
reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from
the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will
require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his
blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.” NKJV In
the “Patriarchal Period,” recall that the Flood is an example of God
executing capital punishment (Genesis 6)
B. Made A Part of
the Law of Moses (Exodus 21:12, 14) “He who strikes a man so that
he dies shall surely be put to death. 14 But if a man acts with
premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you
shall take him from My altar, that he may die.” NKJV Under the Law
of Moses several acts were worthy of death.
1. Murder (Exodus
21:14) “But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor,
to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he
may die.” NKJV
2. Being disobedient
and rebellious to parents (Exodus 21:15, 17) “And he who strikes
his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. 17 And he who
curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” NKJV
3. Kidnapping and
selling of people (Exodus 21:16) “He who kidnaps a man and sells
him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.”
NKJV
4. Causing premature
birth with resulting loss of life of either mother or child (Exodus
21:22-23) “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she
gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be
punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he
shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then
you shall give life for life.” NKJV
5. Not controlling
your livestock (Exodus 21:28-29) “If an ox gores a man or a woman
to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall
not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted. But if
the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been
made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it
has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner
also shall be put to death.” NKJV
6. Practicing witch
craft (Exodus 22:18) “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.”
NKJV (Leviticus 20:27) “A man or a woman who is a medium, or who
has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone
them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.” NKJV
7. Sexual acts with
animals (Exodus 22:19) “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be
put to death.” NKJV
8. Worshipping other
gods (Exodus 22:20) “He who sacrifices to any god, except to the
Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.” NKJV
9. Adultery
(Leviticus 20:10) “The man who commits adultery with another man’s
wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the
adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.” NKJV
10. Incest
(Leviticus 20:11-12) “The man who lies with his father’s wife has
uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put
to death. Their blood shall be upon them. If a man lies with his
daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They
have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them.” NKJV
11. Sodomy –
homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13) “If a man lies with a male as he
lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They
shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” NKJV
12. Blasphemy
(Leviticus 24:16) “And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall
surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone
him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he
blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.” NKJV
13. Teaching false
doctrines (Deuteronomy 13:5-10) “But that prophet or that dreamer
of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to
turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the
land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice
you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk.
So you shall put away the evil from your midst. If your brother,
the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your
bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you,
saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known,
neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are
all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the
earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him or
listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him
or conceal him; but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be
first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all
the people. And you shall stone him with stones until he dies,
because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”
NKJV
Regarding teaching false
doctrines: Imagine if that was still practiced today! During both
the Patriarchal and Mosaical period, God told His people to practice
capital punishment.
Capital Punishment in the
New Testament
A. Paul, in Acts 25,
clearly implies there are crimes or acts worthy of death. This
happens many years after the Law of Moses was nailed to cross.
B. Romans 12:17-19
“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the
sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you,
live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but
rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine.
I will repay.’ Says the Lord.” NKJV
God clearly teaches here
that we are not to practice vengeance. Why? Vengeance belongs to
God. But is this just a New Testament teaching? NO. Read
Deuteronomy 32:35. “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot
shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things to come hasten upon them.” NKJV God has promised to
repay those who do evil. One way He does that is through civil
government.
C. Romans 13:1-5 “Let
every soul be subject in the governing authorities. For there is no
authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are
appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists
the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on
themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to
evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is
good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s
minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he
does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an
avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you
must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience
sake.” NKJV This section immediately follows verses dealing with
God repaying evil doers. Civil authorities are appointed by God.
He has set up governments to protect society and keep order. Our
text in Verse 4 says civil rulers are God’s ministers. They do not
bear the sword in vain. Civil authority is an avenger for God. The
sword in the 1st Century was a symbol for execution or capital
punishment. The use here is to speak of governments’ power to take
human life as a way to punish evil and maintain order.
(Ecclesiastes 8:11) “Because the sentence against an evil work is
not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is
fully set in them to do evil.” NKJV The equivalent of the sword
today would be the electric chair, lethal injection . . . So God
through the apostle Paul teaches us that capital punishment is still
to be used in our day.
Objections to Capital
Punishment
Many object to capital
punishment on the basis of Exodus 20:13. “Thou shalt not kill.”
[“You shall not murder.” NKJV] We know He is not including all
types of killing because Jehovah then commands His people to kill
those who violate this command!!! (Exodus 21:12) “He who strikes a
man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.” NKJV
But what would the command
“Thou shalt not kill” or “murder” include?
1. Intentional
murder, premeditated, planned
2. Abortion Those
guilty of abortion: Judges throughout America, lawmakers,
government officials, doctors
3. Slowly killing
yourself through bad habits or lifestyles: Drinking, drugs of any
kind, homosexual behavior. . .
While capital punishment
is a deterrent to us here on earth, God’s Word warns of an eternal
punishment. (Romans 2:5-9) “But in accordance with your hardness
and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath
in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
who will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to
those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory,
honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness – indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the
Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to
everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek.” NKJV
Bobby Stafford
November 20, 2016 Acts:
Lesson 53 Acts 25:11
