Perseverance of the Saints & Capital Punishment

September 19, 2002 - December 24, 2002
(Outdated)

This is an outdated article. Update is: Just Punishment.

(A letter to RC Sproul in response to his messages on the radio.)

 Dear RC,

After a long time I had the opportunity to hear you on the Internet and I completely enjoyed your fifteen part series on Christian Ethics. This may be a redundant letter because the series is over a long time ago and others may have written to you about this.

1) Why does the Lord say that He will not blot the name of a person from the book of life, if He also means that it is possible for someone’s name to be blotted from the Lamb’s book of life? (Revelation 3:5) Notice here that the reference is to those who overcome. This is not the only verse that speaks of loosing one's salvation. In Matthew 10:22 and 24:13 Jesus speaks of only those who hold on till the end only, to be saved. Again in Luke 13:24, He says, "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." All this speaks of the fact: "Not all those who say, 'Lord, Lord' will enter into the kingdom of heaven but only those who do the will of the Father." (Matthew 7:21).

(2) When you dealt with Capital Punishment, why did you not touch on the more obvious than what the Governor of Pennsylvania quoted. Which is, "Christ, who became the curse for us?" Are we not speaking here of Ethics and Theonomy and not what the government of our time is able to legislate? I am sorry to hear that even Chuck Colson with all his years of experience with the Prison Ministry would disagree with you on only those grounds you mentioned. Moreover, in Theonomy can the state take upon itself the duty of cutting short the grace period of anyone before one can enter into eternal life! Can the state judge whether one should have eternal life or not? You may quote from Matthew 18:15-20 and say that you as a state have gathered together in His name to bind a man or woman on earth and since Christ said He will be in your midst, He will agree and bind him or her even in heaven. My answer to this sort of prayers is: Look at the greatest epistle of all, namely 1 John. John says in no uncertain terms that the thing that we ask will be given to us because we keep the Commandments of God (1 John 3:22) or in other words we ask according to His will (1 John 5:14). Now is it His will that any should perish before the appointed day? No, not at all (2 Peter 3:9). By Capital Punishment are we not robbing a person from repenting and thus disallowing him to enter into eternal life? By the way, I am not totally against Capital Punishment in Theonomy because there is a sin that leads to death (1 John 5:16), which is presumptuous sin (Matthew 10:22; 24:13; Hebrews 5:11-6:12; 10:26-29; Revelation 3:5).

It is quite strange that I should have questions on the above two topics but they fit in together well.

In Letter 2

SUBJECT 3: Capital Punishment

In your book Now, That's a good question you have said the reason why there should be Capital Punishment is because it is commanded by God to Noah and His posterity.

Indeed it is a Commandment given to Noah and the reason stated, "man is in the image of God." Though the Noahic covenant is an everlasting covenant, God's ways of keeping His promises have changed. When there was only a remnant, He kept mankind from perishing, by terrorizing those who would brake His Laws. Notice that this revives a former grant (Genesis 1:28) only with this difference, that man in innocence ruled by love, fallen man rules by fear (Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Bible). But today God is more gracious and indeed we are in a period and covenant of grace. It is only willful sin, as per the Law, which demands a death penalty in Theonomy. In Theonomy with the inner restraint of the Holy Spirit, there need be only less external restraint.

There is much to gather from our Lord's Words: "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead." The Words "Follow Me" is anything but pursue a death penalty for the offender. On the contrary, we are to even save that soul from eternal damnation, not snuff it out deliberately and even corporately. Man's life is precious all right but let the dead bury their dead--leave the dead and gone behind, you go and save the living. Now if this means carrying a sword, do it by all means but remember the solemn warning our Lord gives in Matthew 26:52 -- "all those who take the sword will perish by the sword." So it is well to have a designated community official to carry the sword on a mutual basis. Paul refers to the sword of the authorities (Romans 13:4), only as it is being borne in vain and not as a divine imperative for its use.

(In saying all this i am in no way denying that God is immutable (He does not change). It is just that man needs different medicine for different diseases.)

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By the way the Bride of Lord Jesus Christ prepares herself (Revelation 19:7) and therefore there should be no confusion with the metaphor as applied to the husband and wife. Justification is by works of Jesus Christ imputed to us by grace through faith but Sanctification is by our own works imparted by the Holy Spirit through the same kind of faith.

This is an outdated article. Update is: Just Punishment.

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