1990 issue 10 - law and liberation: the sixth commandment - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1990 Issue 10 - Law and Liberation: The Sixth Commandment - Counsel of Chalcedon

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A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH

When our Lord Jesus Christ quoted from the secondtable of the law to the rich young ruler, He said,Thou shalt do no murder. (Matthew 19:18). In I

John 3 :15 we read, Whosoever hateth his brother isa murderer. Clearly, the sixth commandmentforbids murder and warns against the hatred whichis its root. We live in a day of vengeance. I t isfrequently the theme of novels, plays, and films. Itis regarded as the way of life by many, particularlyterrorist groups that justify their actions by sayingthat they are simply reacting to the so-called violenceof the state. Such people are murderers. In God'slaw-order, killing born of hatred, revenge, andrebellion against the authority appointed by God, isforbidden. Against the perpetrators of such deeds,the state, as God's minister of justice, must act, not

simply as a matterof

vengeance, but primarily inobedience to the Law of God which requires thehighest penalty--death. Vengeance is mine; I willrepay, saith the Lord (Romans 12:19). There is anillegal killing which meets with the wrath of theAlmighty through the instrumentality of Godordained and obedient human authority. Unless thestate acts to execute murderers, the nation which itserves will die. It is a matter of life or death .

Faith Establishes Law

In Romans 3:28 we read that a man is justified byfaith without the deeds of the law. To understand

this statement we must take note of verse 31. Paulasks, Do we then make void the law through faith?He answers, God forbid: yea, we establish thelaw. Here we learn about the relationship betweenfaith and the Law of God. That faith by which aman is justified before God establishes or enforcesthe Law of God. The broader implication of this factis that Biblical faith builds a godly nation oflawkeepers. Where such a faith is found, there is noplace for ungodliness and unrighteousness.Conversely, where law-breakers begin to aboundand the police and law-abiding citizens become theminority, there it is evident that God's people have

relaxed their watchfulness to preserve and promotethe application of the Law of God in their society. Itis that very situation which is described by our LordJesus Christ in Matthew 5 :13 . i f the salt have losthis savour, ..it is thenceforth good for nothing, butto be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men . Without an active and practically applied Biblicalfaith behind it, law and order must disintegrate.

A society that fails to apply the death penalty inaccordance with the stipulations of the Law of Godstands guilty before Him and, without duerepentance, Divine judgment will overtake it. If asin Deuteronomy 21 :1-9, a ritual atonement was stillrequired of a city closest to the scene of an unknownmurderer's crime, then no society can escape theguilt of justice not done. Even though we are nolonger bound by the Old Testament sacrificialsystem, the absolute law of the unchanging Godmeans we cannot gloss over crimes committed in ourmidst. Only where a nation's pre-eminentcharacteristic is its faith in the Triune god will there

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be a true and proper application of capitalpunishment. Such obedience will promoteconditons unfavorable to the present lawlessness andbe productive of "a quiet and peaceable life in allgodliness and honesty" I Timothy 2:2). The ironyof the current d i s r ~ g a r dfor law and order is that ifthe revolutionaries ever come. to p o ~ e rthey willenforce the death penalty, not m obedience to God ,but unrighteously, to destroy all who oppose -them .In other words, what we have on our hands is a lifeand death situation jn which Biblical Christianity willeither triumph as a vibrant faith itt this land or sufferone of the most devastating setbacks in its ultimatelyvictorious destiny. The issue is obedience ordisobedience to the Law of God, liberty or bondage .

Responsibility Or Evasion

The Bible teaches us . the doctrine of individual responsibility . "The fathers shall not be put to deathfor the children, neither shall the children be put todeath :for the fathers; every man shall be put to death

for his own sin (Deuteronomy 24:16). learly ,where the death penalty is applicable, it is warrantedfor personal disobedience and its enforcement is atthe hands of lawful a\lthority. In the light of thisverse it is obvious that everyone has theresponsibility to obey the Law of God. Moreover,for disobediettc(f, everyone has the responsibility tosupport th lawful enforcement of God's law.Without this twofold duty, mere personal obediencewould become an oddity in a sea of relativism andanarchy. . Personal obedience to God's law cannever remain content to simply let others do a s theyplease. That would be a denial of ourLord JesusChrist's statement that we are the .salt of the earthand light of the world. Every citiii:m is required touphold a godly law-order. To love my .neighborinvolves my action to preserve his life, his wife, hisproperty, and his reputation against all that wouldunlawfully deprive him o f these good things fromGod . Truly, "love is the fulfilling of the law"(Romans 13:10).

In the inerrant account of the historic fall of our first parents in Genesis 3 we learn that it is inherent insin ful human nature to seek to evade individualresponsibility. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamedthe serpent. 'It wasn't me, it was she who did it.'This well known denial finds repetition on the lips fthe .youngest guilty child through the ages. In thematter of the death penalty, humanism fmds subtlearguments to evade responsibilty for its application.

Humanism hypocritically l ~ s 'to plate such aninestimable value on life that to terminate it aspr e scribed in God's word is an .offence . . . Thehumanistic 'reverence ' for life supersedes reverence


for God and the requirements of His holy law.Hush Let us not breathe a word about abortion,

infanticide, genocide, and euthanasia . Undoubtedly,humanism, in its relativistic thinking, can live withits contradictions It has Satan for its father. In thehumanistic perspective, to punish a 'criminal' is anevil thing to do because his acti,ori is directlyattributable to his environinent and is really areaction to the cruelty of society. In fact, thatargument can be taken back a few steps and theblame can be laid at the door of the God who madethe environment and those people who establishedthis God's law-order. This view of things is wellserved by the theory of evolution which underminesthe truth of individual responsibility . ln the processof evolution, man has been acted upon by his

changing en vironment and he ~ its product. Anyguilt for his actions is not his but his environment's.In this w;:ty, society is made to carry the burden o fguilt while the wicked are declared to be innocent.In such a system, the true victim is the criminalwhose rights must be protected and the logical

conclusion of any revolutionary civil rightsmovement must ultimately be that the godly, law-abiding, law-applying, Biblical Christian person isthe greatest threat to society. In this overturning ofvalues, God's people are the guilty ones not thecriminal.

Instead o the death penalty, humanism has decreedunbiblical imprisonment but the deficien cies of thatsystem are glaringly obvious even to the humanistswho would replace it with psychiatric retraining : Infact, such reconditioning is being thrust upon thewhole world through the mass media and educationin the vain globalist program to create a new societywithout God's law, the cross of Christ, and theregenerating work of the Holy Spirit. That goal is

kin to the Marxist's total remaking of the socialenvironment For the humanist, e vil works are notthe fruit of man's sinful heart but a temporaryjnsanity which will disappear in a reorderedenvironment. He di stinguishes between th e intentand the act and finds that no evil intent 'couldpossibly arise from man's gQod or neutral nature.Such a view of man succeeds onl y in encouraging aself-expression that leads to lawless vio lence.

Death from Man

"All they that hate me love death ,"' sa ys Wisdom inProverbs 8:36 . The wicked are well described in Proverbs 4:16-17, "For they sleep not, e x c e p ~they~ a v edone mischief; and their sleep is taken away,unless they cause some to fall. For the y eat thebread of wickedne ss, and drink the wine ofviolence ." Man , in rebellion against God , breedsdeath. The most basic form of unjust violence is


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murder but the sixth commandment is not limited tooutlawing only that act. The killing of God-givenlife takes many different fonns, all of which areforbidden by this law. Acts or processes thatmilitate against the healthful preservation of life inphysical and spiritual vigor, and in truth andrighteousness, incur the wrath of God. Our creationin the image of God as well as the fact that the bodyof the redeemed person is the temple of the HolySpirit (I Corinthians 6: 19) stresses the truth thatman is made for life not death. Death is God'suniversal judgment on sin and the haters of Godexalt death and everything that serves it in plaindefiance of God. The mind of man removes thejudgmental aspect in favor of death as a naturalprocess or as an instrument of power in the hands ofman as a god. Thus we find that the killingforbidden by this commandment must include deathserving acts such as the wilful neglect of health;indolence; intemperance; unrestrained passions;suicide; riot; the modern power to tax beyond thelimits of God's law; indeed, any violations of theDecalogue because an offence in one point of the lawis a breach of the whole law (James 2:10) andtransgression of God's law is sin and sin yieldsdeath.

Three death-serving acts are much to the fore today.Firstly, abortion js the murder of the human embryoor foetus . From the moment of conception there isGod-given life which is known to God even beforeconception. "Before I formed thee in the belly Iknew thee," said God to Jeremiah (1:5). In Exodus21 :22-25 even an accidental abortion is not withoutpenalty; how much more the deliberate mass murderof millions of God-created lives? Legalized abortion

will pave the way for legalized euthanasia as sinfulman strives to be as God. Secondly, the use o fterror for political gain is also murder. Such acts arenothing less than the logical outworking o f man'sfallen desire to be as God in His omnipotence . Theviolence o f terrorism is a religious act of pseudoomnipotence which grows progressively moreperverse . Its objective is a new social order which,if ever achieved, would itself fall prey to destructionin the absence of regeneration--a power which mandoes not possess . Thirdly, toleration whichremoves all God-required distinctions destroys thebarriers which God has ordained for the preservationof godliness in this fallen world. The godly areforced to socially accept the presence of criminals,perverts , adherents of other religions, and membersof unregenerate and unassimilated cultures as thoughno differences existed. The hypocrisy behind suchtoleration is that it claims to accommodate everythingbut it will not give room to those who hold fast tothe Biblical distinctions . Some tolerance Equalitarianism is a myth

Surely, the most heinous o f ll death -serving acts isthe perversion of the Holy Scriptures . They whodisregard the word of God and who begin with theirhumanistic presuppositions in all their thinking arecondemned already. But they who distort themessage o f God's word by forcing their situationalinterpretation on it are guilty o f entrenching many inspiritual death with no o ~ of eternal life .Liberation Theology stands second to none in thisculture of death.

Death From God

"Death in any . .law system is an enescapable fact.The question is, death for whom? The humanistdemands death for God's law-order, death forunborn babies, and death for virtue and godliness,whereas God's law requires death ultimately for eviland for rebellion against God's law-order. InBiblical law, the guilty , not the innocent, die ." (R.J.Rushdoony : Institutes o iblical Law p. 375) . nthis fallen world two kingdoms are engaged in a lifeand death struggle: God's Kingdom and Satan'skingdom. Today, this unequal battle is expressed intenns of Biblical Christianity versus Humanism orAnti-christianity. This conflict involves the deathpenalty pronounced by each upon the other . or thepeople of God the issue is clear. Either we act interms of God's law and build a godly nation inwhich the state will act as the minister of God'sjustice and sentence to death those who deserve todie, or we shall perish at the hands of an ungodlylaw-order. God's righteous and providentialgovernment of His creation requires the obedience ofa limited civil government that must punish theevildoer and reward the doer o f good (Romans 13: 1-

7), and it is God who defines what is good or evil interms of His law. "The fear of the LORD is to hateevil" (Proverbs 8: 13 .

n the study o f the second commandment it wasnoted that our Lord Jesus Christ's blood-sacrificewas the supreme penalty for sins and His death isthe irrefutable theological foundation for capitalpunishment. He who has created life demands itsforfeiture only in terms of His law, for violations ofHis law , and never at the mouth of less th n two truewitnesses . "At the mouth of two witnesses, or threewitnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put todeath ; but at the mouth o f one witness he shall not beput to death." (Deuteronomy 17:6). or themurderer, death is the absolute requirement of God'sword . Anything less than that brings guilt uponsociety and the certain judgment of the Almighty."Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life ofa murderer, which is guilty of death : but he shall besurely put to death ." (Numbers 35:31) .



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Apart from murder there are a host of other offencesthat are subject to the death penalty: st.rilcfug rcursing a parent (Christ condemned the scribes andthe Pharisees for setting aside this lawMatthew15:19); kidnapping; adultery; incest; beastialty;sodomy; unchastity; rape of a betrothed virgin;witchcraft; offering human sacrifice; incorrigibledelinquency or habitual criminality; blasphemy;sabbath desecration; propagation of false doctrines;

sacrificing to false gods; refusing to abide by a courtdecision and thus denying the law; and failing torestore the pledge of bailment. Capital punishmentfor these violations is prescribed m the followingbooks .and chapters : Exodus 21, 22, 35; Leviticus20, 24; Numbers 15; Deuteronomy 13, 17, 21, 22,24; and Ezekiel18. Where this is obeyed, godlinesswill rule over ungodliness. Conversely, where thisis not obeyed, ungodliness will plague society.Contrary to God's word, Satanism is not a crime inSouth Mrica Persons guilty of capital crimes arenot beyond the reach of the Gospel, but the civilrequirement of God's law remains.

Conclusion

Of all the institutions of society, God bas appointedonly the state to wield the sword (Romans 3: 7) .Since God has declared His will finally through HisSon (Hebrews 1 :.12), the state is obliged to beChristian and its first and basic duty is to ensure theadvancement of the kingdom of God by submittingto the rule of God in His law. Even if the state is notChristian, the institution must be respected withobedience which is not in conflict with God's law.n such circumstances, godly ways must be

employed to establish righteousness in the seat ofauthority. In a godly, gospelbelieving l a w ~ o r d e robedient and godly living will be encouraged andpromoted. The emphasis will be o make alive.Widows, orphans, the poor, the defenceless, theaged, servants, neighbors ; aliens, and strangers willbless the LORD that it is so n

Buried Treasurecontinued from page 15

bank officers for years in former e m p l o ~ e n t sPastworking contacts became important again as loans couldbe negotiated by men on bOth sides of the table whowere familiar with each other. he Hunts and theirinvestment entered at just the right tilne. The companyhad good management and important coal reserves aswell as long term buyers. All of this must be seen as theresult of Goo's providence.

The Counsel of Chalcedon o December 1990 o Page

No one knew when the company began the degree towhich environmental legislation would s b a ~tlie coalindustry or that the oil embargo of the mid 70's woulddecrease the availability of cheap oil and make coal againin great demand as an energy resource. n GOd'sprovidence, the company began a t just the right time.

The reader must also realize that economic success mostoften is the result of hard work . Scott presents thegrowth of the company but he also allows the reader tosee some of the hard work that was involved. ForexamRle, a new chief executive officer had to be hiredwhen Merle Kelce unexpectedly died two months afterthe company was formed. Coal reserves had to beexamined and negotiated. Mine performance had to beconstantly evaluated. Interpersonal relationships amongworkers had to be handled properly at all levels. Noneof this. is easy. W o r ~involves botli physical and mentallabor 1f a company ts to be successful. Those who arecalled to labor in one type of position cannot look down on those who have been called to the opposite typewhether it is physical or mental. Long ago Adam andhis posterity were reminded that man would earn hisliving by tlie sweat of his brow (Genesis 3:19). Afterreading this book one can bet ter understand the sweat ofmental labor.

All workers are imprtant. This is a managementprinciple used by the Hunts, who became c o ~ w n e r sofArch Mineral. Prior to Board meetings they wouldoften visit the working site to get to know theirem.P.loyees and get their msight on company operations.Evtdently they did not see themselves as better than theiremployees. fustead they saw their mutual need for eachother. This is a Biblical principle that all employers and

employees would do well to adopt.

The author does an excellent job of setting the story inthe perspective of world events. How important thi is.The reader is consciously reminded that no companyexists by itself, removed from the interplay andoutworking of world events. Thus the environmental

movement. Middle East crisis, as well as nationaleconomic upswings and downturns play an importantpart in economic developments of Arcli Mineral.

The benefits of the capitalistic system are clearlyevident. Scott lets the benef it of capitalism speak foritself as he develops the story of Arch Mineral's growth.At the same time he reminds the reader of socialisticvanity. "BY. 1983 virtually every black African nationwas in vistble difficulty. Althougl the causes werecomectly ascribed in part to drought, decertification,and poverty' the fact remains that despotic governmentsdedicated t? socialist policies deserved more b ~ ethanthey recetved." (p.209). Of course wtthin the.capitalistic system we see the importance of ' selfgovernment, responsibilty, and the Bibhcal work ethic.

Buried Treasure provides a good opportunity forteaching family members basic economic principle thatare being practiced. For this reason it ought to bepurchased, read, and discussed. n

Thv Word have I treasured in tflJI hearthat I mif:ht not sin against Thee.

Psalm 119:11

1990 issue 10 - law and liberation: the sixth commandment - counsel of chalcedon

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