Church Series--The Church's Relationship to Civil Government
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday November 22, 2016
The Church Series: The Church’s Relationship to Civil Government-The Purpose of Civil Government
Lesson # 18
The Scriptures teach that God has delegated authority to certain people to govern the affairs of certain members of the human race and to carry out capital punishment of those individuals who commit capital crimes.
These people are servants of God according to Romans 13:1-7 which refers to one of four institutions established by God.
God has also established four institutions to protect the freedom of individuals.
Each is a system of authority designed to protect the freedom of members of the human race, both unbeliever and the believer: (1) Volition: You have authority over your own soul (Genesis 2:16-17). (2) Marriage: Husband has authority over the wife (Genesis 2:22-24). (3) Family: Parents have authority over the children (Genesis 4:1). (4) Government: Government has authority over its citizens (Genesis 9:5-6).
Each institution is a system of authority designed to protect the freedom of members of the human race, both unbeliever and the believer.
Authority is the right to rule and make decisions and is the power or right to enforce obedience and is the right to control, command or determine.
God has instituted authority in order to: (1) Protect free will (volition) (2) Protect the human race from self-destruction (3) Give order to life (4) Maintain peace (5) Allow the Gospel to spread and influence people. (6) To support the believer’s witness by their authority orientation in the devil’s world.
God has absolute authority, which He expresses through both the written Word and in the living Word.
God’s authority establishes freedom, freedom requires responsibility, and responsibility protects freedom and restrains authority.
There is authority in every aspect of life.
There is even authority within the Trinity even though each member is co-equal, co-infinite and co-eternal with each other.
God the Father grants authority to the Son and directs the Holy Spirit.
God the Father has granted all authority in both heaven and on earth to His Son Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18; John 5:26-27; 1 Corinthians 15:25-28).
God the Father also directs the Holy Spirit who receives His authority from both the Father and the Son.
The Scriptures teach that there are several categories of authority: (1) Christ’s Authority (Philippians 2:8; John 5:26-27; Colossians 1:15-17; 2:10; Ephesians 1:22) (2) Biblical Authority (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). (3) Angelic Authority (Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:16). (4) Apostolic Authority (Luke 9:1; 2 Corinthians 10:8). (5) Pastoral Authority (1 Peter 5:1-3; Hebrews13:17). (6) Spousal Authority (Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18). (7) Parental Authority (Deut. 21:18-21; Prov. 1:7-9; Ephesians 6:1-3; Colossians 3:20). (8) Governmental Authority (Rm. 13:1-7; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13).
If these four divine institutions (volition, marriage, parents, government) are undermined by the refusal to submit to these systems of authority then all of society will crumble.
A disrespect of authority will lead to loss of freedom in society and will lead to danger and people will live in fear.
Human government has been established by God in order to protect the freedom, the privacy, the property and the lives of individuals in a nation.
Human government has been established by God in order to practice capital punishment as a means of punishing the criminal and the individual is to respect the laws of human government.
Genesis 9:5-6 records for us the establishment of the fourth and final divine institution and capital punishment.
Genesis 9:5 “Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man. 6 Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.” (NASB95)
The Word of God prohibits murder according to Exodus 20:13 and is one of the sins that God hates according to Proverbs 6:16-19 and according to Genesis 9:6 is to be punished through capital punishment.
“I will require” is the verb darash, which is a judicial term used with reference to both men and animals and expresses the fact God seeks “restitution” for murder by the execution of the murderer or the animal who has taken a human life.
As a result of the total depravity of mankind, God instituted capital punishment in order to protect both animal and human life and to curb violence and be a deterrent to crime.
The reason why this provision is given is found in the phrase “for in the image of God, He (the Lord) made (`asah, “modeled”) (the soul of) man.”
The emphasis of this stipulation recorded in Genesis 9:5-6 does “not” refer to vengeance but rather justice and the careful recognition of the sacredness of the divine image in man, though marred by sin.
Murder is a shocking affront to God and a terrible crime against one’s fellow man.
Before the Flood the lack of capital punishment led to blood vendettas (Genesis 4) and without instinctive fear, the animals corrupted their behavior.
Genesis 9:5-6 records the institution of human government where God delegated authority to mankind as His agents in exacting retribution by capital punishment upon those who take a human life indicating as well that this is not a personal matter but a social obligation.
Before the Flood, there was no formal arrangement of human government and thus no formal punishment of crime or of crime prevention, even for the capital crime of murder, as evident in the individual histories of Cain and Lamech (Genesis 4).
The absence of human government and the total depravity of mankind led to a universal state of violence and anarchy, which resulted in the judgment of the Flood.
God established capital punishment and thereby human government in order to prevent the conditions of the antediluvian period from developing again.
So capital punishment is the lawful taking of human life by the civil or military authorities.
The death penalty was inflicted by all nations in the ancient world.
In Israel, the main method was stoning, amongst other nations, other forms such as hanging, beheading and crucifixion were used.
In Old Testament Israel, there were various causes of the death penalty: (1) Sacrilege (Exodus 19:12-13) (2) Serious abuse of one’s parents (Exodus 21:15, 17; Deuteronomy 21:18-21; Matthew 15:4) (3) Adultery (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22; John 8:5) (4) Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16; John 19:7) (5) Idolatry (Leviticus 20:2) (5) Immorality (Leviticus 20:11-16; Deuteronomy 22:21-25) (6) Kidnapping (Exodus 21:16) (7) Murder (Genesis 9:6; Exodus 21:12) (8) Rebellion (Deuteronomy 17:12) (9) Sabbath-breaking (Exodus 31:14-15; Numbers 15:32-36) (10) Witchcraft (Leviticus 20:27; 1 Samuel 28:9) (11) Rape of a betrothed virgin (Deuteronomy 22:23-29) (12) Bestiality (Exodus 22:19) (13) Child sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2-5).
In the Scriptures, there were various means of executing the death penalty: (1) Beheading (Genesis 40:19; Mark 6:27; cf. Matthew 14:9-10) (2) Burning (Daniel 3:6) (3) Crucifixion (Matthew 27:26; cf. Mark 15:15; cf. John 19:16; Matthew 27:38; cf. Mark 15:27; Luke 23:33) (4) Hanging (Genesis 40:22; Deuteronomy 21:22-23; Acts 5:30; Galatians 3:13) (5) Impalement (Ezra 6:11; Esther 2:23; 5:14; 7:9-10; 9:12-13) (6) Stoning (Leviticus 24:23; Deuteronomy 21:18-21) (a) Stoning was the duty of the whole community (Leviticus 20:2; 24:14; Numbers 15:35) (b) Stoning carried out lawfully (Leviticus 24:23; Numbers 15:36; Joshua 7:25) (c) Stoning carried out unlawfully (1 Kings 21:11-13; 2 Chronicles 24:21; Acts 7:54-59). (7) The sword (Exodus 32:27; 1 Samuel 15:33; 22:18-19; 1 Kings 2:29, 46; 2 Chronicles 23:14-15; Daniel 2:5; Acts 12:2; Hebrews 11:37) (8) Wild beasts (Daniel 6:16).
Numbers 35:30-34, Deuteronomy 17:6-7 and 19:15 teach that capital punishment “cannot” take place unless there are two or more witnesses to the crime and that they all agree in their testimony after being individually interviewed.
Capital punishment is taught in the Old Testament (Exodus 21:12, 15-17; 22:2, 18-20; Num. 35:6-34; Deut. 19:1-13; 24:7) and in the New Testament (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13).
The fact that capital punishment was instituted does “not” mean that there is never to be an exception to the punishment of execution for the crime of murder.
With God, justice may be tempered with mercy, in response to repentance.
For example, David was guilty of the capital crimes of murder and adultery in the case of Uriah and Bathsheba respectively and God forgave David when he confessed his sin and thus David instead of dying by stoning or the sword as he deserved, “died in a good old age, full of days, riches and honor” (1 Chron. 29:28).
In like manner, a judge or a governor is warranted in taking such mitigating factors as may exist in a given situation into consideration in determining a sentence, legal penalty of capital punishment.
The essential point is that man was delegated authority and responsibility of human government by God and that this responsibility first entails the recognition of the sacredness of human life and that man is created in the image of God and the recognition of capital punishment as the just and legal penalty for murder.
It is clear that the authority for capital punishment implies also the authority to establish laws governing human activities and personal relationships, which if unregulated would lead to murder, robbery, adultery, thus this instruction to Noah is the fundamental basis for all human legal and governmental institutions.
Human government was designed by God to protect the freedom of the individual, both believers and unbelievers as well and it has the responsibility to practice capital punishment in order to protect the freedom its citizens.