Introduction
Recently the New York Times visited our studio office in Arizona to interview Pastor Jeff Durbin about the ministry of End Abortion Now. The interview can be found here and includes interaction with a Students for Life representative as well as Matt Gress of the Arizona House of Representatives. We were pleasantly surprised with how fair the New York Times was in letting us explain our position and pray that the Lord would further use it to change the conversation around abortion on a national scale.
Arizona is a key state that the political left is targeting with their latest strategy of getting abortion included into state constitutions by way of citizen initiatives. This is a defensive battle we are currently engaged in on our own front. This aside, we could not help but notice that only days removed from the interview, Biden HQ, “the official rapid response page of the Biden-Harris campaign,” posted a clip to their X account where we explained our view on the issue of capital punishment as it relates to the murder of the unborn.
In the clip Pastor Jeff explained the historic Christian teaching on the role of the state in executing those that commit heinous crimes such as murder, assuming that the proper procedures of justice have been followed in proving the guilt of a responsible party. Absent in the selected clip is what he said next:
“However, in this nation right now we have strayed so far from just standards of accusation and prosecution, that I can’t even say, and I won’t say I want capital punishment in any particular state because it could have an unjust system that leads to that capital punishment. So, do I believe in capital punishment for murder? 100%. Do I believe that we are in the place right now where we can employ that with trust to our judicial system? Absolutely not.”
We believe it goes without saying that the Biden-Harris administration has as its own agenda the smearing of anyone who would seek to protect the sanctity of life in the womb. As such, it is doubtful that journalistic integrity is their strong suit. But given that the clip was perfectly doctored to not allow for the clarification that immediately followed, we would hope for a change in practice so as not to misrepresent their opponents. We won’t hold our breath, though.
Capital Punishment and Equal Protection
Our position on this matter has been expressly communicated in all of our legislative efforts to end legal abortion. We have proposed, or taken part in efforts that have proposed, bills of equal protection for all human beings from conception in numerous states across the country. The purpose of these bills has been to correct the inequity enshrined by virtually every Pro-Life law on the books to ensure that our laws against murder apply to all people equally.
The inequity, as it stands, provides civil and criminal immunity for mothers to take the lives of their children before they are born. This makes abortion the only legally protected form of homicide in the United States, granting special murder rights to mothers through all nine months of pregnancy. Therefore, our work has centered not on creating new laws, but amending existing homicide laws to protect all life from fertilization.
This is what the bills would accomplish if passed. They effectively make it so anyone involved in the act of abortion faces due process under the law. One would think this is bare minimum for the Pro-Life crowd. But our push for justice has been met with continued opposition from many Pro-Life groups who object to laws which hold mothers legally accountable for committing this crime. The forthcoming objection is that these bills would require the death penalty for women who commit the act. They do not. In fact, they don’t prescribe any penalties.
They just say that the homicide of born people should be legally treated the same as the homicide of people before they are born. It should be noted capital punishment is the maximum penalty a jury may consider in a given state for the crime of homicide. Although, we would not say that this outcome would be right in any specific case because that is why the justice system exists: to judge the merits of each situation on a case-by-case basis.
The Duty of the State
When it comes to the subject of capital punishment, we affirm that it is the clear teaching of Scripture in regards to the function of civil government. This does not mean that we believe the death penalty should be entrusted to our current justice system because to do so would require whole categories of evidence, witnesses, and other judicial procedures that need to be in place for this sanction to be administered. This is altogether different than believing that capital punishment is consistent, righteous and pleasing to God in the realm of public justice.
Capital punishment rests on the foundational value that God imputes to mankind in creation. Men and women are made in His image. Therein lies the basis of their value. There is no higher status or dignity that could be graciously bestowed on human beings than to be a divine representative in the world, subduing and taking dominion in every area of life to bring about a God-honoring culture of life (Genesis 1:27-28). This value is buttressed by the high level of protection placed on human life from the beginning:
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
Genesis 9:6
According to this text, what kind of value does God place on the lives of His image bearers? To take human life in a way God has not outlined in His Word is to commit murder. Justifiable forms of killing in Scripture include self-defense and even taking life in times of war. But killing done in selfishness, anger or revenge is a violation of the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13), which also assumes the positive element of making provision for the protection of innocent life.
God values human life so much that to commit murder constitutes a violation of the social order that can only be remedied by forfeiting one’s own right to live. God’s Word does not allow for personal vengeance (Romans 12:17, Matthew 5:38-39). Rather, this is a responsibility carried out by an office that is divinely ordained. Civil magistrates are charged with the protection of innocent life. They have a moral obligation to punish those who do evil as defined in God’s law (Romans 13:1-4).
The death penalty is Pro-Life. It is what happens when the State exercises its right, in accordance with God’s commands, to execute guilty criminals. On the other hand, abortion is what happens when private individuals exercise an act of volition to execute innocent victims. As much as Pro-Abortion advocates denounce the death penalty, they are for executing defenseless children in the womb should they deem it necessary to achieve their own personal happiness.
The difference between them and those on the side of life is that we believe only guilty parties should be executed, not the innocent. Only once in history has a truly innocent man been put to death, and he volunteered so that the cosmic injustice of our sin against a holy God could be made right again. We believe this to be true for the personal salvation of individuals, but also in the realm of civil affairs where righteous laws govern.
Conclusion
Capital punishment is God’s standard of justice for crimes that deserve death. But even progressive Christians that view the law of God with disdain today should understand that Christ’s sacrifice does not do away with the responsibility of the state to administer justice according to God’s standards. Remember, Romans 13 was written post-cross, post-resurrection, and post-ascension. The apostle Paul affirms in his trials that there are indeed crimes worthy of death (Acts 25:11). Christ did not come to abolish the law but to give it the full force of righteousness (Matthew 5:17-20).
The law is laid down not for the just but for the lawless, including those who commit murder. All of this is in accordance with the Gospel and not in opposition to the message of grace we proclaim (1 Timothy 1:9-11). To this end, Christians must press for reform in our society in standards of justice that meet the requirements of God’s law in both definitions and penal sanctions.
Modern sensitivities pit the justice and grace of God against one another, but it should be pointed out that the law of God is gracious. We must be willing to be confronted with the reality that we are often offended by what the Bible says because we pridefully believe we are more kind and compassionate than the Almighty. The death penalty reminds us that God values life more than we do.
But it also reminds us that in God’s heavenly court of law, all of us deserve death for our lives of sin (Romans 6:23) and we are owed the condemnation of a Just Judge. We are in desperate need of the forgiveness that He offers; not only for the sake of where we spend eternity, but for the sake of our duty to fight for those who are being denied justice in this life.
Originally published at RedStateReform.org.
