Sins Worthy of Death Part 1: Murder

I have said it myself, and I’ve heard many say, “All sin is worthy of death.” In the cosmic sense, this is true, as the root of all sin is our selfishness and pride and desire to control our own lives like our first parents.

However, in the social sense of justice which God outlines in His law, not every sin is worthy of death. If someone steals my bicycle, I would be severely unjust in seeking the death penalty.

God has revealed His will on many sins which are worthy of death in the social sphere. These sins so break our social mandates, so grossly kick our fellow man in the teeth, so perversely destroy the relationships God designed that the righteous and holy action in these cases is to remove the perpetrator entirely from society.

As you read the following sins, does it surprise you that God would demand the death penalty for any of them? Can you see how far off God’s path of justice our country has wandered?

Let’s look at one main category in this article: Murder. I will break it down into the general category of murder and the subcategory of child-murder.

Murderers

Most societies innately and naturally categorize murder as a sin worthy of death. This is embedded in the Ten Commandments: “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20.13; Duet. 5.17), but God gives the penalty for murder in Numbers 35:

“If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness…You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.” (Num. 35.30, 33–34)

Allowing a murderer to live pollutes the land in which you live. Keeping murderers alive for years on end is a miscarriage of justice.

Those Who Kill Children

God legislated against even accidental abortion:

When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. (Ex. 21.22–25)

The law of the tooth (Lex Talionis) applies even to someone who hurts an unborn baby. If the mother is struck in such a way that she gives birth prematurely and her baby is dead, the man is to be put to death. Life for life.

Also, those who would give their children to Molech in child sacrifice were to be put to death. God went further:

“And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.” (Lev. 20.4–5)

In other words, God’s justice will rain down on a society which allows these things to happen. God expects the death penalty here.

In Conclusion

Man was created in the image of God, and the fact that we bear His image means our lives are sacred. No human has any personal right to murder another, and the God-given penalty for shedding human blood is that human should be killed.

“And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Gen. 9.5–6)

If our government fails to execute murderers, they have blood on their own hands. Worse, if they set a murderer free and he kills again, they share guilt in the matter! God gave the sword to the governing authorities, and it comes with responsibilities. May our governors rule well in these matters.