Societal Issus

Objectives

• Teens will take biblical perspective on war.
• Teens will take a biblical perspective on capital punishment
• Teens will take a biblical perspective on civil disobedience

Introduction

• Did Paul write the book of Romans to a group of individuals who were subject to a theocracy or a secular government?
  • God wrote Romans to individuals who were subject to Roman rule, a secular government that knew virtually nothing of God. When we study the book of Romans we must understand that material in Romans is written to individuals who are subject to a secular government much like we today are subject to a secular government. In other words, Romans 13:1-7 applies to us today!
• What does Romans 13:1-7 say about government?
  • Every person is subject to government
  • Government is instituted by God
  • Those who resist government will incur judgement
  • Government serves to instill fear of punishment for bad behavior
  • One means of instilling fear is through the sword (physical punishment including)
  • Taxes are a part of God's ordained government
  • We are required to respect and honor those God has appointed

• R.C. Sproul "once had a conversation with a United States senator who said to me, 'No government ever has the right to coerce its subjects to do anything.' ". How does this statement contradict Romans13:1-7?

• • In fact, the whole point of government, from a Biblical perspective is the ability to coerce people.

1. In Summary, God has given government two basic rights that individuals do not possess. The right to levy taxes, and the right to bear the sword.

Main Body

Capital Punishment

The following questions can be used to guide discussion. Some suggested answers are provided to help plan the discussion.

• What does the phrase "capital punishment" mean?
  • involving execution

• According to Genesis 2:17, what was the original punishment for sin?
  • God's initial punishment for sin was capital punishment. God in His mercy chose to withhold this punishment immediately from Adam and Eve, but originally, all sin was a capital offense.

• God, in His mercy, has chosen to postpone capital punishment for most sins. However, He did set one standard in Genesis 9:6. What crime and punishment are discussed in Genesis 9:6?
  • God set up a standard that the punishment for murder was the death penalty.

Many times laws come with conditions on them. However, these conditions are not necessarily written next to every single law. For example, the Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Aviation Regulations is a massive document taking up several hundred pages. Toward the middle of the document at the beginning of the section regulating General Aviation pilots is a statement "In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency (14.91.3)." This allows a pilot to act with wisdom when it becomes necessary. However, if we pick out a particular regulation say 91.130.1 "Each person must establish two-way radio communications with the ATC facility providing air traffic services prior to entering that airspace and thereafter maintain those communications while within that airspace." and ignore all other regulations then we might believe that in an emergency situation where the radio has failed a pilot cannot land at the airport. Obviously, this is ridiculous.

• Read Exodus 20:13. Does this mean that the taking of life is not permitted in any circumstances
  • This passage alone has no conditions placed upon it. However, we need to take the Bible as a whole. Do pull one commandment without considering how God fits his standards together is irresponsible. In the study we will argue that the commandment "thou shalt not murder" is a commandment about the sanctify of human life and a principle suggesting that humanity should be very careful in life to prevent the taking of life. However, as discussed in the introduction, there is a difference between an individual and a government. The Ten Commandments are laws for individuals, not necessarily laws that apply to a governing body. R.C. Sproul States

    It is ironic that many have appealed to the Ten Commandments as a basis for repudiating capital punishment, taking the prohibition “You shall not murder” as a universal mandate. This comes from a superficial reading of the Sinaitic legislation and a failure to observe that within the context of the Sinai covenant the penalty for violating that commandment was death. The holiness code of Israel clearly called for the death penalty in the case of the murder of another human being. The murderer must forfeit his own life. The reason given for the special sanctity of human life was that man is created in the image of God. God is concerned with preserving the work of His creation, and at the top of His priorities is the preservation of the life of man. There is a sense in which the commission of murder is regarded by God as an indirect assault on Him.