Should there be a death penalty Yes or No?
As a son of a someone who used to work as a prison chaplain, I don't agree with the death penalty. I believe they too are human beings, they too can be saved, some are genuinely repentant in countries that still have the death penalty, and they are still put to death, the Bali 9 in Indonesia was a good example, Andrew Chan was a genuinely changed man, repentant, he turned to Jesus and deserved a second chance. But even though he significantly changed and was helping other prisoners, he still got put to death.
Found this arcticle.
Death penalty undermines Jesus' redemptive work on the cross - Shane Claiborne
The death penalty was established by God immediately after the flood. If you read the account of the flood in Genesis, you'll find that God condemned the world for "violence."
After the flood God established His covenant with Noah and required blood for blood as His form of justice.
5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of 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.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.” Genesis 9:5-7
This is the word of God and the basis for law.
Jesus taught mercy and forgiveness under the law, but He was very clear about qualifying mercy as to who could receive it:
Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Hebrews 10:28
For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7
32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” Matthew 18:32-35
So, mercy is a quality required of Christians, but reserved for the merciful. The same God who desires mercy, also desires justice and Jesus addressed this as the judgment of sin.
3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3-5
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans 12:19
Christians are instructed to give place to God for vengeance, but vengeance is not the same as justice. God appointed "the sword" to execute judgment.
29 Be afraid of the sword for yourselves;
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
That you may know there is a judgment.” Job 19:29
“For My sword shall be bathed in heaven;
Indeed it shall come down on Edom,
And on the people of My curse, for judgment.
6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
It is made overflowing with fatness,
With the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Isaiah 34:5-6
13 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. Romans 13:1-3
You might object to the execution of justice upon the Earth, saying that God will judge in eternity, but God hasn't given this liberal freedom from judgment upon the Earth, but rather proclaims defilement for failing to execute judgment upon those guilty of shedding "innocent blood."
11 “But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you. Deuteronomy 19:11-13
37 They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to demons,
38 And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they were defiled by their own works,
And played the harlot by their own deeds. Psalm 106:37-39
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. Leviticus 19:15
22 “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. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. Exodus 21:22-25
A god who is not just is not God at all. A man who is not just is not like God at all.
