In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus spoke about forgiveness:
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Over time as I’ve studied the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, I’ve changed from being pro-death penalty to anti-death penalty. I honestly don’t see how anyone claiming to be a Christian can support the death penalty.
If someone punches you in the face I can not coo to the thug, "I forgive you" and everything is now ok.
God has no problem with the death penalty and in fact commanded it in the case of murder.
And of course "Forgiveness" does not mean you will not be punished for your actions.
There are many here that put America and “conservatism” above Christianity. Similar to what liberals do.
GOD established the death penalty for murder.
Christians can support it because society needs to be protected and justice is done.
The death penalty is justice done to someone who is guilty of a capital crime, like murder.
That said, I am absolutely for restraint in its use to only cases where there is no doubt. And what with DNA testing and video surveillance these days, it does remove a lot of doubt.
In re Christian’s supporting the death penalty
Gods law is clear and there is only one God.
Jesus as part of the Trinity established that if you take a man’s life your life is to be forfeit.
He didn’t just “change His mind”
The Old Testament law commanded the death penalty for various acts: murder (Exodus 21:12), kidnapping (Exodus 21:16), bestiality (Exodus 22:19), adultery (Leviticus 20:10), homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13), being a false prophet (Deuteronomy 13:5), prostitution and rape (Deuteronomy 22:24), and several other crimes. The apostle Paul definitely recognized the power of the government to institute capital punishment where appropriate (Romans 13:1-7).
I'm in favor of just punishment. That means there must be honesty in the prosecutors, integrity in the courts, and wisdom in the legislators. As much as that is lacking in our current system... along with noted examples of abuse... I am skeptical of its proper application these days.