Posted on 12/13/2005 12:48:16 PM PST by sionnsar
[Please read through before commenting. --sionnsar]
Early today, Stanley “Tookie” Williams was executed by the State of California. Seeing his picture on television and on the internet, I see the faces of hundreds of men to whom I have ministered over the years in prisons in Louisiana. I remain convinced that, because God could redeem me, through his Son, Jesus Christ, that Tookie and men like him can also be redeemed. It is why I oppose the death penalty - Jesus paid that price for us all.
Hollywood and the liberal Christian left have decried this execution, but not for the same reasons I do. Tookie Williams has written books, including children’s books, advocating for peace. As the founder of the Crips street gang, he has spoken out against violence. Certainly his good works outweigh his crimes, Nobel Peace Prize nominations and all! The liberal left and Jesse Jackson had saved this man…or so they thought.
Tookie had a chance to live. He requested clemency from the Governor. The Governor looked very hard at clemency for Tookie, and is taking a great deal of heat for not commuting his sentence to life inprisonment. Governor Schwarzenegger had this to say in response to Tookie’s request for clemency:
“Is Williams’ redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise?” Schwarzenegger wrote. “Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings there can be no redemption.”
He added: “In this case, the one thing that would be the clearest indication of complete remorse and full redemption is the one thing Williams will not do.”
One word stands between life and death, between sin and redemption - REPENTANCE. Not just for Tookie, but for all of us.
That is what the Governor was saying. He reviewed the evidence against Williams; it was rock solid. There is no question of his guilt. Further, Williams’ actions led to the death of hundreds - victims and members of the Crips. Yet he could not repent of his crimes.
Perhaps he just wasn’t taught. Hollywood wasn’t going to teach him that. The liberal Christian left wouldn’t teach him that. Jesse Jackson couldn’t teach him that. Perhaps only real Christians could have taught him that. No, that is wrong. Only Jesus Christ can teach him that. Will we learn from the master how to repent?
This one word, repentance, is what separates the Episcopal Church from the rest of the Anglican Communion. It is what the Primates have called for, it is what the Windsor Report implicitly requests. It is the one thing liberal Christianity cannot and will not do.
This one word, repentance, is what separates the Diocese of Newark of the Episcopal Church from renewal and growth rather than ultimate death. They recently tried to make some sort of confession of their “shortcomings” but left out on most important thing. The Diocese of Newark is the touchstone of liberal Christianity, its bishops having denied Christ’s divinity and gutted the Christian message. That was the one sin for which they would not repent in their recent reflection as they search for a bishop.
Without repentance, there can be no redemption. That is true for all of us, in our lives. Jesus cannot redeem us unless we repent. This basic Christian teaching is the hardest for us to understand. It is the hardest for us to do. But it is the one thing we must do. It is the message of John the Baptist during this season of Advent. For Tookie, the Episcopal Church, and the Diocese of Newark, no amount of good works can substitute for a lack of repentance. There is no question of guilt; the only question is of repentance. It is too late for Tookie to learn this; reports say he was defiant until the end. It is not too late for the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Newark, but I truly sense they will be defiant, until the end.
We have seen this before - defiance vs. forgiveness, in the context of three men who were given the death penalty by the Roman state, Dismas, Gestas, and Jesus, the Lord of us all, in Luke 23:
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
I found this at a website:
According to tradition, Dismas, on Christ’s right, repents and eventually joins Christ in Heaven, while Gestas blasphemes and ends up in Hell. At the moment of Christ’s passing, he writhes in agony and his feet jerk, pulling the lowest crossbar askew. On the traditional Russian Orthodox cross, the lowest crossbar is at an angle, with the right side up (Dismas went to Heaven) and the left side down (Gestas went to Hell).
St. James asked to sit a Jesus’ right hand; interestingly, it was Dismas who was at Jesus’ right hand at his death. Remember us, Lord Jesus, when you come into your kingdom.
Original Protestant theology believed that God gives man grace and faith and man doesn’t do anything to merit his salvation. Over the years this doctrine was altered that man comes to God by his “free will” which is what a bulk of Protestants today believe.
Well, I guess that clearly makes me an originalist. When you speak of the bulk of Protestants believing in free will, do you mean exercising free will as a work to earn salvation? I hope that is not supposed to be Southern Baptist theology. I know it is easy to start going in circles on the subject of free will. I just know that since nothing good can possibly come from me, that my faith must come from God.
Man’s will is in bondage until God sets us free. Of course most do not like what is implied here.
I don't know, that idea sounds perfectly normal to me. I like it just fine. :) BTW, by "most" do you mean Catholics or other Protestants, or both?
Only after he is moved and enabled by grace. Apart from grace, man can do nothing. II Orange, St. Paul, and Jesus himself all attest to this.
"Apart from me [Jesus], you can do nothing."
"With God, all things are possible."
Both are true.
Ah...you must be a traditional Baptist. The Southern Baptists used to be very strong Reformers (e.g. Charles Spurgeon, A.W. Pink, Matthew Henry, etc.). Sadly the Southern Baptists are in a flux with part of them holding an Arminian view (Rick Warren) and the other part holding a Reformed perspective (John Piper). It usually rears it's ugly head when one starts talking about election.
I (and a few others) feel there are only two Christian views in this world; those who believe we cooperate with God in some fashion (synergism) and those who believe God chooses His elect (monergism). For further information on the synergist (Arminian) view and the monergist (Reformed) view click on my name.
I think you must be right about me because I use Matthew Henry's ideas all the time in my debating. I think he's great.
For further information on the synergist (Arminian) view and the monergist (Reformed) view click on my name.
I did just that and I can tell that you and I think very much alike. I gobbled up your article link too for further reading. Thanks for posting. BTW, I see you are in Virginia. I lived in Fredericksburg and graduated from William and Mary. Nice to meet you HarleyD.
I live in Fairfax. It nice to have another Reformer so close. :O)
Well said. It is a simple fact of the brokenness of the world, that in reality some people are beyond redemption. How many times in the life of Christ did seekers turn and walk away because they could not accept his call to die?
Thank you for that information. I've always wondered, but never took the time to look it up.
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