The Execution Process Under Scrutiny

The term “A matter of life and death” is always an attention grabber. And now that attention is coming from the nation’s high court.

The last execution in America was performed at 8:23 p.m. on September 25, 2007 in the Texas State Penitentiary. Just days after the death of Michael Richard, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that considers the current chemical mix used to induce death by lethal injection. The argument is not about the constitutionality of the death penalty itself, but over the methods used to carry out the sentence.

The chemical ‘death mix’ was developed in Oklahoma in 1977. The first chemical is sodium thiopental — a barbiturate used to anesthetize the inmate. Next is pancuronium bromide which inflicts paralysis Then lastly, an injection of potassium chloride causes cardiac arrest and death. Lawyers are arguing that the last substance is extremely painful and, if not used correctly, causes the inmate both the terror and agony of conscious suffocation along with the excruciating pain. This is something they claim to be a violation of constitutional rights and that only the sodium thiopental is really necessary to carry out a far more humane execution.

The legality and methods used to execute condemned prisoners by the State has long been the subject of heated debate and always will. Both sides have strong convictions. But the Scriptures are not exactly silent on the subject. The Old Testament obviously allowed for capital punishment, and many times even demanded it for certain forms of vile behavior. Then the New Testament also weighs in by revealing the responsibilities of how a good government should deal with bad people.

The thirteenth chapter of the heavy doctrinal book of Romans begins this way. “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. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 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. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain: for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience sake.”

The above passage would indicate rather clearly that one of the purposes of the God-ordained and just government is to judge evil and then deal harshly with those who deserve it. Just how that ‘wrath’ manifests itself could be a mater of ongoing discussion. Some believe it is better to never end a life – period. They would rather opt for mercy by removing dangerous criminals from society. Others subscribe that state-sponsored executions are biblically permissible, but should be done through the most humane methods possible.

But at the heart of the matter is an issue, one that trumps all others, and one that surfaces at the very instant of death. It has nothing to do with how someone dies, when someone dies, and at whose hands they perish. When one breathes his or her last it is the condition of the soul, and not the physical body, that takes center stage. The seriousness of death is seen in that physical death is not the end. It is simply the pathway into another life – the beginning of an existence which will, this time around, last for all eternity.

The Bible is clear that all men are born under a physical and spiritual death penalty. All sin by choice and by nature. All are deserving of God’s just and eternal wrath - a principle is taught throughout the Scriptures and illustrated clearly in Romans 5:12. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

But the same righteous and holy God who was offended by all sin, devised and carried out a plan to commute the sentence of death to one of abundant and everlasting life. 1 John 2:1 describes the role of the one who accomplished this. “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Those who gain entrance to God’s family by saving faith in Christ are indwelled by God’s Holy Spirit. They are forgiven of sin and protected from a disastrous and unimaginable future. And they are freed from the fear of death as they live under the protective and comforting hands of their Heavenly Father.

Roman 8:13-17 spells it out completely. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba , Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…”

Death has always been man’s greatest foe, but need not be feared. The Christian can face it with the same confidence as the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15: 54-55 "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"

Bill Breckenridge