Q 96: How do the redeemed of the Lord enforce justice against all murderers?

A 96: The redeemed of the Lord enforce justice against all murderers by exposing and confronting all violations of the sixth commandment and calling upon ecclesiastical and civil authorities to judge righteous judgment according to their particular spheres. (2 Sam. 12.1-15; Matt. 18.15-20; Rom. 13.1-4; 1 Cor. 5)

None of us is a law unto ourselves. We must not allow anger to foment hatred or grudges, leading perhaps to harm. And we must not take revenge against those who treat us with contempt, or who do harm to others. In the divine economy, only the civil magistrate has the right to take the life of a human being, and that only under certain well-prescribed conditions. At the very least, believers have a duty to work for the kind of civil government which understands and accepts its responsibility in this matter, and which provides due process by which the guilt of one charged with murder may be justly determined, or the accused acquitted. The only exception might be – but not necessarily, even then – in the case where one’s life or that of one within one’s immediate reach is being threatened unjustly by another (cf. 2 Sam. 2.18-23; Ex. 1.15-20).

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