10/19/2026
AFTER THE SERMON…WHO GETS TO SET THE STANDARD?
Today’s message on capital punishment forced us into a difficult subject—but underneath it was an even harder question: Who gets to define justice?
Exodus 20:13 says, “You must not murder.” Scripture distinguishes murder from accidental death, personal vengeance, self-defense, and lawful punishment. The moment we make those distinctions, we are talking about a standard. And that is where we need to think more carefully.
When capital punishment is discussed, enormous attention is often given to the offender. What happened in his childhood? Has she changed? Is he remorseful? Would ex*****on be cruel? Those are not wrong questions. Even the murderer still bears the image of God. But another question can almost disappear: What about the person who was murdered? What about the life deliberately taken, the family left behind, the future stolen from someone who received no appeal, no reprieve, and no second chance?
Sometimes our compassion can become strangely one-sided. We become so focused on the consequences facing the offender that we lose sight of the irreversible consequence that offender imposed upon someone else. Biblical mercy does not require us to forget justice. And biblical justice does not require us to abandon mercy. The murderer has value before God. But so did the murdered.
And this is where it becomes uncomfortable for all of us. Feelings can move us toward mercy, and that can be beautiful. But feelings can also cause us to call something compassionate because it makes us more comfortable or makes our side appear more humane, enlightened, or morally advanced. And perhaps there is an even harder question: Do we sometimes lower the standard because a lower standard eventually asks less of us?
If God’s boundaries can be dismissed as too harsh, too rigid, or outdated, then we create room to redefine far more than justice. We can redefine marriage, holiness, sexuality, sin—anything that interferes with the life we already want to live. If I can move the standard, I never have to admit that I am the one who needs to move.
Compassion is good. Mercy is biblical. But compassion must still be governed by truth. Otherwise, what sounds like mercy can become the language we use to avoid consequences, repentance, and ultimately God’s authority.
So maybe the question after today’s sermon is bigger than: “Am I for or against the death penalty?” Maybe it is: “Have I allowed emotion, culture, politics, personal desire, or selective empathy to move God’s standard until it finally agrees with me?”
Because if God is truly God, His Word was not given merely to affirm the conclusions we already prefer. The standard is there to show us that we are the ones who need to change.
