Originally posted by canadyjd:
It is unChristlike to seek or support the death of anyone.
peace to you
canadyjd, by constantly using this refrain, you imply that those who disagree are not being christlike. I find that to be very self-righteous.
And then you sign, "peace to you" even though you basically have just said that the person is unchristlike. Well, it is not peaceful for me to hear someone say I am unchristlike if I disagree with you on this.
Don't worry, no one else wants to talk about I Tim. 1:16 either.
You keep bringing up 1 Tim 1.16, but it does not have anything to do with doing away with the death penalty and you have not shown that it does.
All who are saved are shown mercy, whether the death penalty exists or not. That is what Paul is saying -- that he, the one who persecuted believers, has been shown mercy so that others can see how merciful God is.
The death penalty (and I agree with Pastor Larry and KenH in their standing on Gen. 9) does not mean God is not merciful. Otherwise, we'd have to say that God was not merciful in the OT but became merciful in the NT; or that God was not merciful with the Jews when he had all those death penalties for various sins, even sins outside of murder; or we'd have to say that God the Father is not merciful but Jesus is -- all of those statements are inane and unbiblical.
God is always merciful - in the OT and NT.