Some police officers kill criminals in self-defense. Which shouldn’t be a sin. Some kill innocent people, and shed innocent blood. Are the police officers that kill innocent people going to Hell?
First. Welcome, @LinkxPeach. I believe that Police Officers are subject to the same laws as everyone else. Let’s look at what God says.
“Thou shalt not kill.”
First, the translation here is poor. It should be, Thou shalt not commit murder. We kill things all day long—weeds, trees, mosquitoes, ants, animals for food, etc. What God is concerned about in this Commandment is the taking of a Human life.
" And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely the blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." Genesis 9:1-6
So you see, God makes a very clear distinction between two things here. First, the killing of anything but man is OK with God. He gave us all things to meet our needs. He is also the one who set up the Death Penalty. He who sheds man’s blood, shall by man, his blood will be shed. That is how important God sees the life of human beings. Remember, in Genesis 1, God tells us this.
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
We are made in the image of God. Our mind, the thing that makes us, us. Our intelligence, will, emotions, desires, reasoning, ETC. fashioned after God the Father. Our flesh, after Jesus, the flesh of God. Then our soul. What lives on when the flesh dies, after the Holy Spirit? Three, yet one.
Now remember, we all sin and come short of the glory of God. We were so evil that God sought to destroy us all and start over, until He found Noah faithful. He sets up this death penalty, this cost for innocent life, AFTER the flood. He, in essence, tells Noah, Hey, I’m not going to destroy Human life anymore, so YOU are not going to do it either. Peter’s paraphrase, of course.
There are four primary ways to end a human life.
1-Premeditated Murder
2-Justified Killings
3-Accidental Death
4-Abortion,
Yes, abortion is the murder of an innocent life.
In Psalm 139
" For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."
Remember, God made us. He created us. He created YOU. You were fashioned per God’s Will. You are the way you are for a reason. You are the most important thing on Earth to God. YOU are.
Premeditated Murder
"And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.
But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die; Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him." Numbers 35:16-21
Pretty clear cut here. If you murder someone intentionally, for their death, you are guilty of murder, and God says you should be put to death.
Continued…
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Accidental Death
"But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait, Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:
Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.
But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.
So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings." Numbers 35:22-29
So God understands, stuff happens. He understands that you may place yourself in a position where you cause the death of another, unintentionally. By accident. So he set up the Trial by Jury system.
“So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.” Numbers 35:29-31
Now, whenever I teach this particular Commandment, someone is always curious. Do I believe in the Death Penalty? Uh, YES. God set it up. However, do I believe in the death penalty in its current form here in America? NO. There are way too many innocent people being put to death.
We are seeing this now, more than ever, with all the advancements in DNA research. People who have been found guilty of murder and are on death row for tens or more years are being found innocent. We have gotten away from God’s plan.
Videos, photos, and evidence can be altered and doctored to appear to be something else. Especially now with AI. Circumstantial Evidence, once disallowed, is more and more being accepted as actual evidence. It is no longer who is right or wrong, but who can tell the better story. The Rich, CAN and DO get away with murder. Our Justice System is broken. God said that by the mouth of more than one witness, one can be found guilty of murder. That is also one of the main reasons for Commandment number nine, Thou Shalt not bear false witness. So in our current form? No. I do not agree with the Death Penalty. I say let God be the Judge. However, it is pretty clear where he stands on Murderers.
So what is this City of Refuge thing? Let’s say you are driving down the road. A child, say 9 years old, darts out in front of you. You are doing everything right. Going the speed limit. Wear your seat belt. Being observant. But the child runs right in front of your car. There is absolutely NOTHING you can do. You strike that child with your car, and you kill that child.
Now the Police come, investigate, and find you innocent of any wrongdoing. You are not even arrested for anything. There was nothing you could have done to prevent the death of the child. I can not even imagine that. You are indeed innocent. However, the family of that child may not be forgiving towards you. They may indeed seek to kill you, even though it was an accident. So God set up cities, where someone in this type of situation could go to escape the wrath of the family of the lost loved ones. If they killed you, would they be guilty of murder? Of course. You are innocent. So they would be arrested and charged with murder and would indeed be guilty and worthy of death themselves. That would not change the fact that you are dead already.
So God, in His wisdom, set up places that you could go, free from this, some may even say understandable, wrath of the mother and father of the child you killed. So you would not be murdered yourself. In today’s world, you may have to take it upon yourself to move. I would. Far away from the family of the child I struck. Even though I would be guiltless.
God understands and makes a very CLEAR distinction between accidental death and murder. He also lets us know that the taking of the life of a murderer is a justifiable killing.
Abortion.
We will leave this one out for now. Unless someone cares to talk about it. But just because a man carries a badge does not exempt him from God’s laws, or ours.
Peter
Our salvation is based entirely on Jesus and not what we do or don’t do. David murdered. Moses murdered. Both men found forgiveness in the Lord.
When the time comes and they stand before God, it will only be if they placed their faith and trust in Jesus that will determine heaven or hell.
Of course, murder is wrong. For the believer and for the non believer. It’s a horrific crime and subject to severe punishment. But like every other sin, God can forgive it. The consequences remain, but He can forgive through what Jesus has done for us. What Jesus has done is ours when we place our faith in Him.
They go to hell if they don’t believe in Jesus. They go to Heaven if they do. It’s simple like that.
Welcome, @LinkxPeach.
I think one thing that makes this question difficult is that it combines two separate issues: whether someone has committed a serious sin and whether they are saved.
The Bible is clear that taking an innocent life is a grave matter. At the same time, Scripture also teaches that all of us are sinners in need of God’s grace.
Personally, I am cautious about declaring that any particular person or group is going to heaven or hell. God knows all the facts of a situation, the intentions of the heart, and things that we cannot see.
What I do think this question reminds us of is how valuable every human life is and how much responsibility comes with positions of authority.
Amen.
"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
And
“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:10
I agree with your point about the importance of heart judgment. It is a sobering reminder that, regardless of one’s profession or level of authority, no one is exempt from God’s moral law. The badge does not change a person’s standing before Him; we are all ultimately accountable to the same standard of righteousness, and we all rely on the same grace.
Peter
Romans chapter 13 teaches us that its no sin for the government to kill lawbreakers in the line of duty. But they will be judged like we all will. I dont judge people’s eternal fate. I leave that up to God.