day no. 17,483: the walking dead

"God's word, will and commandment is, that he that willfully kills a man, shall also be killed by man: that is, the magistrate. But this law has not been observed and all ways executed, but kings and princes upon affection have dispensed and broken it, granting life and liberty to traitors, robbers, murderers, and etc." — John Ponet, A Short Treatise on Political Power

Letting the dead live is a surefire way to destroy a society. We live among the walking dead. We have mothers who have murdered their children walking among us. They work in the cubicle next to us. They teach our children. They cut you off in traffic. We have rapists living a few doors down from us. They hand you your order through the drive thru window and sit in the computer lab at your local public library. We have kidnappers and child molesters occupying officers or political power and playing parts in our movies and television shows. All of these, in a God-honoring, just society would be in the ground. Blood guilt struts around in broad daylight and we all suffer for it.

When the magistrates refuse to execute their office, the land it flooded with guilt and shame. They are responsible for the ruin of the world. Not all sins are crimes and not all crimes are sins, but some sins are crimes that render the life of the offender forfeit. The fact that they are walking around means our debts roam around unpaid and we are morally bankrupt.

"No, God and the commonwealth have had no greater enemies. They have added murder to murder, mischief to mischief, and of private malefactors, have become public, and of men killers, they have at length grown to be destroyers of their country, yes and many times those that have been saved from hanging and other just pains of the law." — John Ponet, A Short Treatise on Political Power

Ecclesiastes 8:11 (ESV)

Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.