Hypothetical

Post by **_Allyn** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 9:24 am

You have a friend who recently came to the Lord and gave his life to Christ. You find out from your friend that 25 years ago he/she committed a murder in a fit of rage upon a person who had no living relatives. The murder has remained unsolved but now since you know that this friend has done this thing and the crime happened 25 years before the life changing decision your friend has made, what do you do?

note: this is truly a hypothetical event. I ask this purely for discussion and want to see what types of responses you may have. I want to see if there are varying understandings of what the responsibility is and upon whom it may lie.

Post by **_Paidion** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 2:06 pm

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new created being; the old has gone by. Lo! The new has come about!

Can we accept these words as true? Then why can we not accept the fact that if this man has become regenerated, then he has been changed?
God does not hold a person's past sins against him. Why should we?

If your question about responsibility lies in asking whether one who knows about the murder should turn this man in to the authorities, the answer is unequivocally "NO!"

Although the man can never "make it up" to the victim's family, I think he does have a responsibility to do something to show his remorse, and also to do something positive toward the family. My responsibility, if I know this man has murdered someone, is to suggest to him that he has this responsibility. He may be afraid to do this, as the victim's family is likely to inform the authorities, and he may be imprisoned for life. However, as he matures in the faith, he may come to see that this is what God requires of him.

In no case, should the person or persons who know what the man has done, share what he knows with anyone other than the man himself.

Post by **_Allyn** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 3:04 pm

Thanks padion, in this scenerio the victim had no living relatives. Also, you raised another thought; is one sin greater than another? if no, then do we all have a responsibility to go back and seek forgiveness for any sin we have committed against another or society once we too have become regenerated? I ask this in order to bring about deeper dialog concerning the born again and past sins.

Post by **_dexter** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 8:32 pm

The friend of the murderer should convince the murderer to surrender himself to the authorities.

Post by **_Allyn** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 9:21 pm

dexter wrote:The friend of the murderer should convince the murderer to surrender himself to the authorities.

But is he still a murderer?

Post by **_mattrose** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:25 pm

no, but he stilll murdered

Post by **_dexter** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:50 pm

He is not just a murderer but also a true honest Christian.

Post by **_dexter** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:56 pm

Remember our residency here on earth is temporary so why not do the right thing and I believe the right thing to do is to surrender.

Post by **_Allyn** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:48 am

So when Jesus told the harlot to go and sin no more, He should have also told her to go and present yourself before the Jewish leaders and give yourself over to be stoned?

Post by **_Christopher** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 9:59 am

It seems to me that the Jewish leaders had their chance to execute the adulteress. Maybe Jesus didn't believe in double-jeopardy.

Not only that, Israel was not a sovereign nation at that time so they were not allowed to fully execute the law as prescribed. If she turned herself over to the Romans (the real authorities at the time), they would simply say "so what?".