If you break one of the Ten Commandments, does it mean that you sinned? Of course, the consequence, I believe, is death, correct? However, if you confess what you did and repented, then God forgives you and you don’t have to die, correct?<\/p>\n\t
Each of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament carried a death penalty in certain circumstances. Premeditated murder carried the death penalty, but accidental murder required living in a city of refuge until the death of the current high priest. Lying in court, which could have resulted in the death penalty, carried a death penalty, but a lie that would have resulted in, say, the loss of a home resulted in the false witness losing his home. Most stealing would result in fines, but kidnapping carried the death penalty. Even breaking the Sabbath carried a death penalty (Exodus 31:13-17).<\/p>\n
However, the death penalty could not be carried out unless there were two or more witnesses to the crime. The witnesses had to be from two independent sources.<\/p>\n
“Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty<\/em>” (Numbers 35:30).<\/p>\n
“Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness<\/em>” (Deuteronomy 17:6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Confession and repentance did not necessarily remove the death penalty. A confessed murderer would still get the death penalty. Achan still died after confessing that he stole from Jericho. “Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done: … And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones<\/em>” (Joshua 7:19-20, 25).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: If you break one of the Ten Commandments, does it mean that you sinned? Of course, the consequence, I believe, is death, correct? However, if you confess what you did and repented, then God forgives you and you don’t have to die, correct? Answer: Each of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament carried…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[51,879,50],"class_list":["post-35786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-confession","tag-death-penalty","tag-repentance"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-the-death-penalty-for-homosexuals-only-referring-to-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":35786,"position":0},"title":"Was the death penalty for homosexuals only referring to hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does Deuteronomy 20 really say that we should kill gay people? I was always under the idea that it was saying God was going to kill them by sending them to hell when they died because they knew better and refused to change. Am I right? It came up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7419,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-the-bible-state-that-moses-stoned-a-woman-who-committed-adultery\/","url_meta":{"origin":35786,"position":1},"title":"Where does the Bible state that Moses stoned a woman who committed adultery?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the new movie the Ten Commandments. Moses throws the first stone at a woman that committed adultery. Where is this stated in the book of Exodus? Answer: While I'm glad that Hollywood every once in a while decides to make a movie about decent subjects, I personally hate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60937,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-would-jesus-do-about-the-death-penalty\/","url_meta":{"origin":35786,"position":2},"title":"What Would Jesus Do About the Death Penalty?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Joe Neil Clayton Recently C-span carried a speech by Alan Keyes to an audience in Virginia. Mr. Keyes, a respected columnist, orator, and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, captivated his hearers with a lecture on the causes and cures for the moral collapse in our country. Part of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50271,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-christian-support-capital-punishment\/","url_meta":{"origin":35786,"position":3},"title":"Should a Christian support capital punishment?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Minister, I read today in an article on your site that you approve of capital punishment. It is my opinion that capital punishment and the biblical teaching of loving and forgiving one's enemies are not compatible. I am, however, willing to change my views upon sufficient evidence from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19289,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-the-ten-commandments-nailed-to-the-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":35786,"position":4},"title":"Were the Ten Commandments Nailed to the Cross?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 56, No. 20, May 18, 2007 QUESTION: I understand that the Old Testament was \"nailed to the cross\" when Jesus died. \u00a0Would that\u00a0also include the Ten Commandments? \u00a0If so,\u00a0what about idolatry, murder, and the other\u00a0moral commandments? ANSWER: The first listing of the Ten\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39047,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-god-kill-people-and-steal-their-stuff\/","url_meta":{"origin":35786,"position":5},"title":"How can God kill people and steal their stuff?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As a new Christian, I'm now studying the Old Testament.\u00a0 I am struggling with all the killing and death that God either does himself or makes his people do. I find it extremely difficult to wrap my head around the fact that he sent Moses up the hill and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}