I want to hear . . . how people can live free and feel secure from crimes.
That is a very worthy goal, which all civilized, law-abiding people would like to see reached in this sin-filled world. But that's the rub---this world is full of sinners. How to deal with their sin, in terms of punishment, is the issue. Certainly public stonings, hangings, limb-severings, etc. would put fear in the hearts of the people watching, and that would certainly be a deterrent, as barbaric as it is. And that may have been the reason God commanded it in O.T. times, to keep His chosen people pure, putting down sin in no uncertain terms.
Christianity, however, seeks to deal with the heart of the problem, namely, the sinner's heart. Rather than using fear as a deterrent, Christianity (TRUE Christianity) seeks to convert the sinner to a saint. Paul describes that conversion when he said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." The new believer is a new creature with new desires to please his Savior Who died for him. Committing crime is the farthest thing from his mind and heart. That is not to say he is perfect or sinless but he does not willfully and habitually sin. As the Apostle John said in
1st John 3 (Living Bible):
3. And everyone who really believes this will try to stay pure because Christ is pure.
4. But those who keep on sinning are against God, for every sin is done against the will of God.
5. And you know that he became a man so that he could take away our sins, and that there is no sin in him, no missing of God's will at any time in any way.
6. So
if we stay close to him, obedient to him, we won't be sinning either; but as for those who keep on sinning, they should realize this: They sin because they have never really known him or become his.
7. Oh, dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: if you are constantly doing what is good, it is because you are good, even as he is.
8. But
if you keep on sinning, it shows that you belong to Satan, who since he first began to sin has kept steadily at it. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the devil.
9.
The person who has been born into God's family does not make a practice of sinning, because now God's life is in him; so he can't keep on sinning, for this new life has been born into him and controls him--he has been born again.
10. So now we can tell who is a child of God and who belongs to Satan.
Whoever is living a life of sin and doesn't love his brother shows that he is not in God's family;
Peace
