Redemption

Redemption, it seems, is an idea that has been in the news more often than usual lately. In my post from yesterday, I wrote about a vitriolic review of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in which the author made strong assertions that we are in no need of a redeemer, that we are to be guided by our own moral compass, and that we are basically on our own here to do what we can with our time on earth, and that's the end of it.

Then, today I found this article, and this one as well, about the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, one of the founders of the Crips. He was found guilty of murdering four people in 1979. During his trial he referred to one of his victims, saying, "You should have heard the way he sounded when I shot him." Williams then proceeded to laugh about it for around 5 or 6 minutes. Williams maintains his innocence, which also has prohibited him from apologizing for it or showing any remorse for what he did.

The stepmother of one of his victims thought that his execution was "a just punishment long overdue." However, many thought that his execution was unjust, including Jesse Jackson, a throng of Hollywood celebrities, and death penalty opponents. Their opinions were based on the changes in the way Williams lived his life since his imprisonment.

Williams has spent much of the last 24 years working to end gang violence. He wrote a children's book series, Tookie Speaks Out Against Gang Violence, has been nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature and peace, and was the subject of a movie starring Jamie Foxx, aptly named "Redemption."

Should Williams have been executed? The Governator had the final say, denying Williams' request for clemency. In his decision, Schwarzenegger wrote, "Is Williams' redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise?" Again, this idea of redemption comes up.

So, what do people mean by that? From what I can tell, the common (though incorrect) definition of redemption includes a person turning his life around, and somehow piling up enough "good deeds" to cancel out the bad ones. In Williams' case, he had committed a multitude of "bad deeds" during his gang leader days. However, since that time he had turned his life around and was on the road to a big ol' pile of good deeds. In the opinion of some, that should have been enough to spare his life.

My opinion is that clemency for Williams would have been a complete and total mockery of justice. The law is clear, and applies to everyone. In California, if you kill four people in cold blood, the law states that you deserve to be executed. End of story. It doesn't matter if you go on to find a cure for cancer, feed the hungry and house the homeless, pay your taxes on time every year, write children's books, and donate blood every six weeks for the rest of your life. The cold, hard fact remains: you are guilty of murder and deserve to be executed.

It is not possible for a person, once guilty of a crime, to "redeem" themselves. It is the same way with our breaking of God's laws. The Bible clearly states that the punishment for sin is death and eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23). It also states that everyone is guilty of breaking God's laws (Romans 3:23, Isaiah 53:6, Ecclesiastes 7:20). So, according to the Bible, we are all deserving of death as the punishment for our various sins. What are we to do?

First of all, it would be just for God to leave us in our miserable state. He is in no way obligated to do anything else but carry out what we clearly deserve as our punishment. We are responsible for our sin, and our just punishment is as he states it should be. But, in his grace, he has provided a way that we can be spared this punishment. In a word, this provision is through Redemption.

Jesus Christ became a man and lived a sinless life. He is the only man who was not deserving of this punishment. And yet, it pleased God for Jesus to be executed in our place, as he was given the punishment that we justly deserved. He paid the price of redemption for us, a price that we had no way of paying. No matter how many good deeds we might have piled up for ourselves, we could not erase the fact that we are disobedient and rebellious toward our Creator. But, Jesus could redeem us because he deserved no such punishment, and yet he took it on our behalf.

This redemption is applied to our "account" before God. Though we are sinful, he sees us as righteous through Christ. The way that this is applied is through faith in Jesus Christ and his life, death, and resurrection on our behalf. If we trust in his righteousness, turn away from our sinfulness, and bow to him as the Lord and Ruler of our lives, we can be saved. This doesn't mean believing in Jesus like some children believe in Santa Claus, having an opinion that he exists and nothing more. No, it is more of a reliance on his holiness, and submission to his lordship in our lives. In effect, you cannot have Jesus as your savior without also having him as your lord.

Williams may have been redeemed, in the eternal sense, during his time in prison. That's between him and God, and I hope that is truly the case. However, from a judicial standpoint, his execution was what justice demanded.

So, when you hear the word "redemption" being tossed about in movie reviews and news articles, consider what it really means. One cannot redeem himself. But, one can be redeemed if he has a Redeemer.