Seth Udinski, FISM News
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Texas prisoner John Ramirez, on death row for murdering a man in a convenience store par parking lot in 2004, was put to death by lethal injection last week with his pastor by his side.
FISM News previously reported on the legal battle between Ramirez and the state of Texas, which tried to disallow the convict from having his pastor present with him in the execution chamber. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which voted 8-1 in favor of Ramirez earlier this year.
Pastor Dana Moore of Second Baptist Church in Corpus Cristi was present with Ramirez at the time of his execution and laid his hands on him as he passed.
Though Ramirez professed faith in Christ in his final days, many were skeptical of the legitimacy of his faith, arguing he was simply causing trouble and delaying his execution in his desire to have his pastor present with him.
Ramirez spoke his final words in the moments leading up to his lethal injection, directed to the family members of the man he murdered as they witnessed his execution.
I have regret and remorse. This is such a heinous act. I hope this finds you comfort. If this helps you, then I am glad. I hope in some shape or form this helps you find closure.
Author’s Biblical Analysis:
This report has the potential to carry great controversy with it for Christians. My intent is not in any way to make a biblical case for or against the death penalty. Nor is it to get lost in the weeds of the rights of prisoners on death row, and whether Ramirez was indeed within his rights to pass peacefully with his pastor by his side, when the man he murdered was robbed of that right.
Instead, I offer you a simple word of encouragement — Jesus Christ is our only hope in life and death.
Christians can take great comfort in the story of John Ramirez. The final moments of his life offer us a clear picture of our own sinful state before God, and of God’s matchless grace for us.
Ramirez was, like the criminals on the crosses on the left and right of Jesus Christ, paying the full price for his crime. He murdered a man in cold blood, and justice required him to lose his life as well. He was receiving the just due of his actions.
He had no goodness to rely upon, no argument of righteousness to make. In the dark of an execution chamber, he had but one source of hope — the grace of God. He claimed the grace of God as his only hope. I do not know his heart, but I know that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13), and I believe he did so in life.
I do not want to get us lost in the argument of “was he saved or was he not?” Rather, I want to share with you that ultimately, this is how you and I stand before God.
All of us deserve not just human justice for our crimes, but divine justice. Perhaps we have not committed such heinous crimes as murder, so our human justice may be light, but we have all earned the justice of God tenfold.
Ultimately, we have no hope outside of the gracious, tender heart of God. None of us can climb out of the execution chamber we deserve. Where does this leave us?
Without Christ, there is nothing in which to hope. But praise God we have a Mediator who stood in our place, took the justice and wrath we deserve, and imputed His righteousness onto us.
Believer, this is what is ultimately true about you and me. We are great sinners (and I do not mean moral greatness; I mean we are vast, unhinged sinners who are horribly skilled in our sinning). But we serve a great Savior who gives great grace.
Preach this gospel to yourself every day. Trust in the beautiful grace of God, shown for you in the sacrifice of your substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)… – Ephesians 2:4-5