We are told that “a stay of execution is a court order that temporarily suspends the enforcement of a judgment or sentence, acting as a ‘pause button’ on legal action.”
In other words, “a stay of execution is applied to prevent the immediate implementation of a penalty—such as eviction or debt collection—often while an appeal is filed or to allow time to restructure finances.”
Think about how relieving it would be if a judgment were issued against you by a court, and then, upon your application, a higher court grants a stay of execution on the judgment.
Thus, a stay of execution is aimed at injecting some sanity into human life to prevent us from living as beasts in the jungle.
Spiritual analogy
My interest in this subject heightened recently when I found myself in the midst of two feuding families fighting over a parcel of land in court.
“We have a judgment in our favour,” one family grantor said at an arbitration sitting.
“And we have a stay of execution on that judgment,” the other family grantor countered.
While the wrangling persisted, I took an interest in that document called “stay of execution.”
If a stay of execution could temporarily halt the implementation of a court judgment, then that is a powerful document.
I searched for a spiritual analogy to a stay of execution and found it without much effort and the comparison amazed me!
Light and darkness
Let’s remember that we are entangled in the forces of light and darkness here on Earth.
While light, representing Christ, seeks to deliver us from destruction, darkness, representing Satan, seeks to destroy us.
The Lord Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; whoever believes in me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
From this statement, you can feel the pulsating force of light and darkness.
Why is humanity indebted to Satan?
We are indebted to him because of our sinful nature.
By causing humanity to sin, Satan took dominion over us.
The statement, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), means that sin sold us to death, which is an agent of Satan, for eternal destruction.
Why do you think Scripture says we have been bought with a price? (1 Corinthians 6:20). Bought from whom? From Satan.
To take us back from Satan, Jesus had to buy us with a price.
Pound of flesh
Since the penalty for the sin of disobedience was death (Romans 5:12), the moment humanity sinned, Satan stood by like Shylock, demanding his pound of flesh.
God, who created humanity and loves us dearly (John 3:16), wouldn’t permit Satan to demand his pound of flesh, which is death.
But since God had already pronounced death as the penalty for sin, He paid that price to deliver us.
“Bought with a price” indicates how God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to do the dying for us! His blood, shed for us, is the price to redeem us.
That is why Jesus is our redeemer (1 Corinthians 1:30).
“He was slain and with his blood, he purchased persons for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).
So God placed a divine stay of execution on Satan’s judgment.
He holds the judgment, but he cannot execute it because God has stayed it.
The devil has enough power to destroy us.
It says in 1 Peter 5:8 that our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
The only reason he cannot devour us is because God has placed a stay of execution on his power.
When God granted Satan the power to torment Job, He placed a stay of execution on his power to prevent him from killing Job.
Similarly, Satan may strike us with troubles and hardships, but he cannot destroy us.
Take advantage
Jesus paid the price for our redemption, but that redemption is not automatically bestowed.
Otherwise, everybody would be saved whether they believe or not, whether they accept Jesus or not. But that cannot be.
Rather, the free gift of God, which is eternal life (Romans 6:23), must be received by whoever desires it through faith in Jesus Christ.
And this must be done today, because “today” is the day of salvation, before the stay of execution expires and Shylock takes his pound of flesh!
The divine stay of execution is in force as long as we live.
For God is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Again, a stay of execution is a temporary suspension of the enforcement of a judgment.
We must, therefore, take advantage of the suspension while the stay lasts.
