Genesis 9:6
[FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."
Exodus 21:
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1]12[/SIZE]"Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. [SIZE=-1]13[/SIZE]However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate. [SIZE=-1]14[/SIZE]But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.
Romans 13:
[/FONT]1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
It seems pretty clear there is room for a government to impose a death penalty. Now it's not the job of a private citizen or a Christian to impose a death penalty. But it is the job of a government and God seems in favor of it according to the Bible.
I don't think NT admonitions to forgive and not return evil for evil negates the validity of a government imposing the death penalty. If those admonitions negated all punishments, then we'd just let criminals run free.
I think in ideal situations where there is no doubt of the truth, the Bible allows for it. But here's the thing, we read of cases every so often where someone is on death row and they were wrongly convicted.
We all know God is a just God and wouldn't want someone wrongly convicted or killed.
So here's how I see it. In the ideal situation, the Bible does allow for the death penalty. Yet since the reality of a flawed system exists, I think it's best to suspend the death penalty. It's one thing to jail someone wrongly, it's another to kill them for wrong reasons. At least if they're still alive they have a chance of being proven not guilty.