Every Word Matters
No one has absolute free speech. Not before God. Not before His law. The claim of “ultimate” liberty of speech is a lie. Every word will be judged. “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36, LSB).
That means speech that celebrates terror is not liberty. Celebrating terror brings guilt. When men cheer the murder of a Christian for his words, they are not “just speaking.” They are standing as accomplices before the throne of God.
The Word of God Speaks
Paul writes of the ungodly, “Although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32, LSB). To approve of murder is to share in it.
The magistrate exists to restrain such evil. “For rulers are not a terror to good work, but to evil… for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword in vain” (Romans 13:3–4, LSB). Evil words that promote murder are not neutral. They are part of the crime.
From the beginning, God established justice: “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man” (Genesis 9:6, LSB). Murder demands judgment. But those who fuel it with their words are not free. They too come under God’s condemnation.
Complicity Is Treason
Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s murder is not just a matter of opinion. It is complicity in terror. To approve of assassination because one hates a message is to declare war on God’s order. Such speech is treason against Yahweh, who made rulers to defend the righteous and punish the wicked.
The magistrate must not hide behind the shield of “absolute free speech.” Approving violence is not protected by God’s law. It is exactly the kind of evil that invites His wrath.
The Reformed Witness
The Reformers never imagined “ultimate” free speech. They knew that every word was accountable before God, and they charged rulers to restrain public evil. Calvin wrote: “For if they (magistrates) are appointed protectors and vindicators of public innocence, modesty, honesty, and tranquility, their sole endeavor must be to provide that their office be not profaned and polluted with impunity by public blasphemies against God’s name, by public slanders against His truth, and other offenses against religion.” (Institutes 4.20.3).
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) declared that magistrates are “to take order, that… all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed, all corruptions and abuses in worship and discipline prevented or reformed” (WCF 23.3).
The Belgic Confession in its original form confessed the same: “He has armed them with the sword to punish evil people and protect the good. And their task of restraining and sustaining is not limited to public order but includes protecting the ministry of the church, in order that the kingdom of Christ may come.” (Article 36).
The Reformers denied that “speech” which destroyed life, corrupted worship, or incited rebellion could ever be left unchecked. They upheld liberty for the gospel, not license for blasphemy and terror.
Liberty, But Not Impunity
This is where modern confusion lies. There is real room for debate, for searching out the truth, for public disagreement. The Reformers themselves argued fiercely, even publishing works that defended open discussion. But they never equated liberty with impunity.
Speech that exposes truth is one thing. Speech that calls for blood or rejoices in it is another. One builds the common good under Christ’s reign. The other tears it down and must be punished.
A Word to the Church
Christians must not be naïve. Words matter. God will judge every one of them. To minimize speech that incites murder as “protected activity” is to despise His Word. We must name evil clearly, call rulers to their duty, and pray for justice to be done.
At the same time, we do not lose hope. The kingdom is not silenced by terror. The Judge of all the earth hears every careless word, and He will bring every deed into judgment.
Closing Exhortation
Every word matters to God. Speech that celebrates murder cannot be left unpunished, it is complicity in terror. And the magistrate bears the sword for this very reason: to punish evildoers, to defend those who do good, and to uphold God’s order in the world.
The church must keep her courage. Christ reigns. Terror cannot silence the Word of God. History shows that persecution advances, not silences, the gospel.