rudyw
Senior Member
Posts: 623
|
Post by rudyw on Jun 18, 2022 14:07:24 GMT -5
John the Baptist in preparing people for Jesus taught the soldiers to be nonviolent. Jesus taught his apostles in Matthew 10 that they were to be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves. Jesus taught by example just how to do that. There is no record anywhere in the New Testament that Christians were instructed to use violence, nor is there any record of them acting violently. Jesus was a pacifist while on earth, at his return he will exact vengeance and justice. That is his right, not ours. Revelation 19 explains the words of Jesus about what it means to "perish by the sword". It simply illustrates what it means to be condemned by the Word of God. This is not an isolated nor obscure verse, it is the entire passage. The audience is all who read it. There are many ways to subdue/outwit enemies than resorting to violence. One of which is prayer. The truth is our human nature and reasoning default to violence. It is only by the help of God that we can reach a point of true conviction on this topic and then begin the process of overcoming our own thoughts and actions which are contrary to His will for the New Testament church. I will pray that God will bring experiences into your life that enlighten your understanding of this. You remind me of Saul who believed he was doing God's work when arresting and condemning early Christians to death. It took a pricking and blinding experience for him to do a 180. Well, there’s worse characters than Saul I’ve been compared to! Generally I’m compared to a Jack Ass! I appreciate the prayers.
|
|
rudyw
Senior Member
Posts: 623
|
Post by rudyw on Jun 18, 2022 14:58:11 GMT -5
John the Baptist in preparing people for Jesus taught the soldiers to be nonviolent. Jesus taught his apostles in Matthew 10 that they were to be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves. Jesus taught by example just how to do that. There is no record anywhere in the New Testament that Christians were instructed to use violence, nor is there any record of them acting violently. Jesus was a pacifist while on earth, at his return he will exact vengeance and justice. That is his right, not ours. Revelation 19 explains the words of Jesus about what it means to "perish by the sword". It simply illustrates what it means to be condemned by the Word of God. This is not an isolated nor obscure verse, it is the entire passage. The audience is all who read it. There are many ways to subdue/outwit enemies than resorting to violence. One of which is prayer. The truth is our human nature and reasoning default to violence. It is only by the help of God that we can reach a point of true conviction on this topic and then begin the process of overcoming our own thoughts and actions which are contrary to His will for the New Testament church. I will pray that God will bring experiences into your life that enlighten your understanding of this. You remind me of Saul who believed he was doing God's work when arresting and condemning early Christians to death. It took a pricking and blinding experience for him to do a 180. Luk_22:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. You can't escape this verse.... So then WWI and WWII were wrong? Lot's of Christians killed many bad people during those wars....So was the American Civil war wrong Christians killed many bad people during that war also... If Christians had not used swords to defend themselves and then later firearms for 1900+ years the world would have turned evil all the sooner.... I have no qualms with pacifists. I used to be one myself. But, I don’t think the Bible teaches pacifism. People get Self Defense mixed up with Retaliation. Self Defense is acceptable under the Old Testament law. Retaliation is not acceptable. It’s the same in the New Testament. Luke 11:21,“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed.” In quoting the traditional pacifist texts in Matthew 5, 6 and 7 people are forgetting that Jesus was speaking to the Disciples, and not to the multitude. Many of these instructions were to keep the disciples out of trouble with the Romans, whom they would inevitably encounter during their evangelistic missions. (That’s a study in itself, but as an example when Jesus says ‘If one compels you to go one mile, go two’ he was speaking of how a Roman soldier could legally make a non-Roman carry his equipment a distances. )We have to remember that at least one of the disciples was a Zealot, Simon, thus they had swords.) These instructions were to the first ‘workers,’ given to ensure that they stayed at peace in a politically hostile world. Is it good advice for everyone? Of course it is. Was Jesus preaching extreme pacifism? I don’t think so. He was reiterating the OT law of not returning evil for evil (retaliation.) No teaching in the New Testament says you can’t attempt to preserve your life or those around you.
|
|
muse2
New Member
Posts: 27
|
Post by muse2 on Jun 18, 2022 22:19:54 GMT -5
That verse was addressed on June 3rd. Perhaps you missed it.
|
|
|
Post by luke2236 on Mar 28, 2023 20:42:07 GMT -5
I’m interested in this verse and the previous verse. And how Jesus directed his ministry after switching the focus to the Gentiles. There is a reason these verses are in the Bible and the inference that there was no longer a requirement to cary only one bag is clearly there.
|
|