05/16/26 A HARD SAYING
This addresses a "Hard Saying" in the New Testament that Satan has been trying to discredit since the days of the Apostles. If you disagree with my point of view, at least read this post through.
In this post, I am referring to God’s directives concerning the Christian response to physical aggression and opposition; it does not refer to God's directives to human government concerning the Civil order and the treatment of evildoers. God has given The State (not The Church) the responsibility to protect the righteous (law-abiding) and to punish the wicked (the lawbreakers) with the sword of steel. Christian actions and Government assignments are not the same. The Church wields the Sword of the Spirit to fight against the spiritual enemy and set the sinner free. Christians are subject to the State unless the State requires disobedience to God.
FACTS...
Whenever believers in the New Testament entertained violent action against anyone, Jesus corrected and reproved them.
Whenever a believer in the New Testament used physical (violent) force against anyone, Jesus reproved the believer and healed the victim.
God, in the New Testament, never commanded violence by any Christian, in any situation, at any time.
God, in the New Testament, never commended violence by any Christian, in any situation, at any time.
God, in the New Testament, never condoned violence by any Christian, in any situation, at any time.
God, in the New Testament, condemned violence by all Christians, in every situation, at all times.
If there was ever a time when Christians could have, should have, and would have resorted to physical violence because they were suffering personal or family injustices, physical attacks, murderous mobs, social oppression, political persecution, then it would have been during the time of the New Testament. However, after Jesus condemned and corrected the violent action of Peter in the Garden, we never see a believer resort to violence, even when their lives were in danger.
When New Testament believers were targets of abuse, violence, and murder, they either escaped the attacks or accepted their suffering with love and grace, which was a miraculous response. And this is the point. Christians are not of this world, we are new and different creations who are part of the kingdom of God. Jesus said, "My Kingdom is not of this world. If it was, then would my servants fight." We live for a higher purpose and follow a higher authority. We are sent to reconcile the sinner to God, not to kill them. Killing is what pagan religions do.
New Testament Christians realized that their lives were not their own, but that they had been bought with a price. They actually did trust God and they actually did love their enemies.
The New Testament Christians were also convinced that this earthly life is short and fragile. They were not living for the "now," they were living for eternity.
The early Church (the first 300 years) did not practice or promote physical violence by believers, even in the military. This is not only addressed in the New Testament writings, its evidenced by the writings of other Christian leaders during that period of time, and also by the writings of opponents of Christianity and by the fact that Roman leaders did not recruit Christians to bear arms.
The view and practice of Christians taking up arms for the State came along with Constantine. Constantine used the Christian community to further his own pagan and political agenda. That was a time when the Christian community was legally mixed with the pagan community. It became convenient and profitable for pagan groups to merge with Christian culture. It wasn't until the 3rd century that people who "professed" Christianity became soldiers in the army, fighting for the State.
Eventually there were leaders in the newly paganized Christian community who incorporated non-Biblical beliefs (theological and practical) into the official stance of the apostatizing "church" of Rome, introducing the idea of Christians participating in "Just Wars."
When the Protestant Reformation took place in the 1500s, the so-called Reformers continued with many of the false doctrines of Augustine and other teachings of the Roman religion (such as anti-Semitism), and the abomination of Christians taking up arms to kill people for the State.
Remember, Luther was a Jew hater and the Roman religion practice of killing their enemies was followed by Luther and Calvin and other leaders of the Reformation.
Today we see Christians of most denominations in the West being misled into the idea that Christians take up arms for the State as well as for their own protection.
"Christian violence" is popular today, but it is still contrary to the New Testament revelation. We can either obey God or take the easy, popular path of pagan history.
