Christian Martial Arts? The Biblical Case Against Self-Defense

Luke 22:36 – “He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” “He” is Jesus, by the way. Also, what are your thoughts on protecting those who cannot protect themselves. I may be courageous enough to turn the other cheek when I am struck, but what about standing by when my wife and children or someone else is threatened? Full disclosure: I am a second degree Black Belt. It’s never been about competition for me. It’s been about health and fitness, and it’s provided some wonderful opportunities to share my faith and disciple young minds. As with a gun, it’s not the tool or the skill that is evil; it’s the heart of the one who wields it.

Seems like James took the words out of my mouth so no need to repeat them. As far as consistency, I fear that you would yourself Matt, take a different approach than that of your preaching of ethics here if someone broke into your house in the middle of the night and desired to do harm to your family. As an image bearer of God, you have qualities from your creator to protect your young ones. Even the animals have this “instinct”. Some of the verses you displayed as proof for your argument are taken out of context. The eye for an eye for example has to do with Case Law. This was for the orderly conduct of thousands of Israeli families in the desert in their migration to the promise land, which was also to be the laws in the promised land. In order to use Case Law, you must understand Case Law as a whole and how it all combines. We cannot just pick a snippet out and say, “See, here it is in black and white”, we must have full knowledge and understanding of it’s directives in order to apply it correctly. Case Law covers murder as well as safe havens for the accused. It covers slavery and the treatment these sojourners. These all tie into one another for a full comprehension that when Jesus quotes a scripture, they could understand the context of which he was speaking regarding the law for their further insight.
I also think you should not be so quick to “lump” together apples and oranges in your arguments. There is a big difference between taking a gun out looking for a fight to compare with having a gun for protection say, at home. Advocating rights for people to carry guns, allows for two types of people. As you so stated, it’s a heart issue, yet you bring to the table an argument for legalistic principles. To the people whom have saved a life, by being armed and present at the right time of a crime in progress, I would say good for them. I would argue it was the providence of God to place that person at that place, at that moment, to be available to defend innocence. To the people who went into an establishment with the intention of ill will, I would say they need the gospel. Until all men know the gospel and follow the commandments, there will remain the vile elements of society worldwide.
Try and think logically along the same lines as above with fighting. Someone walking the streets to pick a fight is entirely different than people who go willingly into a ring to knock the crap out of each other. This is not a gun or a hands and feet issue, it’s a heart issue. You really need to see this as a fractional equation and find the common denominator. What is the root cause of a problem, not a side issue of it.
Look at another example of those honored workers during the Sabbath. They include guards in the watchtower, did they not? Do police officers fall into this category? Are they of a mean spirit seeking to do harm? Some do probably, but most have taken their vows seriously, to serve and protect. There is a certain need for such things in the world. Remember, we walk in this world but not to be of this world.
Vengeance is the Lord’s and we are not to be of a mean spirit with someone whom has wronged us, seeking to even the score. We are to recognize that it is the evil nature of this sinner, who is suppressing the truth in his own unrighteousness that is the “root” of the problem. It’s a heart problem. It’s our responsibility to forgive that person as Christ has forgiven us, even if they do not ask for forgiveness, that is the path you walk in righteousness with Christ. This was the basis in Matthew you referenced. For the record, I am not going to go through each and every scripture you quoted to give commentary on, I am using it in the hope it gives a clear example of what I speak to you. A lot of the passages are referencing our spirit and heart if you will.

Context is very important and I would encourage you to re-read some of the scriptures you quoted and ask of it’s deeper meaning and principals behind it. Usually helps when we look at the verses around it in order to grasp what the writer was trying to get across to us. I am not saying it’s not God breathed, the Word of God – 2 Tim 3:16-17, but each writer has his own style pulling from his own life experiences, and God superintended it. This is exactly why I do not agree with the exegesis of all the scriptures you quoted above.

There are multiple arguments from atheists, who state that God, is a God of war. Now, why would they say that? Could that be from all of the war that God himself has ordained? War that God has willed as he is perfectly just? Have you forgotten of the bloody battles that took place for the promised land? God used the Romans in 70 AD to do his will with the cleansing of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple. He also brought down that evil empire. Another example is Sodom. These all differ from one another, but God has proven in scripture, not only does he use unrighteous people to conduct His will, but also those whom He saw as righteous. We cannot overlook this point. We must recognize that spirit within ourselves, did we seek it out? Or did it seek us out?

My last concern is name dropping. You mentioned 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. This is Paul, defending himself from a church that is back talking him. They are accusing him of writing one way, and acting another way in person. They accuse him of preaching something and not himself acting upon it. This is also a person who was not the best of speakers, but was a great writer. What is so funny to me is this. You are calling out Pastor Durbin’s position on an issue, while referencing a scripture that Paul himself is telling other believers not to behave in nor endorse, in this very manor. Honestly Matt, if you have an issue with the pastor’s position, why not go and engage him with it? Truly try and seek his position of what he is saying with the intention of understanding. Posting it up here on your blog is your right, but that doesn’t make it right if you get my drift. For example, I am responding to your post here and you can then refute it here. I am also within my right to respond back if I so wish, same as you. We would both have the ability to defend our position. If you have not engaged in dialog with the man with regards to his position, I have a hard time asserting your solid understanding of his position, which I would remind you, he is not here to defend. See 2 Corinthians chapter 10.

Now, I read your statements above that seemed to me to be your “arguments” of your stance and so I quote and then respond in brackets below:
Do not focus on the obvious fact that fighting your neighbor is not loving your neighbor.
[First problem is “obvious fact”. How exactly are we fighting our neighbor? Is this a verbal argument? Are we physically fighting our neighbor here or are we teaching our neighbor how to physically defend themselves? The “art” of fighting, IS a training session, you learn more about it the more you do it, be it practice or competition. If your physically fighting your neighbor, why? Are they attacking your children? Did they fornicate with your wife? For what factual purpose is your argument to pertain? This is a problem with your argument, it’s vague and your point is not coming across because you haven’t defined exactly what it is. What is the fighting specifically and who exactly is this neighbor? I had a bully in school when I was younger. My Dad taught me how to stand up for myself and fight back. One day, in line, I socked him in the nose in defense of his pushing and shoving. I was found not guilty of any wrong doing by the principal as there was a history of the bullying, nor was I of that spirit. Not only did I learn an important lesson, so did the bully. We later became good friends out of the process and discovered we lived two blocks from one another. It was a father’s love that taught me to defend myself. It was love that taught the bully how to see his errors. Prov 13:24. I did not seek the fight, it came to me. I was not provoking the fight, but by God’s providence you could say, I was the one disciplining him. If I was to take “fighting our neighbor” to the extreme, should we not call all sports a sin? No more bible verse memorization in sunday school because it promotes pride in competition. No more chess club either. This brings us right into your next quote.]

Do not focus on the king-of-the-hill spirit of pride in competitive martial arts.
[If one’s purpose for competitive fighting was to be the king-of-the-hill as you state, then I could argue it as a good pursuit like running a race as if you intend to win it. 1 Cor 9:24-27 there. If the heart is full of pride and you want to be the best boxer to raise up your own glory, then once again, the heart is in the wrong place. Time and time again scripture talks about this, which you have quoted numerous times. If your a great boxer and after every fight you praise God publicly, does that display a spirit of self pride? Once again, it’s a heart issue. Where is the intent of the person’s heart? We cannot answer, for only God knows the heart. We can however, see the evidence, from where the heart the mouth speaks. If they don’t speak, we can only speculate, and that is dangerous.]

Do not focus on the spirit of besting one another as opposed to raising each other up.
[Again, your presuppositions are taking you down a path too deep of which I think you fail to answer all possibilities due to a lack of explaining a specific here. By now I would hope that I have explained clearly to you, the range of categories you have lumped together. I’m going to be honest with you Matt. I see this blog post as a spirit of besting, a proving of your right and Pastor Durbin is wrong. Not only that, my point is emphasized with the inability for Pastor Durbin to refute and defend his position. Along with the last statement, you have failed to properly identify exactly what Pastor Durbin’s stance is, while assuming your audience knows of what you speak. You have placed an overwhelming number of scriptures in the blog, but you have not gone point by point on how each scripture applies to a specific argument you make as contrary, or “fact” as you stated, to Pastor Durbin’s teachings. You have used a common tactic of winning an argument by overwhelming without explanation. I pointed out earlier a couple of fallacies within scripture you’ve claimed support your idea, are out of context. These three arguments of yours, of which this third I think to be a repeat of number 2, has just been worded differently. I do not see the need to explain that point any further.]

I beseech you brother, to be very careful as the ice is thin of which you walk. Choose your words wisely and let the heart not deceive you. I say these things with love but be careful with language that you used earlier: “Still, it is our job as Christians to bear true witness to the Word of God so when we find errant teaching, we are to be salt and point it out.” Caution should be exercised before making such bold claims as false teaching or false witness. I am always quick to listen and slow to speak in such matters, as you should be also. Do you know what the biblical approach is to someone you think may be teaching falsely? It’s not blog posting brother.

I close with this, John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Jesus is talking here and is explaining His love toward us. He states in verse 15 we have become his friends, applying it to himself. We are commanded in verse 17 in conclusion of his speech that we love one another. Remembering that Christ died for us, his love was to the death. Likewise we are to follow suite. If we were to take a passive stance to defending our family/friends/stranger/enemy/unborn babies, we would by no means be able to apply our commandment in John 15:13 to our life. This my friend, would make your analysis inconsistent. We should fight to the death, to preserve that life for what is righteous and what is good. We bring God glory when we serve Him, not ourselves.

Matt,

I am deeply saddened by your lack of response. As I can see your presuppositions are still forbidding you from seeing biblical truth, I have but no option(since you are a professed Christian) than to express this one last time to you, as well as to any confused readers that may find their way here. As I stated in my last reply, you have taken scripture and applied them to the wrong problem, your exegesis is wrong. The simple matter is I am within Christian duty to call you out on this and anyone who reads this will be witness to my testimony of correction to you.
I will be quoting from a book titled The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates by Matthew J. Trewhella. I will be specifically directing you to page 101, Appendix E: A Biblical response to those who say we should disarm; To those who teach pacifism; To those who think the Bible has nothing to say about arms.
Again, this is for your benefit and any of your readers who seem to be confused on the issues you have brought up in your post and since I would confidently bet you and most of your readers do not have this book, I will now begin the quote.

Genesis 4:8-12: In this passage, Scripture records the first murder wherein Cain killed Abel. That Cain must have used some sort of weapon to kill Abel is evidenced by the fact that Abel was bleeding (he was not strangled). Notice how God responded to the killing. He did not institute some sort of weapon-control, rather, He punished the one who committed the crime.

Exodus 20 and following: In God’s holy law, which He decreed at Sinai, nowhere do you see God outlawing weapons in response to the various crimes which He prohibited in His legislation. He always punishes the perpetrator. He never disarms the citizenry.

Exodus 22:2: In this verse, God declares that if someone breaks into your house at night and you kill them, you are not guilty of murder. This verse makes clear that you have a God-given right to defend yourself and to defend your family.

Deuteronomy 22:23-27: This passage deals with rape. Notice that verse 27 ends with the words “but there was no one to save her.” What is the implication of such a statement? The implication is that had someone been around to hear her cry out, they had a moral duty to intervene and protect her from being raped. To stand by would be immoral. We have a God-given right to defend not only ourselves, but also others.

Numbers 1: In God’s economy, He instituted an armed citizenry, not a standing army, in order to deal with the affairs of war regarding Israel. This is what the Founding Fathers of America envisioned for our nation. Even in Switzerland today, every home is furnished with a machine gun (one of the reasons Hitler chose not to invade Switzerland).

I Samuel 13:19-22: The Philistines disarmed the Israelites. Weapon-control was instituted. No blacksmiths were allowed lest the Israelites arm themselves. A disarmed people is the sign of a conquered people. A disarmed people is the sign of an enslaved people.

Isaiah 2:1-5: Many, including the United Nations, take the latter part of verse 4 in this passage, which states “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks,” and try to say that God wants us to disarm. The context makes clear, however, that “swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks” when God rules, not when the United Nations or any other government of man rules.

Matthew 5:38-39: In this passage, Jesus is not denigrating the law of God in regards to one’s right to defend himself and others, rather He is repudiating the lex talionis – the law of retaliation, which said, “if someone messes you up today, you go back and mess him up five times worse tomorrow.” The Pharisees were even using the law of God to justify the mindset. Jesus is repudiating this personal vengeance which some sought to justify and participate in. He is not saying we cannot defend ourselves or others.
Vengeance belongs to God (Romans 12:19; Deuteronomy 32:35; Proverbs 20:22). We are not to avenge ourselves. If we see someone who needs our help during the commission of a crime, we have a God-given right and duty to intervene. If, however, the crime has been committed (past tense), we have no God-given right or duty to go and execute judgment upon the perpetrator. God will avenge. God will judge.
God has given the sword (a symbol of judgement) to the civil magistrate (Romans 13:4). If a crime has been committed, it is to be reported to the civil authorities and they have a God-given right and duty before God to execute judgement.

Matthew 26:51-52: Some try to say that this passage proves that Jesus was a pacifist and against guns. Quite the contrary. Where does Jesus tell Peter to put his sword? “In its place.” John makes it clearer: Jesus said to Peter “Put your sword into the sheath” (John 18:11). Jesus didn’t tell him to melt it down into a plowshare, rather he told him to put it “into the sheath.” The sword has its proper place. It is not evil. But Peter wanted to use it in an improper situation. Jesus came to earth to die. Peter would be abrogating the purposes of God if he intervened with the sword. As Jesus goes on to say in verse 11 of John chapter 18, “Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” Jesus was trying to teach His disciples that His Kingdom is not expanded in the earth through the use of force, rather it is expanded through the preaching of the Gospel and the discipling of the nations.
If someone wants to live by the sword, they will die by the sword, as Jesus says. In other words, he who uses the sword for improper purposes will die by it. It was improper for Peter to have used it in that situation. A criminal of a tyrant who uses the sword improperly will rightly die by it. But the use of the sword in a proper fashion, to defend on’es person or one’s family or one’s country, is not condemned by Scripture, rather Scripture upholds it.
God is not a pacifist. Jesus is not a pacifist. As Jesus said in the very next verse, verse 53, “Or do you think I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” Jesus could have used force. The use of force; the use of swords was simply improper for the situation in which Christ was involved. He was supposed to die. He and the Father are not pacifists. He did not use force because He had to drink the cup of the Father.

Exodus 15:3: This verse of Scripture declares the Lord to be a “man of war.” That God is not a pacifist is evidenced throughout Scripture. Even Jesus himself, who is the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person, and who has declared all that God is (Hebrews 1:3; John 1:18), drove the moneychangers out of the temple with a whip and overtuned their tables (John 2:15). The book of Revelation defines Him as a King who does what? “Judges and makes war” (Revelation 19:11). The Scripture declares that Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). God’s character does not change. God is not a pacifist.
In closing, there are some who say that “we should not have guns; we should just trust God.” My response to those who say this is – “Let me ask you, do you have a lock on your front door?” They always say “yes.” I then ask, “Do you lock it when you leave or go to bed at night?” Those who live in the city always say “yes.” I then ask, “Why do you have a lock on your door? Why don’t you just trust God?”
Just because we have a lock on our door or a gun in our closet does not mean we are trusting in them to protect us with the same trust with which we’re to trust the Lord.
Rather, we simply see the wisdom and prudence of having such things in order to be good stewards in protecting our belongings and our families.
The psalmist understood that there was no contradiction. David said in verse one of Psalm 144: “Blessed be the Lord by Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.” He then said in verse two: “My lovingkindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and the one in whom I take refuge.”

Matt, please hear my words. Scripture must interpret scripture. Scripture does not contradict itself. If you find somewhere that you think it does, it’s your own interpretation that is wrong, not the scripture. You then need to go back and figure out where you went wrong.
I pray that this helps you out and that you find the truth.

I am late in replying to this. I have trained in martial arts for about 6.5 years or so, now as an assistant instructor. My instructor is probably a type of theistic Buddhist. He does believe in God per se, but not the Christian or Judeo-Christian view of it. However, he does not attempt to use his dojo/instruction as a means to prosyletize to the Buddhistic way of thinking or yin/yang. He focuses on practicality, getting in physical shape, self-control. He only mentions the yin/yang in the sense of physical force/yielding, that is how it applies to the physical discipline. We do no meditation, yoga (save the stretching portions which are beneficial), or spiritual aspects. In fact, a lot of the early practicioners of the art I have trained in were ‘Christians’ and started each session with a prayer to God to never have to use their skills unless it was absolutely necessary.

That aside, I can say through my training, that I have developed more emotional/mental control in my reactions with other people than I ever did sitting in church services all my life hearing about ‘loving your neighbor’ as an information dump (lots of sermons that pastors never took the time to live out in front of me so I could ‘see’ or ‘experience’ what they were talking about) or trying to memorize a bunch of bible verses. In my training through martial arts, I now say that God actually used the physical discipline and the realization of what I am now capable of doing to someone to make me actually LESS inclined to ever do that unless I was pushed to the place of having no choice. It has also made me LESS inclined to even verbally retaliate, even if I am in ‘the right.’ However, I’m not going to to stand by and let some criminal, say, rape my niece, knowing my skill set could save her and him (in the lesson he would learn by getting stopped and ending up in prison). God would hold me accountable for not stepping in and using the knowledge/skill set I have to stop that. ON the flip side, if someone is cursing me, lying about me, threatening me, etc., I have no reason nor motivation to use my skill set to ‘put them in their place.’ I have the ability to walk away while wishing them well (which is my go to move). That is the essence of the art I have trained in for these 6.5 years, even the small weapons training (club, knife). Why use this unless there was no choice? I don’t even like Hollywood movies that misuse martial arts to make it look cool to maim, kill people! It’s insane. I have to tell so many young students (usually under 20) about the realities of life versus what they see in a movie or ‘MMA fight.’ I tell them, “Do you want to go to jail? That’s what happens if you assault someone without provocation because you know you can kick their butt.”

What I’m trying to say is that could it be that God used martial arts training to do for me what no one in the churches, even my family, ever did? That is, teach me self-control and meekness? Am I now in a place where I can help others learn that? If so, then good for God! In our martial arts training we also require the younger students to do 25+ hours of community service of various kinds. They are taught to go out and use their skill sets to HELP other people, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, etc. I don’t even see ‘Christians’ in my area of the world doing that! I never saw a Sunday School class ever go out and do free community service! What’s up with that? I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have thought about martial arts as a believer from both sides of this equation: should we or should we not? There are valid concerns on both sides. But truth be told, nowhere in the Bible did most of those writers have any knowledge or associations with what we think of as modern combatives or martial arts. Most of what we know post-dates the Bible but 500+ years. That’s why I think we have to be careful about reading modern practices back into ancient texts that had nothing to do with our modern practices. I think a believer should let God work with their conscience in this area. It’s a grey area. I would never recommend martial arts to someone who has doubts about it from a theology perspective. On the flip side, I’m not going to let them convince me to give it up. It’s helped me through some rough times and I’ve met some great people through it who have encouraged me not to give up through those tough times. There are people whom I cannot display basic life-saving self-defense techniques to because they look at martial arts as evil. So, I don’t do them around them because I don’t want to be a stumbling block. Etc., etc. I’m sorry that Mr. Wilson, in that video, got so deep into the spiritual side of the martial arts. I don’t plan on ever going there. He didn’t have to either. He was a prime candidate for that because of his early background. I hate that he feels that way about it now. But to try and convince everyone to abandon the good in something because of his negative experiences is just legalistic. It’s the same in the debate between believers over alcohol. Both sides will cite experiences, cherry picked bible verses, etc.. In the end, the individual has to make the choice for him/herself. I think it’s the same in martial arts. But then again, what do I know? :)

Humm- I don’t think its wrong to learn self defense to protect your family. In fact if your family came under attack and you were there I think it would be a sin NOT to try and help or defend them. So learning something to help in that area I think is ok. But not to DO intentional violence.

Jesus allowed himself to be hurt and tortured for two reasons…our sake to take our place and to glorify God in being raised from the dead to show the world He is Messiah and give us a hope…that if we should believe in Him we will never perish but have everlasting life. Though he was smitten, beaten, tortured and humiliated, he did it for the purpose of something much greater. There was purpose behind it. Jesus did NOT say that we should allow others to torture us because that alone brings God glory. Turning the other cheek is not literal but according to Jewish culture it meant that if someone insulted you then give them another opportunity to insult you…again…for the sake of the gospel! So if you learn martial arts for purposes of self-defense, discipline, self-control, and good values, without inheriting the eastern philosophy of the arts itself because you are a Christian, you are fine. And yes, if used when attacked to keep yourself from being bullied, physically hurt, robbed, raped, or killed…not just you, but your family or friends as well, or even defending a stranger you see in trouble, that is fine too. As Christians we should not be afraid of anything… we should embrace everything that is good and give God the Glory for it all!

As a Christian child, I was taught to turn the other cheek, and it left me with many scars over the years as I interacted with the world we live in. If someone wants to beat you up, God will not stop them due to the fact he defends free will. In the end, I am left with no confidence in myself, or that God will protect me, save only that in the end someday….. that he will make it right…… Oh if only my father would have taken me to a self defense school of some kind….. my life could have been different. “They” are always faster, bigger, stronger, smarter, more popular, blessed, lucky, richer, and angrier. Doesn’t a person deserve a fighting chance of some kind in order to preserve some since of self worth, beyond Jesus loves me this I know? I hate bullies, this is why school shootings exists, no one cares, not even the schools, they don’t want to see it, or do anything about it. Pray that there is no such thing as reincarnation, and that if it is that you are born with strength to defeat any bully for your own sake, and your future.

Two things:
1) Did you get your son involved with martial arts to burn off his excess energy?
2) I appreciate the plethora of verses you shared regarding Jesus and non-violence; however, I think the lenses from which you are examining verses should be brought into sharper image. Jesus clearly discusses how people should not harm children (better to be drowned), so shouldn’t one ensure that children are protected? Surely, one can conclude that self-defense and/or the ability to assist another person being attacked is prudent. To me, self-defense is both proactive and reactive–it is not retroactive–that’s the vengeance part that God will take care of for me. Would it not be wise to proactively prepare for attack so as to be ready for one? Possessing the tools to defend oneself is quite different from vengeance–where thoughts of getting back at someone are all consuming. As the Holy Spirit guides us, we are able to respond in accordance with His will. Should I see my 80 year old mother being physically attacked, I am not going to holler out, “Hey, I’m praying for you.” I’m going to step in to assist her. It doesn’t mean I’m going to kill the person attacking my mom. I’m simply going to help her get away from the immediate abuse. The Bible is my sounding board. I am 100% convinced that it is God’s word. I also think that God gave me a brain (because I’m created in His image) with the ability to think logically. As an educator for over two decades, I can assure you that prayer works. As an educator for over two decades, I can assure you that 99.9% of bullies (particularly in middle school and immature high schoolers) will NOT stop without a greater incentive for them to stop–school involvement, parental involvement, police involvement, juvenile justice system, etc.
Jesus KNEW, He could call down the angels to help Him (physical help), but He chose not to. He was listening to His Father’s will. Jesus was proactively prepared, yet He reactively chose to NOT respond with physical force.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. On a side note, kids admire other kids for their physical skills–sports, strength, etc. It just is what it is. Bullies know who they can pick on. You may wish to involve your son in some type of activity where he can develop a high level of physical skill–archery, running, weight lifting, swimming or some type of team sport.

Jesus was NOT a PACIFIST. He did not rebuke Peter for cutting off the ear of the soldier because he was against violence. He rebuked Peter because he was acting in conflict to the will of God, which Jesus had already made clear to his disciples, was for Jesus to be arrested and killed as a sacrifice to the LORD. Peter was trying to stop Christ from fulfilling his life purpose!

Pacifism is not of God. It is RELIGIOUS, and it betrays the basic human faculties of reason. The fact of the matter is that God is the one who has given us life. Therefore, it is HIS and HIS alone to take! If I can’t even take my own life because suicide is a sin, then WHAT makes you think God will permit ANOTHER MAN to take my life if it is not in his divine will?

Do not mistake my words. I am not saying that God cannot or has not ever ordered the death of man by the hands of another. In fact, such was the very fate of Jesus Christ. But it must be understood that such was the WILL of God. And so the questions then becomes: How do we determine the will of God? The answer to that question can be NONE other than the DISCERNMENT which comes to a believer by having a PERSONAL relationship with God, which indeed enables us to understand our purpose here on this earth.

Let me tell you something. If someone tried to kill me and God has not told me that it’s my time to go, I will fight that man to the DEATH and only spare his life when and if he is no longer a threat to mine!

The simple truth is this that if God can allow the execution of a man at the hands of another man and be justified in doing so, then why can’t the same logic be applied to the killing of the man who is determined to take MY life for unholy reasons? Is it God’s will that I should die at the hands of a wicked man or is it God’s will that SAID wicked man should die at MY hands? Your discernment by the power of the Holy Spirit will determine that.

God is love. If I must die for him, then so be it. But he loves me. And I believe that if I am to die, then it will be to glorify his name. Otherwise, I will kill you where you stand.

The same goes for protecting a loved one. Unless it was his will, do you think God would stand idly by and watch one of his children be killed or beaten by the wicked? Absolutely not. God has destroyed ENTIRE CITIES for interfering with his divine will for his people. So why would you sit back and allow a man to beat or kill your loved one when you have the power to stop it?

There will come a time when Christians will have to give their life for speaking the truth. If I am to live in that time period, then my mouth will not cease to speak truth, even at the risk of death. THAT is what Jesus meant when he said that our battle is not against flesh and blood. THAT is what Jesus meant when he said that he who seeks to save his own life shall lose it, but he that dies for my name’s sake shall find it. He spoke about dying for the TRUTH. Not dying for PACIFISM. If God does not change, as scripture plainly states (Malachi 3:6), then the GOD of the Old Testament is GOD everlasting and he STILL demands that his people take a stand against wickedness, even if it means getting violent when justified by God’s love for mankind.

“Blessed be the LORD, my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
He is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer.
He is my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.” -Psalm 144

“The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.” -Exodus 15:3

God prefers REASON over violence, but if you refuse to incline your ear to his words, you will die. First, by the word, and then by the sword.

This is a truth I will GLADLY lay my life down for. And that is not PACIFISM. It’s the LOVE of TRUTH!

Wow. This is the biggest load of crap I’ve read in quite a while.

Yikes…. it just keeps developing doesn’t it. Anyone who allows wicked upon an innocent is in direct contradiction of the the Bible and Holy Spirit. How blind can anyone be to not see this? Key word that is overlooked mostly these days CONTEXED! Props to all the articulate posts really helped solidify my thoughts on the issue. I have grew up shooting guns and keep some for protection and fun mostly fun praise the Jesus. I would use one for defense if needed, but at the last possible choice. Jesus wasn’t against wine or swords ect. God knows are heart. Just look at king David. He killed many men and yet he was chosen by God to carry Christ’s lineage. David did some bad stuff as king too, but he truly was ashamed of his sins. Just like we can discern so can God he knows are heart. It’s almost like knowing of a cure and not getting medical treatment because God will save you. The problem is sometimes intervention isn’t super natural.