By Jason Charles on 9/28/2015 (9 years 86 days ago) Natural Law
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Pope Francis, in his address to Congress this last week made a purposefully cryptic statement denouncing the global arms trade,
“Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society?” he asked. “Sadly, the answer, as we all know, is simply for money: money that is drenched in blood, often innocent blood. In the face of this shameful and culpable silence, it is our duty to confront the problem and to stop the arms trade.”(Guns.com)
Later in this same Guns.com article it notes that almost immediately following the address, the internet was bombarded with a series of memes using Pope Francis' quote above to promote gun control by the anti-gun group the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (Photo). Though the quotes in context clearly were an attack against the Obama policy of arming Muslim terrorist groups like ISIS that has now sparked a massive refugee crisis throughout Europe, they still used it to promote their own agenda of domestic gun-control.
You really can't blame this anti-gun control group for the use of this quote considering the numerous quotes that are overtly anti-gun by Pope Francis. In June of this year he made the unbelievable statement that you can't be a Christian and support the manufacturing of firearms,
“If you trust only men you have lost,” he told the young people in a long, rambling talk about war, trust and politics after putting aside his prepared address.
“It makes me think of … people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit a distrust, doesn’t it?” he said to applause.
He also criticized those who invest in weapons industries (gun owners), saying “duplicity is the currency of today … they say one thing and do another.” (Ammoland.com)
It is beyond obvious that this Pope is a false prophet to anyone with a discerning spirit. For example this Pope blasphemously addressed the UN as "coming in his own name" without ever mentioning or honoring the name of Christ. So are we really surprised that this false prophet would side with the UN and the liberals on the issue of gun-control? Of course not. That said, the sad thing is, it isn't just the Pope and liberals who are constantly attacking the God-given right of self-defense, sometimes even conservative Christians believe that Jesus and the Bible are predominately pacifist in interpretation. Nothing can be further from the truth, in reality the entire epic of creation is the story of self-defense and preservation. You would think the Pope and Biblical scholars would realize this being spiritual authorities on the Bible, but they don't, they are deceived on many issues.
Fight and Evade the wicked, and Most Importantly Trust God
When reading through the Bible it is easy to get bogged down in the minutia of details involving all of the people and places listed throughout. Like the old saying goes we forget to see the forest for the trees. This means we get so bogged down in the history, the personalities, and the doctrines we forget to take a step back and look at the big picture. This obsession with details and cross referencing cherry-picked verses only gets you horribly bad doctrine. This is especially true when you hear people say that the Bible commands Christians to be pacifist in our presentation of Biblical truth and the Christian faith. Being "pacifist" contradicts the entire narrative of scripture and God's redemptive work.
Throughout Old Testament scripture we see God condoning physical acts of self-defense. For example Abraham defends and rescues Lot from the wicked kings (Genesis 14:12-17), or Moses defending the slave from the slave master (Genesis 2:11-12), the Judges like Samson defending the nation of Israel (Judges 16:30), David defending his army from the usurper Nabal (1 Samuel 25:21), Elijah taking up the sword against the false prophets of Jezebel (1 Kings 18:40), or Nehemiah defending his wall workers with the sword (Nehemiah 4:18) etc. In the New Testament we see Jesus instructing the disciples to sell their cloaks and buy swords (Luke 22:36), at Jesus' betrayal we see Peter defending Jesus with his sword, though he obviously didn't need it, seeing with a word he could bring the guards to their knees (John 18:6).
We also see physical acts of civil disobedience throughout scripture. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, standing up to Nebuchadnezzar's laws to bow to his idol (Daniel 3:17-18), Naboth refusing to sell his land to the evil King Ahab (1 Kings 21:4), Ester unlawfully petitioning the King to arm the Jews (Esther 8:3). In the New Testament, we see Paul escaping the wrath of the civil authority of the Jews in Damascus (Acts 9:23-25) and again at the house of Jason the Greek (Acts 16:5-9), we see Peter risk jail by telling the Pharisees that he would rather obey God rather than their commands to stop preaching (Acts 4:19).
We also see that God supernaturally defended His people like the Hebrews from Pharaohs army at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:26), Elisha prayed for God to Blind the Syrians (2 Kings 6:18), David from Goliath (1 Samuel 17:47-49), the Angel of the Lord destroying the encampment of the Assyrians (Isaiah 37:36-38), the Angel of the Lord appearing to Joseph in a dream telling him to evade Herod and flee to Egypt. (Matthew 2:13)
Whether looking at the physical instances, or the spiritual instances we see this concept of defense pop up throughout scripture time and time again. There really is to many examples to list. Why is that? Why does God instruct his people in both the Old Testament and New Testament to defend themselves physically, to evade and disobey evil people and government, and in faith pray for God's supernatural protection? To answer this question we have to pull ourselves out of the details and look at the big picture of scripture.
The Bible is God's Story of Self-Defense
Everything about the Biblical story of God, creation, the prophets, Jesus and the final judgment has to do with the fact that God is waging an intense battle against evil, warring spiritual beings. The reason the stories of the Bible are replete with the principle of self-defense is because that is exactly what God is doing. He is defending Himself and His righteous saints against rebellious spiritual wickedness that has infected creation. Everything he has done through humanity, through scripture, the guiding of people and nations all culminating in the life of Jesus the Christ is in the spirit of defense. Jesus is the one who suffered and died, only to be resurrected, glorified and appointed as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is Jesus who will bring an end to this segment of the created order that has made it their sole ambition to destroy.
We often talk about how we are engaged in a spiritual battle, and love to quote chapters like Ephesians 6 instructing us to put on the full armor of God, but we fail to recognize that God Himself is also engaged in this battle, and in like manner so is Jesus. Jesus too in His earthly ministry also suffered at the hands of the spiritual wickedness and is why Jesus and only Jesus can avenge all of creation. By suffering Himself he now has total authority and every reason needed to avenge Himself and the righteous from the evil Satan has spilled over into creation.
Read carefully here, this is hugely important to realize. Jesus and only Jesus went to the cross one time, as a lamb. Satan has never had the power to hurt God personally, He could only hurt God by seeding lies and turning the created order against God. So in response Jesus entered into creation, he willingly put Himself in a position to be attacked by Satan himself. Christians who say because Jesus was a pacifist we too need to be a pacifist also do not understand the overarching plan of salvation. God's plan of salvation is quite literally a infinitely genius counter-attack plan against the devil. Recognize that everything the devil does he has plausible deniability, he only tempts man as the Great Deceiver to sin and cause evil. God is a just God, the people who are convinced to sin, damn themselves, but when Satan entered into Judas and betrayed Christ (Luke 22:3) it became personal for God. Satan used that opportunity when he physically possessed Judas to lash out at God and betrayed him into the hands of evil government. Think about how many times in scripture Satan personally possessed a man? You don't, this is the only time it happens, making it clearly unique and hugely important to the narrative of Jesus' death. This personal attack is what now gives Jesus full jurisdictional authority to absolutely and finally crush the Father of lies, it was at that moment that Satan signed his own death warrant. We hear people say that Jesus didn't defend Himself, no, that is exactly what He did and that is what he will continue to do until the Devil is thrown into the Lake of Fire.
If you don't believe this to be so, then read Revelations Chapter 19 and 20. Jesus in His rightful state, is a conquering King and High Priest, all those that believe on His name look forward to the time when he comes back and absolutely decimates the devil. I cannot wait for that day! The day when God defends Himself and His righteous saints, and remakes creation in His glorious image will be the most profound thing that could ever happen for all time. It truly will be a glorious day.
Conclusion
Self-Defense isn't just a key principle it is one of the highest principles imaginable. So it goes without saying, that anyone who doubts the Biblical principle of Self-defense, doubts the purpose and plan behind salvation. So never fear to defend your family from anyone whether it be government thugs or a mugger. Always stand up against the bullies, always reject wicked law, never bow to evil in any way, shape or form. When you fail to protect those around you in your care, you fail as a men and woman who are supposed to represent this same warrior spirit of our Father in Heaven.
When these politicians claim the moral high ground and say they only want to get rid of guns to rid the world of violence, know that they are liars. Rebuke them because they are attempting to take from you your dignity as a spiritual warrior of the Most High. What they really aim to do is rob you of your ability to defend yourself from wicked people like themselves. We fight for righteousness nothing less, if we are in the minority then they can try to kill us, if we are in the majority then let's keep it that way by using our numbers to purge this world of evil as did the founding fathers when they fought the Revolutionary war. All said in done we are warriors, who will put up with and suffer much evil, but if the need arises then we will opt to defend ourselves in the face of tyranny.
This Pope sadly is a fool, at the end of his quote he said we have to confront and stop the problem of arms trafficking. Well pray tell how do you expect us to do that if we give up our guns and lay down to the very government that arms these criminals? It is asinine logic. That is like telling a Christian to give up their Bible so they can be more effective in the Spiritual War that wages all around us. Among Christian circles this pacifist ideology needs to be laid to rest. When Christians become pacifists it only emboldens the enemy and we lose spiritual and physical ground. Enough is enough, get some guns, get trained, and know your enemy because one day and one day soon God may place upon you the High calling of having to defend yourself and others. Always remember that everything God does and is doing currently is defend Himself, and in that same spirit we should exercise our rights to defend ourselves against the evil of this world also, both spiritually and physically. So when it is all said and done how do we know that the right of self-defense is a divine call? Because God Himself is engaged in the act of self-defense and defense of the innocent and that is why. I can hear the complaints, I know God doesn't need to be "defended" per se, but God loves creation and He has a plan to protect His own you can be assured.
“No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” 2 Timothy 2:4
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