Matt 5:43-48
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.'
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father Which is in heaven: for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(KJV)
One should note from the above example our Lord Jesus spoke of certain type of acts used against us by our enemies, and that NONE of them included the acts of literal bodily harm, nor thefts from our person or property.
So what order of persecution from our enemies was He speaking of?
"them that curse" - Greek kataraomai - means 'to doom, to repricate evil upon'
"to them that hate" - Greek miseo - means 'to hate, to detest, to pursue with hatred'
"despitefully use" - Greek epereazo - 'to insult, to falsely accuse, to use despitefully'
"persecute" - Greek dioko - 'to make to run or flee, to run after, to pursue in a hostile or non-hostile manner, to mistreat'
Do you see there anywhere an idea like someone trying to literal kill or rob you like a murderer or mugger? No, it's not there. Many simply assume our Lord Jesus was covering those ideas of the murderer and thief there too, but He was not! Why?
It's because God gave all peoples the right to self-defense of their self, home, and property. This is why historically if you'll study your Bible history, when the wicked could not literaly remove God's people or steal their property, they resorted to using rulers in power. And when those rulers God put in power allowed the enemy to abuse His people, He eventually caused the downfall of those type rulers also (the time of Daniel the prophet was a major case in point). Even when our Lord Jesus was taken to be crucified, it was by the authorities in power over Jerusalem at that time, the same authorities which allowed the people then to keep and bear arms against murderers and thieves.
How Do We Love Our Enemies?
Our Lord's Message there in Matthew 5 is about showing love to our enemies that hate, curse, or despitefully use and persecute us. It's not about Pacifist dogma against our right of self-defense. Even in the situation of catching a thief breaking into our home while using self-defense, we don't want to kill unless we have to in self-defense. That's to show love in bringing the criminal into custody so they might be given opportunity to turn their life around and follow Christ. Would you be able to do that if you had nothing to protect yourself with? Most likely no. So bearing arms does not mean being forced to use them in all cases.
Since those in Christ Jesus are not 'of' this world, and our Lord prayed that we not be taken out of the world, we must bear our cross for Christ while living among society. Some societies on this earth are vehemently against anything Christian, and will not allow any of it, like some of the Islamic nations and Communist controlled nations. So when a Christian travels to those lands, they should know what situation they are getting into. Likewise with one born in one of those countries becoming a believer on Christ Jesus, they should be fully aware of the situation in those type nations. So those Christians who decide to forgo the dangers, well, that work is between them and our Lord Jesus.
When we're among those who hate us for being a Christian, like Apostle Paul said, as much as is possible within us, live peacefully with all men (Rom.12:18). Thus the type enemies our Lord Jesus was talking about there in Matt.5 aren't those trying to come at us with a gun or knife to try and literally kill us. It's those who work against us somewhat through social means, like a trouble maker.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.'
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father Which is in heaven: for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(KJV)
One should note from the above example our Lord Jesus spoke of certain type of acts used against us by our enemies, and that NONE of them included the acts of literal bodily harm, nor thefts from our person or property.
So what order of persecution from our enemies was He speaking of?
"them that curse" - Greek kataraomai - means 'to doom, to repricate evil upon'
"to them that hate" - Greek miseo - means 'to hate, to detest, to pursue with hatred'
"despitefully use" - Greek epereazo - 'to insult, to falsely accuse, to use despitefully'
"persecute" - Greek dioko - 'to make to run or flee, to run after, to pursue in a hostile or non-hostile manner, to mistreat'
Do you see there anywhere an idea like someone trying to literal kill or rob you like a murderer or mugger? No, it's not there. Many simply assume our Lord Jesus was covering those ideas of the murderer and thief there too, but He was not! Why?
It's because God gave all peoples the right to self-defense of their self, home, and property. This is why historically if you'll study your Bible history, when the wicked could not literaly remove God's people or steal their property, they resorted to using rulers in power. And when those rulers God put in power allowed the enemy to abuse His people, He eventually caused the downfall of those type rulers also (the time of Daniel the prophet was a major case in point). Even when our Lord Jesus was taken to be crucified, it was by the authorities in power over Jerusalem at that time, the same authorities which allowed the people then to keep and bear arms against murderers and thieves.
How Do We Love Our Enemies?
Our Lord's Message there in Matthew 5 is about showing love to our enemies that hate, curse, or despitefully use and persecute us. It's not about Pacifist dogma against our right of self-defense. Even in the situation of catching a thief breaking into our home while using self-defense, we don't want to kill unless we have to in self-defense. That's to show love in bringing the criminal into custody so they might be given opportunity to turn their life around and follow Christ. Would you be able to do that if you had nothing to protect yourself with? Most likely no. So bearing arms does not mean being forced to use them in all cases.
Since those in Christ Jesus are not 'of' this world, and our Lord prayed that we not be taken out of the world, we must bear our cross for Christ while living among society. Some societies on this earth are vehemently against anything Christian, and will not allow any of it, like some of the Islamic nations and Communist controlled nations. So when a Christian travels to those lands, they should know what situation they are getting into. Likewise with one born in one of those countries becoming a believer on Christ Jesus, they should be fully aware of the situation in those type nations. So those Christians who decide to forgo the dangers, well, that work is between them and our Lord Jesus.
When we're among those who hate us for being a Christian, like Apostle Paul said, as much as is possible within us, live peacefully with all men (Rom.12:18). Thus the type enemies our Lord Jesus was talking about there in Matt.5 aren't those trying to come at us with a gun or knife to try and literally kill us. It's those who work against us somewhat through social means, like a trouble maker.
