Re: Satan's Witnesses Assault of LIES Against the Church

The Bible And Military Service

 1.

    The Testimony Of John The Baptist

"Soldiers also asked him, 'And we, what shall we do?' And he said to 
them, 'Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false 
accusation, and be content with your wages.'" (Luke 3:14 ESV)

Proposition: When soldiers specifically asked how they should live in 
light of repentance, the forerunner of Christ did not command them to 
abandon their profession or suggest that their duties involved murder. 
Instead, he commanded them to act with integrity and contentment within 
their calling as soldiers.

 2.

    The Testimony Of Jesus Christ

"When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, 
'Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.'" 
(Matthew 8:10 ESV)

Proposition: Jesus Christ did not rebuke the Roman centurion for his 
military service. On the contrary, he used a man whose life was defined 
by the military structure of authority and obedience as the primary 
example of great faith. If the military life were inherently murderous 
or sinful, Christ would have called him to repent of his office, yet He 
praised his faith instead.

 3.

    The Testimony Of Peter And The First Gentile Convert

"At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was 
known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his 
household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to 
God." (Acts 10:1-2 ESV)

Proposition: The first Gentile to receive the Holy Spirit was an 
active-duty military officer. God did not require Cornelius to resign 
his commission to be acceptable to Him. Peter, under divine direction, 
preached the gospel to a soldier and his household, acknowledging them 
as "devout" while they were still in the service of the Empire.

 4.

    The Divine Appointment Of Civil Authority

"For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, 
for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an 
avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer." (Romans 13:4 ESV)

Proposition: The civil government is explicitly called the "servant of 
God." The "sword" mentioned here represents the power of capital 
punishment and military force. When a soldier acts as an agent of a 
lawful government to restrain evil, he is not acting as a murderer, but 
as an instrument of God’s temporal justice against those who do harm.

 5.

    The Distinction Between Murder And Lawful Force

"You shall not murder." (Exodus 20:13 ESV)

Proposition: Scripture distinguishes between "murder" (the unlawful 
taking of a life with malice) and the lawful use of force. In the Old 
Testament, the same God who gave the commandment against murder also 
commanded Israel to form armies for defense and judgment. The New 
Testament maintains this distinction by upholding the state's right to 
"bear the sword."

 6.

    The Soldier As A Spiritual Illustration

"Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets 
entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who 
enlisted him." (2 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV)

Proposition: The Apostle Paul repeatedly uses the soldier as a model of 
Christian character. If the military profession were regarded as 
"murderous," the Holy Spirit would not have chosen it as a metaphor for 
the highest form of Christian devotion and discipline.

 7.

    Regarding War And The Love Of The Brethren

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have 
love for one another." (John 13:35 ESV)

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for 
his friends." (John 15:13 ESV)

Proposition: While Christians are commanded to love one another, the 
Bible recognizes that we live in a world where "wars and rumors of wars" 
persist until the return of Christ. Love for one's "neighbor" or 
"brother" includes the duty to protect them from the violent aggression 
of evil men. A soldier who stands in the gap to defend the weak—even if 
that defense requires force against an aggressor—is exercising a form of 
sacrificial love. The responsibility for the conflict rests upon the 
aggressors and the leaders who initiate unjust war, not upon the servant 
of God who bears the sword to protect the innocent.

Summary: From the preaching of John the Baptist to the epistles of Paul, 
the New Testament consistently treats the military profession as a 
legitimate calling. The soldier is recognized as an agent of God's 
justice, and military service is used as a supreme illustration of the 
Christian life. To call a soldier a "murderer" for performing his duty 
is to contradict the plain testimony of the Word of God.



-- 
Good News †

Jesus is God: christrose.news/Jesus-God.

Salvation comes solely through the true gospel: that Christ died for our 
sins and rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Galatians 1:8-9). Any 
alternative gospel is false and results in conscious, eternal torment in 
the lake of fire (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; John 3:18; Revelation 14:9-11; 
Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:11-15). Rejecting the deity of Jesus 
means you will die in your sins (John 8:24).

By dying on the cross, Christ canceled the legal debt of our sins 
against God (Colossians 2:14), and God validated this victory by raising 
Him from the grave (Romans 1:4). God is now able to justly declare 
sinners righteous (Romans 3:26) and spare them from His future wrath (1 
Thessalonians 1:10). This grace is freely given to all who place their 
trust in Him (Romans 6:23). Put your faith in the Lord and call on His 
name to be saved (Romans 10:9-13):

How to be saved: christrose.news/salvation