Responding Prudently to those in World Religions and Philosophies (and any others) who are Opposed to Christ and His People. Also covered is how to respond to anyone who comes at you aggressively and has made themselves into your enemy, whether a professing “Christian” or otherwise. I also explain what it means to be a “complete Christian” whose growth is not stunted by bigotry and false crusades.
First Reading: 2 Kings 1:1-18
Second Reading: Luke 9:51-56
Focus Text: Luke 9:55
“You do not know what kind of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy the lives of men, but to save them”
INTRODUCTION: Setting the Scene
The above message in italics dovetails perfectly with any decent ministry which exercises discernment, exposes corruption in all its forms, expounds the Scriptures, and which seeks to uphold the faith in a largely hostile world.
In many ways, the words of this article are a continuation of what I have been writing about recently concerning how to be faithful without coming across to people as a total nutcase or bringing the faith into disrepute, and how to be empathic and sensitive to others as well as being a good foot-soldier for Christ.
Christian thinkers and writers, pastors and teachers, will often examine systems of thinking which are in opposition to the way of the Lord, the adherents of which can come up against Christ’s disciples somewhat aggressively. Obviously, we are opposed to those systems insofar as they are ‘systems’. But what about the people who are deceived by those systems? What is to be our approach to them? Are we meant to be fearful of them? Aggressive towards them? Hostile? Condemnatory? Pompous? Judgementally scathing? Contemptuous? Supercilious? Rude? Dismissive? Hold those thoughts a moment…
I am not speaking here about those who pretend to be Christian in order to infiltrate the church — false teachers within the fold. There are biblico-ecclesiastical ways to expose and deal with such people. We have looked at this many times before.
Neither am I speaking about brothers and sisters in Christ who temporarily resist true teaching or who wander off the pathway for a time, for our manner of dealing with such folk is also clearly revealed to us (2 Timothy 2:24-25) — although we must be prepared to distinguish between the more ‘benign’ and the more ‘dangerous’ types. As Paul put it, “have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh” (Jude 1:22-23). That’s right. There are some you really have to watch out for, in case you get contaminated by the contact.
The Message of this Article
The message of this article is primarily about those who are involved in the religions and philosophies of the world which are opposed to the true Christ and His people.
It is very necessary to deal with this issue today because there are some sensationalist films, books and articles in the Christian scene which have been created as a form of scaremongering about various world religions and philosophies — many of which employ “straw man” techniques to slur the enemy, twisting and misquoting their scriptures and teachings, using very dishonest tactics. It is vital for us to have clean hands in such dealings. In the early church, many of those on the outside spread around rumours that “the Christians” met in secret to carry out rituals of an obscene nature (such as claiming that when they bowed down to pray they were deliberately exposing their rear-ends to God!). We must not lower ourselves to the level of such scurrilous rumour-mongers when we refer to those in world religions and philosophies. All our dealings must be impeccably honest. Unfortunately, I have witnessed a fair amount of false witness, ‘straw men’ and scurrility regarding world religions and philosophies on the part of professing Christians. There is no call for that whatsoever. Such behaviour is iniquitous.
In the present article, I want to lay the ground to show what our attitude should be in relation to those in the religious/philosophical world who seem to oppose us or be closed to our teaching.
In our passage in Luke’s Gospel, we find two of the disciples rebuked for wanting to “command fire to come down from heaven and consume” a village full of Samaritan people, from where they had received a message that their presence was not required. They were apparently wanting to emulate an action of Elijah, as can be seen by comparing our two Scripture readings.
The Lord had only just had to rebuke them for being needlessly sectarian (Luke 9:49-50). Now He was having to rebuke them for being over-zealous to destroy unbelievers: “Jesus turned and rebuked them, and He said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy the lives of men, but to save them’” (Lk.9:55-56).
A common interpretation of this passage is that we have here an example of the difference between the Old and New Covenants. Although I would not want to set up a false (and stereotyped) contrast between the Old Testament and the New Testament — as if there are two different Gods, the one harsh and condemnatory, the other kind and compassionate — there is more than an element of truth in contrasting the manner of proceeding between the two dispensations. As Matthew Henry puts it:
“You do not consider what manner of spirit, as disciples, you are called to, and how different from that of the Old-Testament dispensation; it was agreeable enough to that dispensation of terror, and of the letter, for Elijah to call for fire, but the dispensation of the Spirit and of grace will by no means allow it”.
This is true. We need to understand the key differences between the times of God’s judgement and the days of His grace. But nevertheless, Elijah had some justification for his action, as I will later show; but we have no mandate whatsoever to imitate him today, either literally or metaphorically.
The Questions We Have to Ask
The questions we have to ask here are these: How are we to respond to God’s enemies in the Gospel Age? Do we respond consistently in the same manner to all His enemies, regardless of the differing circumstances in which their enmity might be expressed? Well, these are the questions we have to grapple with when looking at these texts and when we want to address what it means to be a faithful follower of Christ rather than a mere churchgoer.
Of course, it is only natural that the believer should feel somewhat affronted by those who despise God. But it is counter-productive if that becomes an excuse for a personal vendetta of bitterness and recrimination. Throughout history, such unlawful vendettas have been perpetrated by the church. They have even been turned into full-blown religious crusades, riding off in full armour on horseback into the sunset — sword in hand, cross on shield — to destroy the enemy in a deluge of blood and death.
A Modern Version of the Crusades
A modern version of such a crusade took place when the United States engaged in illegal rampages into Afghanistan and Iraq, which came about as a result of the US President at the time, George W. Bush, who professed to be a Christian, disturbingly claiming that “God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did”. The hubris and dishonesty which lay behind those claims are bad enough. But those decisions of invasion were taken at the levels of corrupt military and disingenuous intelligence, using demonstrably false data (though any journalist who dared at the time to try and expose it seemed to end up dead in mysterious circumstances, as I documented at the time in my article “The Sword’s Fear of the Pen”, available for download here https://diakrisis-project.com/2018/05/22/the-swords-fear-of-the-pen-the-assassination-of-writers-thinkers-whistleblowers/ ).
With those words, George W. Bush was claiming that the military action of the murderous 2003 “Shock & Awe” campaign by the US against Iraq was based on his religion and specifically on the promptings of God. If we honestly demythologise that presidential statement and examine what really lies behind it, we will come to see how it put him in the same space as James and John in our text (although he is much more blasphemous because he claims a divine mandate for his actions as well as partaking in blatant lies about weapons of mass destruction), not to mention setting back Christian witness by centuries — placing it in the primitive era of the medieval crusades.
So, how are we to respond to God’s enemies? What things do we have to consider? What should we be taking to heart in the best interests of the Gospel?
In the first instance, we have to realise that
I. VENGEANCE PROPERLY BELONGS TO THE LORD
Vengeance is an attitude of heart which is utterly out of place for the Lord’s people. But such vengeance is what James and John were showing here when they wanted to bring fire down upon the people of this Samaritan village. There could have been any number of mitigating factors behind the message received from that village (as indeed I will show below). Yet, straightaway, James and John wanted to kill the entire village. As far as they were concerned, infidelity and hostility must mean death. This was not a gracious attitude. Yet it is one that we see today in many professing Christians.
Wreaking vengeance is not our prerogative but the Lord’s only:
“Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.’ On the contrary, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:19-21).
Concerning such vengeance, a couple of sub-points are worthy of consideration:
1) Was Elijah Actually Being Vengeful?
The fire which Elijah brought down was not something which happened out of the avenging nature of his own heart. This is something which we need to understand if we want to get to grips with the Lord Jesus’ response to James and John in our text. Essentially, Elijah knew what kind of spirit he was of. He lived under the Old Testament dispensation, when the terrors of the Lord had to be plainly revealed to the heathen nations in the face of idolatry, witchcraft and heinous religious practices not to mention rabid military aggression by those nations which could jeopardise the bloodline to Christ which had to be preserved at all costs. This was not Elijah being vengeful out of his own wishes but was part of Divinely-appointed strategy for God’s people. This can be shown by the fact that:
1) The fire (which was probably some kind of lightning) was described as being “of God” (rather than from Elijah) and it also “came down from heaven”, which is indicative of God’s approval.
2) He is repeatedly proven to be “a man of God” (see 2 Kings 1:9-12). This must mean that he was not engaging in personal vengefulness, which would have been sin but as a prophetic messenger of God.
Therefore, Elijah’s actions were not the result of the need for personal revenge but were directly mandated by the Lord as one of His prophets. He was not acting hot-headedly — as were the disciples in our text in Luke 9:51-56 — but as a licensed servant of the Lord.
On the other hand, we see in a man like Jonah — who had a few lessons to learn along the way — a classic example of misplaced feelings of vengeance: “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry… Then the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’” (Jonah 4:1,4). Such behaviour — along with that of James and John — provides a poor contrast when compared with Elijah.
Another associated item worthy of consideration here is that
2) Naked Anger is Unfitting for the Christian
“A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly” (Proverbs 14:29)
Notice that this proverb doesn’t say that one must never exhibit any kind of anger or that one must never become passionately moved against anything. It is essentially saying that our anger — when necessary — must not be a knee-jerk reaction; nor must it be based on impulsiveness.
It may be that we have to deal with something forcefully and decisively. But even if that is the case, we must not just lash out. Instead, we should consider all angles with compassion, wisdom, longsuffering and patience.
In the above title heading, I say that “naked anger” is unfitting for the Christian because there are instances when a certain kind of anger is not sinful. It is possible to be angry about something, or towards someone, without sinning and without any bitterness — even though one is so often accused of it if one stands up for the truth. This concept of “righteous anger” is something which is completely lost on the wishy-washy compromising “Christians” of today, who seem to be offended or frightened by any passionately-expressed concern for truth and justice. (Although there is an equally wrong opposite attitude which thinks that continually blustering against profanity is a Christian virtue!).
But there is such a thing as “righteous anger”. It is what Paul was referring to in Ephesians 4:26, when he said: “Be angry and do not sin” (cf. Psalm 4:4). It is righteous anger rather than sinful temper. An example of non-sinful anger would be a feeling welling up in your heart when you see God’s name blasphemed in the world. It is an indignation on behalf of the Lord which affects all godly people (cf. Psalm 69:9). It is a righteous anger which burns against any attack on the truth and integrity of God and of the Gospel. It is the indignant feeling you get when you see some huckster tele-evangelist in Gucci shoes, selling Jesus as if he is selling a brand of soapflakes. It is the burning desire for just judgement to be wrought by the Lord on all injustice and wickedness. It is a kind of anger which is not motivated by “self” but by an honour for God and His good name. You can also have a righteous anger against your own sin and be angry with yourself when you do things wrongly. Some biblical examples of righteous anger would be Numbers 16:15; Nehemiah 5:5-13; 13:25; Mark 3:5; and John 2:13-17; etc.
Now you may say at this point: “But weren’t James and John displaying righteous anger in Luke 9:51-56?” The answer must be a resounding “No!” Firstly, if that was the case, the Lord Jesus would not have rebuked them so roundly — telling them that they didn’t even know what kind of spirit they were of. Secondly, even though there probably was an initial element of righteous anger, the fact is that — when pitted against Proverbs 14:29 — they failed to show great understanding in order to be slow to wrath and instead they exalted folly through their impulsiveness. On the subject of righteous anger, Matthew Henry made the extremely wise comment:
“Though anger in itself is not sinful, yet there is the utmost danger of its becoming so if it be not carefully watched and speedily suppressed. And therefore, though anger may come into the bosom of a wise man, it rests [i.e. permanently takes up residence, AM] only in the bosom of fools”.
Thus, I am not speaking here of a bitterness of spirit in which righteous anger has been allowed to fester into an abiding wrath; but there are occasions when righteous anger can be felt and expressed without it becoming a consuming furnace. If it does take a hold of you, then you are in danger of giving Satan a foothold in your life — a concept which Paul highlights in Ephesians 4:26 — just as you give the old serpent with any other misplaced human passion, such as jealousy, covetousness, fear, pride, lust, addiction, etc.
So the anger which is permissible for the believer is not a sinful anger; it is a passionate burning in the heart of which the Lord would approve. Yet even here we must be extremely careful; which brings us to our next major point:
II. ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE IS A VERY DANGEROUS THING
Paul said about the Jews of his time “that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge” (Romans 10:2). Paul is saying that, although those Jews were very zealous in their outward actions and religious observances, it was all based on ignorance and lack of understanding of the spiritual reality of the situation. The same was true of James and John’s great desire to see fire brought down on that Samaritan village. They were acting out of zealous ignorance and not taking notice of the spiritual reality of the situation. On this point, we should consider:
1) What is God’s Purpose for us in any Given Situation?
A knowledge of the true working of God would have prevented those disciples from wanting to pursue such an action so rashly. They didn’t stop to discover this. They never even turned to their Master and asked what He would do — what was His purpose? — what would be His response? It is vital to discover the Lord’s purpose, through diligent enquiry and prayerfulness, lest we act too hastily.
2) Never Act Rashly or Without Due Consideration of a Situation before Outright Condemning it
For example, James and John just knee-jerked the idea of bringing fire down upon this Samaritan village without ever thinking through why they had received word that the village didn’t want them there. Maybe the villagers were offended that the Lord Jesus had originally sent out His disciples, saying: “Do not go onto the road of the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near’” (Matthew 10:5). Perhaps that had offended this Samaritan village in some way. They were plainly offended that He was heading to Jerusalem (Luke 9:53). This was a big controversy between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Jews believed that the right place to worship was at Jerusalem, whereas the Samaritans believed that the right place to worship was at Mount Gerizim near Sychar (cf. John 4:20). It may not be right to be so offended but at least it makes their action in some way understandable and should moderate the desire to simply blast them out of existence with fire from heaven. We should wisely consider all aspects of a situation.
Another mitigating factor is that maybe the message of rejection from the village had been sent by only a few of the villagers and thus it would be unfair to bring fire down on the entire population of the village. Also, we have to consider that many others had previously been rejecting toward the Lord Jesus but He never took any such drastic action against them.
This is why such zeal — without being backed up by the appropriate depth of spiritual knowledge — is not the Christian way. It never has been and it never will be.
Another thing to take to heart and consider in our dealings with our enemies is that
III. SHOWING LOVE TO THOSE WHO MAKE THEMSELVES ONE’S ENEMIES IS ENSHRINED IN THE LAW OF GOD
Yes! Such love as this is even enshrined in the Old Testament. “Old Testament Christians” (and there are many of this anomalous, sabre-rattling, gun-toting, Israel-adulating breed!) would love to see all idolaters, sorcerers, adulterers and atheists strung up on the nearest tree and then run through with a blade. That is their conception of the Old Testament and their projection of it into the New. [In order to understand the crucial differences between the Old Covenant and the New, please thoroughly read my detailed article about this foundational subject here: https://diakrisis-project.com/2024/02/01/new-ebook-from-servitude-to-sonship-the-law-of-god-the-covenants/ . Understanding this deep subject really does have life-changing consequences].
Gospel Love Foreshadowed in the Old Testament
While it is true that there are major differences between the old and new dispensations, the notion of loving one’s enemies is regularly projected as a godly characteristic in the Old Testament. It is as if Gospel love was being foreshadowed all those years before. For love is what really lay behind the law of God. As Paul put it: “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law… Love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8,10; cf. Matthew 22:37-40; James 2:8). Some Old Testament texts involving such talk of love would be as follows:
“If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it” (Exodus 23:4-5).
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD… When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 19:18, 33-34).
“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19).
“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21-22).
Many Christians think that the phrase “love and peace” is just a hippie slogan. Actually, the hippies stole it from the Bible. It should really be the Christian’s slogan! The sad thing is that for the almost forty years that I have been a Christian I have been confronted with a great many people in the church whose driving forces in life have been anything but love and peace. It seems to have become very trendy to be aggressive towards those with whom one may disagree or those whose religious beliefs don’t completely match one’s own. Many today have forgotten what kind of spirit they are of. Never has a reiteration of the Lord’s admonition to James and John been so relevant. For the law of God means nothing if it does not ultimately foster love.
Another thing to take to heart and consider in our dealings with those who have made themselves our enemies is that
IV. GOD JUDGES ACCORDING TO HIS OWN CRITERIA
“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
It is just as well that this is the case, for we continually make a mess in the area of our judgements — like James and John who judged with unseemly haste and in a state of ignorance.
You see, the Lord judges each human being on an individual basis. And so should we. For example, we must always distinguish between unbelievers who have been sitting in church for years hearing the truth and those who have no familiarity with the true faith and who are living in the darkest ignorance. The former is the more culpable and less deserving of compassion than the latter — although that does not give us leave to reject any kind of merciful dealings.
In the case of the Samaritans whom James and John wanted to blast, they would always be a hard nut to crack from an evangelistic point of view. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews and the feeling was mutual — a state of affairs which went back a thousand years to the time when ten of the tribes of Israel had set up their own state, with Samaria as the capital, and practised a syncretised mixture of true religion and heathen idolatry (1Kings 16:21-24; 2 Kings 17:24-41).
Although the Samaritans were apparently steeped in Messianic expectancy (cf. the woman at the well: “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ? Then they went out of the city and came to Him”, John 4:29-30), they were also off the rails regarding many other aspects of their religious practice (see, e.g. John 4:22). At one time the Apostles had even been forbidden by Jesus from entering any Samaritan city (Matthew 10:5). Thus, some defensive hostility from the Samaritan strongholds was only to be expected.
The Touchstones and Degrees of God’s Judgement
Knowing all this should have given James and John pause for thought before they hastily decided that heavenly fire should be unleashed onto this Samaritan village. The way that the Lord metes out judgement is so very different to our own.
One of the main touchstones of the Lord’s way of judging is that He makes His judgements according to the light we have received. Thus, the more truth we have had revealed to us and then refused, the more condemnatory judgement will be made. An example of this is given in Matthew 11:20-24:
“Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you’”.
So we see here that there will be what we can call “degrees of divine toleration” on the Day of Judgement. It will not be a blanket bombing, with every unbeliever ‘blasted’ into the same number of tiny fragments. Wisdom will be applied to the whole process, based on revelation received and then acted upon. We read other examples in Scripture of these “degrees of divine toleration” on the Day of Judgement. “My brothers, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment” (James 3:1). Teaching is a grave responsibility. Thus teachers will be judged according to stricter criteria of judgement than those who are not. We will be judged according to the light received and the responsibility we have been given,as this parable symbolises:
“That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows. But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded” (Luke 12:47-48).
Judgement can be shown on a fuel gauge. It increases according to the revelation we have been shown and our refusal to respond to it, as well as according to the responsibility we have been given and our refusal to exercise it. As Paul puts it:
“But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. God will repay each one according to his deeds” (Romans 2:5-6).
“Treasuring up” for ourselves “wrath for the day of wrath”. Unless we are covered by the blood of Christ, the penalty for our sin builds up like in a bank account. The more people sin, the greater the ‘bank balance’. The greater the bank balance, the greater the wrath of God against it. This is why there will be degrees of suffering in hell. It’s conditional. As Jesus said about the scribes, “They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation” (Luke 20:47). This is a pattern repeated everywhere in the Bible. Greater culpability, greater condemnation. As Jesus again said: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin” (John 15:22). Again: “Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin. But since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains’” (John 9:41).
So we can see that the Lord judges according to the revelation people have received, their response to that revelation, the way they use the gifts they receive and the way that they exercise the responsibility they have been given. The corollary of this is that there will also be degrees of reward in heaven. Notice that I do not say “degrees of joy” in heaven, for all believers will experience equal joy. But there will be differences in the rewards allocated to us, according to the way that we have used the gifts and responsibility we have been given on earth by the Lord since we pledged ourselves to Him. This will not be seen as a disappointment but will be recognised as just and natural. I have written about all this elsewhere. Suffice it to say that the varying rewards of believers will be based on their deeds — their spiritual activities and on the way they have appropriated the knowledge and gifts they have been given by the Lord (Luke 19:15-19). On a different basis, the varying degrees of punishment in hell for unbelievers will be based on their response to the light they have received and their level of understanding.
The upshot of all this is that James and John should have taken all this into account before they made their judgement and condemnation on the Samaritan village in Luke 9:51-56. As they discovered, the Lord’s ways of judgement are not like ours, for they are rooted in justice.
God’s Criteria for Judging Pride
The three rapid-fire lessons in Luke 9:46-56 are about pride — the kind of pride to which even the Lord’s disciples can be prone. In each case, the Lord Jesus gives an appropriate rebuke to that particular sort of pride. In verses 46-48, it is pride of place in the kingdom: “Which one of us will be the greatest” in the kingdom. Jesus’ response: “He who is least among you all will be great”. In verses 49-50, it is the pride of sectarian exclusiveness: “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us”. Jesus’ response: “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side”. In verses 51-56, it is pride of racial religious righteousness: “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”. Jesus’ response: “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of”. James and John had said, in effect, “Lord these are just Samaritan scum — way beneath us in terms of spirituality and lifestyle. Let’s just blow them away”. Jesus’ reply said, in effect, “You guys haven’t got a CLUE what it’s really all about! Not a clue! For I haven’t come to do ethnic cleansing but the purification of souls”.
It is as if the Lord is saying to James and John: “My kind of spirit is always to judge righteously and with wisdom. In My manner of judgement, the Gospel always precedes the kind of condemnation which you were about to bring down on that little village. You don’t know how many people I have in that village. You don’t know its circumstances at all. You haven’t thought about it at all. Yet you wanted to obliterate it off the map. You are acting out of a historic racist hatred of the Samaritans. You have to transcend that kind of reaction if you want to be a believer and partaker in My New Covenant”.
We need to understand that the Christian should imitate God’s forbearance towards sinners. Although you may have formed the impression that God is awfully impatient with people and simply lambastes them in an instant, this is not the case at all. Although it is true that the Lord is described as “…by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation”, He is also described in the same breath, as it were, as
“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7).
There may well be those occasions when we might have to shake the dust off our shoes and move on (cf. Matthew 10:14) if we have been banging our heads on a brick wall, so to speak, in our dealings with some group or other. But that is not as drastic as blasting them with fire from heaven. How we need to have a good grasp of the balance between grace and judgement!
This brings us to our next consideration in our dealings with those who have made themselves into our enemies and naturally follows on from everything that I have said above:
V. GOD’S JUDGEMENT ONLY COMES WHEN HIS GRACE HAS BEEN WHOLLY SPENT
It was so very hasty of James and John to act the way they did towards those villagers. If they really wanted to emulate Elijah, they should have remembered that it was only after Ahaziah had repeatedly refused God’s grace that the Lord made Elijah bring down the fire. Rule #1 regarding judgement: People must always fill up the cup of their iniquity in order to become ripe for it. And that cup of iniquity is never filled up until the grace of God has been fully spent.
It is a fundamental teaching of Scripture that in order for sin to be ripe for judgement it must rise to the pinnacle of its consummation. The Lord reserves His sword of execution until that moment. We see this when Abraham is told that the land will not be occupied by his descendants until the fourth generation, when the iniquity of the Amorites has risen to its fullness (Genesis 15:16). So, in God’s providence, the Children of Israel were in the house of bondage in Egypt while the iniquity of the Amorites came to its fullness. On the very day that the iniquity of the Amorites was complete and their cup of sin had been filled up, the Israelites came out of slavery and subsequently defeated the Amorite kings and obtained the land (Exodus 12:40-41; Deuteronomy 4:44-49). Invoking the same rule, the Lord Jesus says to the Pharisees:
“You, then, fill up the measure of your fathers. Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How shall you escape from the sentence of Gehenna? Because of this, behold, I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill and will crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and will persecute from town to town; so that upon you shall come all the righteous blood being poured out upon the earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:32-35).
Again, we read in Revelation 14:18-19, regarding the final judgement:
“And another angel having authority over the fire came out of the altar, and he called in a loud cry to the one having the sharp sickle, saying, ‘Put forth your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because its grapes have fully ripened’. And the angel put forth his sickle to the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast them into the great winepress of the wrath of God”.
“Because its grapes have fully ripened”. That is the rule. It was so at the beginning too. After He had given the warning, the Lord waited for one hundred and twenty years for the iniquity of the earth to come to its fullness before bringing in the judgement of the Flood (Genesis 6:3). Then, when “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight God and the earth was filled with violence” and that cup had plainly come to its fullness (Genesis 6:11), in came the judgement.
Evil Proliferates in this Present Evil Age Because it Has Not Yet Reached its Fullness
Are you struggling to understand how the Lord could have allowed all the mayhem of this present age to happen? Struggle no longer. Invoke this rule and all will be clear. The Lord has permitted all this mayhem as part of the process of iniquity coming to its fullness and the long wait for judgement to be enacted which it inevitably entails? Thus, evil continues to proliferate in “the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4) because it has not yet reached its fullness. The iniquity of the false church as well as that of the world must come to its fullness.
This is the rule: That for evil to be ripe for divine judgement it must fill up the cup of its iniquity. This is why it is clearly said that the Lord Jesus will not return until the great apostasy is well underway and the “man of lawlessness”, the Antichrist — the pinnacle of human iniquity — has been revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
Only the Lord can make that judgement. Things may look really bad to us, but only the Lord knows when that cup of iniquity has actually been filled to the brim. We saw it at the Flood. We saw it again at Babel, when the Lord had waited one hundred years after saying “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). They deliberately disobeyed that command and instead they gathered themselves into one place “lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4). Then, when that iniquity had come to its fullness, the Lord observed “Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down” and judge them (Genesis 11:6-7). That was the moment when judgement struck and not a moment before. Similarly, those alive at the end of this age will see that cup of iniquity filled up yet again — only then it will be forever, with no going back.
Iniquity must always come to its fullness to be ripe for judgement. Only when the last drop of God’s grace has been expended will the hammer of judgement fall. No one can complain that they’ve been short-changed or had a rough deal.
Had the Samaritan village in our Bible text filled up the cup of its iniquity? Had the Lord’s grace been exhausted there? I don’t think it had even begun! The Lord knew this, but James and John didn’t.
A further element to consider in our dealings with our enemies is that
VI. CHRISTIANS SHOULD BLESS THE ENEMIES OF GOD WHO ABUSE THEM BECAUSE OF THEIR FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD
“Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.’ On the contrary [quoting from Proverbs], ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:19-21).
What does this mean in relation to our behaviour towards our enemies? What lies behind this approach to enemies is that the salvation of the one who has set himself up as our enemy should be our supreme aim. “Heaping coals of fire” means making them realise their error by being good to them, so that they might be convicted of their sin. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). The same thoughts are expressed in a number of other places. For example:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:43-48).
Now you may say to me at this point: “Don’t you think that you’re being a bit of a hypocrite, Alan. I mean you spout all this stuff here about forgiving your enemies yet you are often criticising world leaders. Don’t you think you ought to practise what you preach before you preach it?” I’ll tell you what I do think. I think that we badly need to get some things straightened out here. In the New Testament, forgiving our enemies occurs in the context of not being vengeful or retributive towards those who persecute us — those who have made themselves into our enemies and who do us wrong. [NB: It is important to bear in mind that it must always be others who make themselves into our enemies, not the other way round; because we are to be at enmity towards no one: “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men”, Romans 12:18. As a believer, you will regularly meet people who will be at enmity with you. But that is their problem, for you must cultivate enmity with no one].
Being Forgiving Towards Our Enemies Does Not Mean Overlooking Evil
I will say it again: Forgiving those who have made themselves our enemies occurs in the context of not being vengeful or retributive towards those who persecute us — those who do us wrong. If any world leader arrests us and drags us before his or her courts, we should not be rude to the authorities in any way. We should not resist them with violence. We should not plot nasty things against them. We should not look at them with anything other than compassion for their foolishness and blindness. However, this does not mean that we must keep quiet when evil is taking place. It does not mean that we cannot tell the truth about them, even to their faces (as did a fearless John the Baptist, Luke 3:19-20; Mark 6:17-18, whose example we can guiltlessly follow). Indeed, if we really want to be truly loving, then we must carefully confront evil people with their evil. Being forgiving towards our enemies does not entail cooking up a false bonhomie or turning a blind eye to corruption or evil, for that would be a sin. It simply means that we don’t hold anything against them personally or have any vengeful feelings towards them. As growing Christians, we should have transcended such base reactions.
We Can Forgive Subjectively But We Cannot Give Objective Forgiveness
The above-mentioned hypothetical (but perhaps not so hypothetical) objection originally referred to what I said about George W. Bush, a corrupt, mendacious world leader who caused a vast amount of misery and murder and has brought the name of the Lord into disrepute. However, I have nothing personally against him. He is not my enemy — neither has he so far wronged me personally, so I have nothing personal for which to forgive him. But I also do not have any power to forgive him for all that he has done to others or commissioned others to do. In terms of forgiving one’s enemies, we need to be absolutely clear that we have no personal powers of objective forgiveness. Only God can forgive sins (Mark 2:7). Thus, we can never forgive anyone objectively, in the sense of the forgiveness of the sins of the other; we can only forgive subjectively, in the sense of not being in a state of enmity and without a root of bitterness towards them in our hearts. [I have written an in-depth article about forgiveness, which you can find here: https://diakrisis-project.com/2023/11/24/shallowing-the-divide-forgiveness-the-way-of-cleansing/ ].
We can certainly pray for their repentance and objective forgiveness by God. Nevertheless, regardless of all that, we must still speak the truth — tell it like it is — expose corruption and evil — so long as we are not engaged in a personal vendetta and do not harbour wrath in our hearts against the other. This includes exposing public figures, who have duty to project wholesome ethics to society. So it is wrong to scold someone who is doing the exposing, saying that they should love their enemies and keep quiet. Enmity has nothing to do with it; and the fact that we are called to forgive does not mean that we must ignore corruption and evil. So to invoke the call for forgiveness in such cases is at best misplaced, at worst disingenuous, at the absolute worst it is downright dishonest.
However, we are at all times called to ensure that we do not lower ourselves to the level of those who may be at enmity towards us. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone” (Romans 12:17). I have had my own practical lessons of this in God’s gymnasium (planet Earth) over the years. Professing ‘Christians’ have tried everything against me personally: Lies, slander, deceit, scornful nastiness, skulduggery of all sorts — you name it; it’s been done, even threats of violence! Such lessons can be painful but they are also highly valuable in terms of forging a deep understanding of human nature and how one should respond to it. Eventually, that madness falls on you like water off a duck’s back and you smile bemusedly to yourself at the irony of it all.
Some Important Elements to Remember
However, we must remember some important elements here: Firstly, the faithful believer must expect to be abused by God’s enemies. If they hate the law of Christ they will hate those who follow it. If they are the enemies of God they will make themselves into your enemies too. Secondly, whatever they do to us personally, we must not harbour any evil thoughts against them or think such low thoughts as ‘paying them back’. Thirdly, we should even think about the possibility of blessing them in our hearts in place of negative thoughts. That can be difficult, but if one does it there is much benefit from doing so. Fourthly, rest assured that — in His own time — it is God who deals with them:
“Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret—it can only bring harm. For the evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant prosperity. The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them, but the Lord laughs, seeing that their day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken” (Psalm 37:8-15).
That is the promise. It may not be in our preferred timeframe; but it is the promise, nevertheless. If we forgive those who set themselves up in enmity against us and even go so far as to have blessed thoughts about them, surely that promise will be even more efficacious to us.
CONCLUSION: Some Final Points for Consideration
By way of conclusion, please consider the following few points:
1) We Must Still Deal Forcefully and Decisively with Impostors and Infiltrators in the Church
None of what has been said above lets us off the hook from exposing corruption and lies or from dealing with enemies within the church. Just as there are many who (wrongly) say that Christians should never judge (please see my article on that subject here: https://diakrisis-project.com/2017/12/22/ethical-quandaries-is-it-always-wrong-to-judge/ ), there are also many who would say that because we are told to love our enemies therefore we should not bring false teachers to book and that we should simply love them and leave it to the Lord to deal with them. However, that would be irresponsible in the highest degree. We are told to “test all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) — to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1) — to test things against Scripture (Acts 17:11) — and even to test those who are in authority over us (Revelation 2:2). And test them all we must! This is not an idle game but a matter of life and death.
Loving one’s enemies does not mean being cosy-cosy, lovey-dovey towards those who destroy churches and souls. It may look very “Christian” to be cosy-cosy, lovey-dovey in an indiscriminate manner but the reality is that such cosy-cosy lovey-doviness is the equivalent of coating a poisonous substance in honey. This sickly-smile brigade know nothing of true love and forgiveness. Their “Christianity” is sentimentality and their religion is based on the fear of truth.
Forgiveness Should be Reserved Primarily for Those who Wrong Us Personally
We need to get this straight, for it will often be thrown in our faces. The forgiveness which God’s Word enjoins us to afford to our enemies refers to those people who set themselves up as our personal enemies. It does not refer to those who make themselves the enemies of God or the enemies of the church. It does not refer to all people everywhere who commit evil and practise corruption. It refers to those who have wronged us personally. When the Lord Jesus rebuked James and John here for not showing gospel grace to the Samaritan village, it also occurs in the context of personal effrontery. James and John were offended that the Samaritans refused them. They had taken it personally. They felt wronged and they wanted to zap them back. This is precisely the context in which James and John should have exercised a forgiving spirit.
I say it again: The forgiveness which God’s word enjoins us to afford to our enemies refers only to those people who set themselves up as our personal enemies — who have wronged us personally — those whom the Lord Jesus specifically refers to as those whom you have “anything against” (Mark 11:25), those who are our “debtors” (Matthew 6:12) — i.e. those who trespass against us — “those who curse you”, “those who hate you” and “those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44). These are the people whom we must bless and forgive. However, for people to extrapolate from this that we must never take issue with problematic or evil people is both contrary to the gist of Scripture as well as dangerous for the well-being of society and the Church.
However, all that having been said, I repeat that although we are called to oppose with great firmness the wreckers in the visible church and in the world, we must always do it without a trace of personal bitterness or vengefulness in our hearts.
Another final point to consider is that
2) We Must Develop a Heart of Compassion for Unbelievers who have been Deceived by a False Religion or Philosophy
When the Lord Jesus says to the disciples “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of”, the spirit to which He is commending us to aspire is the spirit of the Gospel. As He said: “The Son of Man did not come to destroy people’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:56). It is simply not appropriate or in the spirit of the Gospel to physically destroy villages full of unbelievers! On the contrary, it is destructive to the Gospel. In fact, we should be doing everything we can to make ourselves spiritually attractive to others. There are enough destroyers out there already. To emulate them would be evangelistic suicide.
Those outside the church who are inveigled by some false religion or philosophy should be seen as objects of life-giving evangelism rather than death-making devastation. The threat of the destruction of a town or village by us is as far from the spirit of the Gospel as one can get.
Get Creative with Your Evangelism!
Bear in mind here that we should be creative in the way that we evangelise — especially in this crazy day and age. Certain ways of evangelising may be good at a certain point in history or in certain social circumstances; but not all ways are appropriate at all times. Many today say that we should not mix socially with unbelievers, citing 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 (wrongly, if I may say so). Try befriending an unbeliever. Don’t worry, you don’t have to marry them or make them into your best bosom buddy! That probably wouldn’t be possible anyway; and neither would it be wise, under most circumstances. But you can forge some kind of friendly relationship; and I believe that the possibility of such relationships today are a vital part of evangelism. People need to see us as far more than religious cardboard cut-outs. So, take a risk: Dare to appear human to an unbeliever. It can make a world of difference. The difference, in fact, between their life and their death.
Another final point to consider is this:
3) People who are Taking up Arms in the Name of Religion must still be Dealt with by the Governing Powers
While we must retain a stance of love and gospel thoughts towards those who are caught up in false religions and philosophies (and thereby accept the reality of a pluralistic society), this should not prevent us from being supportive of the appropriate action being taken against religious fanatics who break the law and become violent in the pursuit of their goals. This should apply just as much to the Hindu or Muslim militant as to professing Christians. I remember when the late “Christian” commentator, Pat Robertson, had the audacity in 2005 to call for the assassination of a country’s democratically-elected president, Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. He did not know what kind of spirit he is of. Violence and spirituality have no part with one another. Christians should never encourage any kind of violence against those with whom they may not agree or who fill them with fear or who make themselves into their enemies.
Another final point to consider is this:
4) We Must Always Ensure that, in our Misplaced Eagerness to become Religious Crusaders, we do not Become Cultists Following a Folk-Religion
It is important for us to establish whether we are really following Christ as His disciples or if we are just trendily into a crusading folk-religion of our own making which also happens to have some of the trappings of what we believe to be Christianity. I suspect the latter is true in many instances. This is what was beginning to happen with James and John in our passage, which is why the Lord Jesus had to rebuke them so sharply. We know that James and John had a pushy Mum who thought that her sons were the greatest and that they deserved the best position in the kingdom. She even badgered the Lord Jesus to ensure that they got it — a claim, incidentally, to which the two lads didn’t object at the time (Matthew 20:20-21). They were on a roll. They began to become crusaders conveniently crushing anyone who wasn’t on their page or singing in their choir. First there was the guy casting out demons who wasn’t one of them (Luke 9:49-50). As far as John was concerned, he had to be stopped. Then there was this village full of Samaritans. They had to be “taken out”. No doubt about it. “Exclusiveness reigns! All infidels must die!” But this is not what it means to be a follower of Christ.
Incomplete Christianity (a Caricature of Faith) Spawns Incomplete Christians
Similarly, many people today are into the external trappings of Christianity but they are not necessarily true followers of Christ. This is much more widespread than one might think. This incomplete ‘Christianity’ (a caricature of faith), which inevitably spawns ‘incomplete Christians’, has become the prevailing folk-religion in some parts of the world. It is respectable. It is acceptable. It provides social connections. I am not merely referring to the sacerdotalists who like to swan about in churches in frocks with bells and smells. I am speaking here about many who would call themselves “evangelicals” or “fundamentalists”. Many of them unthinkingly support their country’s corrupt government and the wars that they may wage. They regard those who do not do as they do as “liberals” and “traitors”. They shed a tear at the sound of the national anthem (as if it was a Christian hymn). They deeply despise and sneer at all Muslim, Hindu and other world religionists. They see themselves as very spiritual — especially on a Sunday. If they can get to be an elder or deacon then they’ve clinched the deal with heaven (and their wives are so proud of them). They think that because they cut their hair like the military (unlike “all those pansies in the world out there”) and wear a dark suit and tie to church, because they are liked by the pastor, because they dutifully listen to the sermon, because they do a “quiet-time” each day and because they signed an anti-abortion petition that they’ll have top seat at the top table in the kingdom.
What is a ‘Complete Christian’?
Thinking along those lines is not ‘complete Christianity’ but it is a popular folk-religion that is a caricature of it, manned by ‘incomplete Christians’. This is why it is so important to be a ‘complete Christian’. What do I mean by “complete Christian”? The ‘complete Christian’ is one who has not merely “accepted Jesus” (as that awful weak saying goes), but is willing to lay down his or her life for Him. The ‘complete Christian’ is one who has denied himself, taken up his cross and followed Him. The ‘complete Christian’ is one who knows that he or she was dead before a life in Christ and who acknowledges that God alone has saved him or her without any so-called freewill intervention. The ‘complete Christian’ does not follow convention for convention’s sake but blazes a necessary trail for Christ, no matter how foolish that may seem. The ‘complete Christian’ does not care if she lives or dies so long as she is “in-lawed” to Christ. The ‘complete Christian’ constantly and consciously grows day by day in grace and knowledge of the truth. The ‘complete Christian’ does not get sucked into trendy bandwagons in the church scene but remains aloof from them, desiring only to be part of the body of Christ. The ‘complete Christian’ is discerning, perceptive, insightful, prudent, and reliant only on the Spirit and those obviously empowered by the Spirit for direction and action. The ‘complete Christian’, although being complete in Christ spiritually, is not afraid to associate with unbelievers in his or her daily activities but regards such interaction as beneficial for evangelism. The ‘complete Christian’ is not a people-pleaser but only desires to be acceptable to God, even if that makes him or her unpopular or even despised by other people — even other professing “Christian” people. The ‘complete Christian’ is not dependent on other people or on groups for self-validation or security as he or she is beholden to nothing but his or her Divine Protector, Preserver and Keeper. The ‘complete Christian’ never seeks popularity but expects to be disliked and rejected by the mob which is in thrall to group-think and fashionable trends. The ‘complete Christian’ is complete because he or she needs no stage props or artificial buttresses in the theatre of life, knowing that it is only without Christ that one can do nothing.
‘Incomplete Christians’, on the other hand, adhere to a manmade, rulebound existence which is pharisaically inhibitive, artistically crushing, emotionally repressive, and designed only to prop up their personal bigotry and hedge themselves about with an impregnable wall of prejudices. Their religion is superstition, their ideology is self-protection and they wear it all with an exceedingly fulsome smile. If any true saint (i.e. a crushed but hopeful creature hanging for dear life onto the coat-tails of Christ) comes into contact with the adherents of this folk-religion, they will be badly mauled. And I mean badly. For this folk-religion despises true believers as much as it hates Muslims, Hindus and other world religionists, or even more. This folk-religion is surely part of the great apostasy.
How do we know that we are following a folk-religion rather than Christ? We know that we’re following a folk religion rather than Christ,
a) When we ignore what kind of spirit we are of and become obsessed with our religion and its artefacts
Some people’s professed Christianity is so tenuous that they have to fill their lives to the brim with outward symbols of their religion. Everything has to have a “Christian” twist in an almost obsessive manner. Their dog will wear a cross on its collar. Their gerbil will be named after an apostle. Their lapel will have a fish badge. Their car will have an “I ❤ Jesus” sticker on the front windscreen and another one on the back bumper saying “Don’t drive too close cos I’m going to be raptured” . They’ll only buy their Jacuzzi from a Christian company which claims that all their products have been blessed. They will only ever listen to specifically so-called “Christian” music (and vigorously condemn others for not doing the same). That music will play in the background all the time, like a new age drone, “to frighten the demons away from the house and car” (which is silly superstition!). Their kids will only be allowed to install violent computer games if they have a Christian theme (e.g. The Left Behind series]. They have a row of books next to the Bible — it contains the “Left Behind” series and “The Purpose-Driven Church”. And on and on… Christian Products Everywhere, Incorporated.
My friends, we just don’t need all these fashionable quasi-Christian props. If we think we do, then we do not know what kind of spirit we are of.
Second, we know that we’re following a folk religion rather than Christ,
b) When we pursue our own personal agenda regardless of how much it puts us at odds with others and even at odds with the truth
One of the sure signs that we are into folk-religion rather than Christ is when our conscience has been so seared that we cannot see how “off the wall” we really are and how much of a crackpot we have become. It reminds me of a story my Dad told me once about his time in the army. The sergeant-major would shout at him sarcastically: “How come you’re the only one in step and everyone else is out of step?” Well, that’s how folk-religionists think. They comfort themselves with their obscurantist beliefs and exclusivist lifestyles. Everyone is out of step except them! They do not mind how unpleasant or stupid they appear to the world or to genuine Christians who find them to be narrow and bizarre. For they have it on Christ’s own word that His disciples will be hated by the world. They do not stop to think, “Hmm, am I being hated for being a follower of Christ or for my daft obscurantist folk-religionism?” The very fact that people don’t like them is enough to convince them that they are on the right track! They simply do not care if their lifestyle and beliefs are completely out of sync with the historic truths of the Christian faith. They are unconcerned by the fact that their folk-religion obscurantism has led them into a trench from which they hurl out the occasional grenade at the hostile world around them. Like the Islamists, they see themselves as being under fire from outright liberals and infidels. So they must be going down the right road. So they imagine.
So… what kind of spirit are we of? Do we know? It is most important to discover the answer. At that stage of their discipleship, James and John did not know what kind of spirit they were of. The Lord Jesus scolded them for it. I think that He could scold many of us today too. It is so vital for us to know the spirit of the New Covenant, the spirit of the Gospel, the spirit of the true follower in the footsteps of Christ.
Our real crusade lies not in the destruction of created beings who may be at enmity with us — especially when that crusade is a cloak for an agenda of avarice and powermongering. The touchstone of our crusade appears in the response of the Lord Jesus Christ to James and John: “The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them”. Our response to that statement will determine whether we want to be civilised, fruitful, spiritual sowers of salvation or barbaric, carnal, destitute distributors of faithless destruction.
The choice is ours…
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© Copyright, Alan Morrison, 2023
[The copyright on my works is merely to protect them from any wanton plagiarism which could result in undesirable changes (as has actually happened!). Readers are free to reproduce my work, so long as it is in the same format and with the exact same content and its origin is acknowledged]
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