We are to defend the weak and helpless and threatened. If we do not defend these people we will be held accountable before God for our protection of the evil person. Our culture is backward in this now. As a culture we protect the evil person over the well being of the victims, it is absolutely ludicrous.
This thinking reminds me of the story of the two psychiatrists walking down the road and encountering a broken and bleeding man lying in a ditch. The two psychiatrists look upon the man with horror and proclaim to one another....this is just terrible.....than man who did this needs our help.
This thinking is wicked and selfish, perhaps we don't want to punish the wicked because we may do evil some day and we don't want to be punished......just thinking.
Killing is not always murder, sometimes it is justice and other times it is self defense.
When God said "thou shalt not kill, He was referring to innocent human life, as in the case of abortion or innocent people who have not been accused of crimes. However in the case of the guilty, we are to defer to state authorities in this matter according to Romans 13:1-5. There were many examples in Scripture pertaining to the Mosaic Law demanding killing for crimes. Christ did not change this when He came, Romans demonstrates this.
Our attitude about killing murderers is adhered to a lesser degree in the more subtle sins among believers. We tend to protect and defend the believer’s right to their sin by minimizing its offense against a holy God.
We operate the way of the psychiatrists when we chastise a believer who is chastising another believer. It is not the sinful person who is rebuked, but the righteous for rebuking the one who commits sin.
1 Timothy 5:20 “Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest may fear."
Titus 1:13 "This testimony is true. There fore rebuke them SHARPLY, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth."
Rebuke and correction is not just for the individual, but also for others to see the impact of evil and it's seriousness in the heart of a person.
We are told we should not tell someone they are wrong, while we are being told we are wrong for telling someone they are wrong. Does anyone notice the hypocrisy here?
I am reminded of the scripture that says of the last days....men will think in reverse and oppressive terms. The men of today exchange the truth of God for the lie and because they have no compassion for the victim or the righteous, they ultimately persecute them by defending the perpetrators of evil.
Isaiah 5:20 "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"
I have to wonder if people of these last days identify with the evil doer to such a degree that even though they would not do the crime themselves, they know they are guilty in their own hearts and do not want to be judged for their own wickedness, so they protect and defend the evil doer.
How many of you dear believers have experience the harshness of those who do not like your stand for God's righteousness? My guess is that some of you who stand boldly for the principles of Christ....encounter and endure this regularly.
Thankfully God said "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved." Matthew 10:22 We will endure to the end, God said in Ephesians 1:13-14 “"In Him you also [trusted], after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."
We will endure, it was God's promise to us, and those who mistreat us because of our stand for Christ will be dealt with by God, we can trust Him to take care of that too.
Our mandate from the Lord is to keep speaking truth in the love of Christ, resolving to do what is best for them, no matter their reaction to us. That is the love of Christ, that we love God first and our neighbor second. The two greatest commandments, and that we love them God's way, not man's way. When we trust the Holy Spirit to do this in us, then we do not have to worry that it will be done right.
Our job is to fill our hearts and minds with the Word, and when it is needed, the Holy Spirit will bring it forth, His timing, His Way.
Luke 12:11 “And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:"
God really can do it and better than we think we can. Trust Him, for each moment, each day and praise Him for all that you will see. Often, what He does will look very different than what we would have thought.
