Essential Baptist Principles_™
As taught in the Holy Scriptures
March  1  2013

Selected Comments

The Taking of life

 “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” Genesis 9:6

 Unlawful killing began when Cain, the first born of Adam and Eve, slew his brother Abel, because of his anger with God, who accepted Abel’s sacrifice but not his. The evil act was the action of Cain alone and the availability or type of weapon he used did not share any of the blame for his evil action. This same principle holds true today. With shocking disregard for life and with senseless killings becoming more common place, we must not be fooled into believing that the weapon is evil and should be banned. Liberal politicians use these events to trigger emotional support for disarming law abiding citizens. Their tears however are feigned when at the same time they support killing millions of unborn children. They do not address the real problem of evil but rather politicize tragedies to restrict freedoms of the law abiding citizen.

 The sword was literally used in Old Testament times to defend as well as conquer nations. Many times God’s chosen people were directed by God to slay their enemies. We must keep in mind that these commands were given to National Israel and do not apply to us now in a literal sense. But they do reveal the Godly principle of the defense of one’s self and nation. Some say that if God commanded his people to slay others, he would have been an unjust God. To believe that is to reject God’s word.

 In the New Testament those with the Lord carried Swords as revealed in Luke 22:49 “When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?” They were ready to defend the Lord with weapons and Peter even cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. The Lord’s response to Peter was to put up his sword indicating to me that it was okay to carry the sword but it was not needed then. In the book of Matthew the Lord said: “Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again they sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:52) This teaches me that taking the sword for frivolous reasons is unwise but taking the sword for legitimate reasons such as self preservation, defending ourselves, our family and our nation is okay.

 We have a God given right to possess and carry the appropriate weapon to protect ourselves and our family from the evil acts of men. Our forefathers knew that and put it in our constitution for the purpose of defending ourselves against evil and tyranny not just to go hunting. “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

 Elder Claude McKee

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