Vengeance is Mine
|
19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. —Romans 12 |
I have made the case that Christians should forgive at least some of the crimes against themselves; however, calling for the government to forgive everything is problematic. I have given some suggestions on how to optimize mercy when it comes to crimes against others.
But what about crimes that have no earthly victim; i.e. personal vices? What about sins against God? Should the government do something about idol worshippers, mediums, witches, New Age bookstores, psychic hotlines, astrology columnists, homosexuals, Sabbath breakers, etc.?
|
1. Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. —Matthew 7 1. Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same {yourself,} that you will escape the judgment of God? —Romans 2 [New American Standard 1995] |
Clearly, God can defend himself, and the quote above reminds us of this. That said, in the Holy Land, human agencies were tasked to enforce laws against such sins. This was the Holy Land, a land set aside to show the world the benefits of proper worship and justice. To make this demonstration apparent the earthly price of disobedience was magnified as were the earthly benefits of obedience. Contrast was further enhanced by leaving the surrounding nations free to worship idols and such.
Christians are called to be a holy people, to be a light to the heathen. As such Christians are supposed to obey the Law voluntarily, from the heart, even while being surrounded by sinners. This is a difficult task. It is very tempting to wield the sword when the surrounding heathen are having fun doing naughty things. This impulse has resulted in witch burnings, forcible baptisms, and violent crusades.
Jesus called for his followers to forgive sins against God as well as sins against themselves.
|
1. And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 3. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6. And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. 8. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. —Luke 16 |
In a previously cited parable, a steward is held accountable for his debts to his master because the steward held his own debtors accountable. In this parable a steward is forgiven his debts because he cooked the books to reduce the debts owed by others to his master. This is quite a tale! The master forgives despite the fact that he is doubly cheated!
With this dramatic parable I think it is safe to say that Christians have no mandate to use force to prevent others from sinning. This is a major difference between the Old and New Covenants. This deprecation of earthly enforcement should apply doubly for those vices which were legal even under the Old Covenant administration.
As examples of the new arrangement, Jesus did quite a bit of forgiving during his ministry, which I will leave you to look up without listing. Instead, I will leave you with one of the more famous passages on the subject:
|
3. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4. They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6. This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 7. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11. She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. —John 8 |
Copyright© 2006, Carl S. Milsted, Jr. All rights reserved.
Quotations from the NET Bible®, copyright© 1996-2006 Biblical Studies Press L.L.C. All rights reserved. Used by permission from http://bible.org. (The NET Bible is available in its entirety as a free download or online use at http://netbible.org)
