NON-RESISTANCE WAS CLEARLY TAUGHT IN A CONTEXT THAT INVOLVED THE EXERCISE OF FORCE

NON-RESISTANCE WAS CLEARLY TAUGHT BY CHRIST IN A CONTEXT THAT INVOLVED THE EXERCISE OF FORCE

John 18:28-40

1. The Government of Israel has finally achieved its purpose to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ.. Since the right to impose the death penalty is held by the Roman government the Jewish authorities led Christ to the Roman hall of judgment (John 18:28, 35). So the outcome is now in the hands of the Roman government as represented by Pilate (Rom. 19:10).

2. In response to the claim of authority of the part of Jewish authorities and the Roman government, the Lord Jesus uttered a statement that ought forever to settle the matter for Christians with respect to war. (John 18:36).

"Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence".

3. Consider what Christ said. He first declared that His kingdom is not of this present order of things. The order and arrangement and operation of His kingdom is totally to be differentiated from the order and arrangement and operation of the kingdoms of this world.

As a last resort, the nations of this world are compelled to use force as a means of maintaining and promoting their interests. The last argument of sinful men is physical force. No matter how wise and reasonable other approaches to the solution of problems may be, since Adam was driven out of the garden of Eden, force has been the final method for the solution of problems of the world..

If the Kingdom of Christ was essentially like that of the kingdoms of this world then the servants of Christ subject to His orders and determined to protect their sovereign from harm from others, would employ physical force. They would fight.

This can mean only one thing, namely, that they would employ the methods used by the kingdoms of this world. They would employ physical force. Physical force is the final argument with sinful men. They understand physical force. This does not mean that the use of physical force is the final solution to the problem. It only means that for the moment it appears to be the final solution.

If the history of nations teaches anything, it teaches that wars beget wars. War only lays the foundation for the next war. This stretches out into an endless series of wars. Men convinced against their will are of the same opinion still, and in the vanquished will just await the opportunity to retaliate in kind at some point in the future. No wonder the scriptures clearly enunciate the fact that there will be wars to the end.

3. In the third place Christ made it clear that as of now His kingdom was not from this order and arrangement. Its principles of operation, its patterns of conduct, its method of promotion is not measured over the arrangement of this world. If a man accounts himself to belong to the kingdom of Christ, then he must of necessity follow the sovereign of His kingdom and as servants subject himself to the principles of this kingdom.

No Christian can entirely exclude himself from war as it is carried on today. But there is one thing he can do. He can separate himself from the personal taking of life, and at the same time serve his own government.