So I have always wondered if it were ok to sin (lie, steal, cheat) if it were for a good reason. Or I at least I had always believed it justified in my mind.
However, I feel that this verse contradicts and negates that idea/sentiment.
1 Peter 3:17
For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.
When we recognize that we do not have rights as individuals but are slaves (servants) to God's will, we will not fear what man can do to us but rejoice that our LORD reigns!
Now Acts 12 illustrates how the LORD did not want something to happen; Peter to be excuted and He thwarted those plans by divine intervention. However, look at verse 2 it also states that James the brother of John was put to death. The LORD willed that James die and Peter live. Even look at John 21:20-23; Jesus states what is important; get over what happens in this world to others, serve me! If I want certain people to die and others to live, "what is that to you". Preach Christ Crucified. Let the Sovereign Lord worry about the rest!
Now listening to the LORD's will and word is crucial. For instance, many people hid the jews and other individuals from the Nazi's and technically they were disobeying God's command in Romans 13 of "subjection to the governing authority". However, I do believe that is was the LORD's will that some were saved and some were not, similiar to Acts 12.
4 comments:
God judges your heart and your reasons for your actions. I think if you hid jews and lied about it, then you are doing the right thing. I think that God will credit it as righteousness.
what do you mean by the word's "LORD'S will" when you say "However, I do believe that is was the LORD's will that some were saved and some were not, similiar to Acts 12."
I think God will credit certain actions to you as righteousness if he put it on your heart to act.
For instance, think about individuals specifically in the old testament such as Jehu, even Moses and Joshua. They were commanded and instructed to kill certain people. Or even the Judges were instructed by God to save the people from injustices and evil nations ruling over them.
They were instructed, encouraged, guided by the Lord to act in a sinful fasion or way (I want better wording for this but I cannot think of it right now). That´s why I say its about God´s will. For instance, in the garden Peter was scolded for attacking a soldier with his sword, however he commanded many times for people to attack and even kill wrongdoers or others that were not chosen. It´s about God´s timing and obeying what he wants in the moment. And I would think the great commission is the newest covenant He made with us (his people).
Just thoughts really. Trying to understand how we act. If we as Christian are to be remembered and glorify God through our actions what would those be.
i think with a number of those old testament examples you can make the argument that those people were convicted to do something to resist or oppose an unjust ruler, and while i certainly have reservations about the whole idea of, say, assassination as sanctioned by God (like with ehud the lefty, in judges), i do think that the general theme with those sorts of actions is that they were actions of resistance against oppression.
and that is certainly a running theme throughout jewish history, too--a people who have experienced all manner of subjugation and attack, whose history is shaped by their scattering and struggle to stay faithful. and sometimes that faithfulness, that persistent pursuit of discerning God's will, led to violence, or deception, or any number of things that are unsettling to my own sensibilities, things that are in contradiction to the way i was raised as a christian.
i think what we can look at from those examples is how sometimes, in the face of terrible things, people have had to make awful choices about what to do, and that even if those choices may have been sinful, or wrong, in a generalized sense, they may have been the best (or only) choices in those circumstances.
i'm not saying that it's okay to do anything, like lie or kill or steal. i guess i'm thinking of someone like dietrich bonhoeffer, who agonized over how to follow jesus in the middle of hitler's rise to power. he said something in his book (i think it was in "ethics") along the lines of how he could only justify his decision to try and have hitler assassinated to himself and to others, out of necessity and conscience, but before God he could only ask for grace.
i think when it comes to discerning the will of God, we should never ignore our conscience, for sure, but we should also always think very carefully about the consequences of how we act. and we should definitely, i think, lean heavily to the side of being merciful or gracious.
Solid reference of Dietrich.. I've been listening to an audio recording of "Cost of Discipleship" lately. I had read that quote by Him as well and thought it interesting in how he considered the consequences of such an action-one that I would easily have celebrated had he achieved that objective.
How strange is it to think the Lord sanctioned and blessed many opprestions? Especially of the Israelites as punishment for certain generations and sins. Such as wondering in the wilderness and captivity in Eqypt. I cannot begin to state that's what the Lord was doing through the Nazi's, but what is our role in resisting oppression. Armed resistence? Peaceful resistance? Prayer and fasting?
I like the leaning heavily on mercy and grace. I need more work on that for sure.. haha.. and not just in legislation that gets passed that I despise but in surrending my will, desires, and way, in order that I might be a servant to all.
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