Speaking of God, guns, and biblical manhood, as expected we got a lot of response emails from that recent episode on guns, and many of them from Christians in the military or law enforcement. Stephanie wrote in to ask this, "Pastor John, my husband is a police officer and we both want to know what is the best advice for a Christian police officer in regards to violent or lethal action towards perpetrators of the law that the police department itself would see as justified?" And then we received a number of questions specifically about the killing of someone who is a non-Christian.

Joe in Okinawa, Japan is one such listener. He writes in and says this, "I'm a fighter pilot in the US Air Force, and the point you mentioned in episode 306 about possibly sending someone to hell by killing them sometimes weighs on me and other Christian servicemen I know. For a Christian, how is defending your nation by killing and war different than defending your family by killing?

Would you ever advocate Christians not serve in the military due to God commanding Christians not to repay evil for evil?" And related to this, Tyler Drummond in Pennsylvania asks, "In episode 306 you said that you would rather be killed than to kill another because for you it would mean instant joy and for him it would mean instant hell.

How can capital punishment then be justified because killing a non-believer assures that they will not come to Christ?" So there's a mix of related follow-up questions here for you, Pastor John. It seems to me, Tony, that there are two crucial queries here as to what I said about guns and my not having one.

One is whether there is a sufficient warrant for not killing him, and the other is whether the New Testament command not to return evil for evil is a sufficient warrant for a Christian not to be a soldier or a policeman. And it seems to me as I've thought about those two queries, we should probably split them up because they're both pretty heavy and complicated.

So let me tackle the first one and maybe we'll give a second podcast to the second one. So the first question is the possibility of sending someone to hell if you take his life. When I said that I would rather be killed than kill, and then I mentioned that my assailant may not be ready to face eternity, and I am, I didn't mean that was my primary reason for not killing him.

I would say the same thing, I think, if I knew that my assailant was heaven-bound as a Christian, that I would prefer to be killed than to kill. And the key here is how Jesus argues for not returning good, for returning good for evil. His main argument is not that our adversary will benefit from our behavior.

He may or he may not. Jesus doesn't make that the issue. The main way Jesus argues is that when we sacrifice ourselves and our goods for others, we show the value of God himself as our reward. And this would be true whether our enemy is a believer or an unbeliever.

So Luke 635, "Love your enemies and your reward will be great. You will be the sons of the Most High." There's the motive. Or Matthew 546, "If you love those who love you, what reward do you have?" Or Matthew 511, "Blessed are you when you're persecuted on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven." So the reason we sacrifice our lives for our enemies, not only in the hope of saving them—oh yes, we do. We pray for those who persecute us. But to show the world where our treasure is, where our reward is.

So I didn't mean to argue that I would rather be killed than to kill, because it's always wrong to take the life of a person who may go to hell. I didn't mean to do that. If I gave that impression, I gave a misimpression. In fact, I think the Bible is pretty clear that there are situations in which taking the life of another person without even knowing his spiritual state is right.

One of those situations is in military defense against aggression and police defense of citizens against criminals, and another is capital punishment. God has ordained that the state share in God's divine rights, for example, to take the life of murderers. Romans 13, 2, "There is no authority except from God.

Those who exist have been instituted by God. The ruler is God's servant for good. He does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God." So the sword bearers, the billy club bearers, the gun bearers are servants of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

When the soldiers asked John the Baptist what they should do in response to his command to bear fruits worthy of repentance, he did not say, "Stop being a soldier, for goodness sakes, who carries a sword and goes to war." He didn't say that. He said in Luke 3, 14, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation.

Be content with your wages." In other words, you've got a sword in your hand. Beware. Don't use it that way. It has a limited place. You are a servant of God to work His wrath on the wrongdoer. You are not to abuse your authority and your power in order to aggrandize yourself.

So yes to policemen and yes to soldiers. And with regard to capital punishment, nothing in the New Testament that I can see overturns the principle of Genesis 9, 6, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed." Why? "For God made man in His own image." In other words, the dignity of man and the value of man created in the image of God is not what hinders capital punishment.

It's what requires it. So here's the summary of what I've just said. Christian enemy love that sacrifices itself and official state enemy punishment that protects citizens both declare truths about God. Christian self-sacrifice declares that our God is all satisfying. He's our treasure. He's our reward. He will fully satisfy us in the end.

He will settle all accounts in the age to come. And secondly, state punishment declares God is God of justice. He ordains that there is a limit to evil. Even in this world, He will not tolerate it to go beyond certain means, and He is a God of justice now and in the world to come.

Both of those are true, and Christians are involved in saying both with their lives in the ways that the New Testament prescribes. Thank you, Pastor John. And again, this episode is built on episode number 306, which is titled "God, Guns, and Biblical Manhood," episode number 306. Be sure to check out that episode.

But we still have not directly addressed the question in these questions, and I want to ask it next time, Pastor John. Is the New Testament commandment to not return evil for evil a sufficient warrant for Christians to not become soldiers or police officers? We'll tackle that tomorrow. Until then, I'm your host Tony Reinke.

Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John Podcast.