We know that the symbolic Sword at the gate of Eden is the same symbol as the Sword of the Spirit that is sharper than any sword, the same symbol that comes out of the mouth of Christ in Revelation. It is the Word of God, divine revelation, the standard by which all things in Heaven and Earth are judged.
The Bible is the written record of that Word. It is not the Word itself — which is Jesus — but the sanctioned record that introduces us to God’s revelation for humanity. It came to us clothed in a particular history and culture. God portrays Himself consistently in terms of that culture. His only Son sought to restore that culture in His teaching. Not the mere trappings, but He spoke of the underlying structure of human knowing (epistemology) and the flavor of life in obedience to what God demands of humans.
His Apostles took that teaching and carried it into a Gentile world that knew little or nothing about this underlying structure. The First Century churches in Gentile lands was taught to embrace that structure of life, regardless how foreign it might have seemed to them. The task would have been impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of the Elect. He kept confirming the necessity of making the changes demanded in the teachings of Christ and His followers.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, we an debate the particulars in context, but we cannot change the fundamental nature of that teaching. The task is not intellectual; it cannot be reduced to something that the flesh can usurp for its own desires. It requires the awakening of the Holy Spirit in your spirit, so that He can speak through your heart of faith, and His power trumps all human reason. In other words, faith is most unreasonable in its demands.
The result must be fundamentally consistent with the historical teaching of the first century Christians. God consistently portrayed Himself as a Hebrew feudal Lord ruling a tribal community by faith. Any other structure does not meet His definition of “church”. He has always worked through His Two Witnesses — ritual shepherds and ruling shepherds, priests and kings, pastors and elders. Only in the Person of the Lord Himself are those two roles joined.
What that looks like will vary with the context of each community of faith. Jesus spoke about the necessity of having goats among His sheep. Sheep are distracted by their commitments and purpose, so a shepherd would add a few goats to his flock. Goats were less distracted, watching for threats and reacting by fighting or fleeing, and the sheep would follow their lead. But in the end, the goats are not really the Lord’s Elect. Every faith community will have a number of believers who are not Elect. They will learn the covenant as law and try to keep it. They will tend to see and react to threats in ways for which the Elect are inhibited.
Thus, the question is not what the community as a whole should do about external threats, but that any real faith community will always include defenders who do things that make the rest uncomfortable. Still, those things must be done; it’s how the Lord takes care of His flock. He mixes in people without a fully eternal frame of reference, people who see no problem with taking certain actions in a hostile environment.
This is why we talk about walking by your own convictions. A true elder or pastor shepherding the flock is not going to set restrictions against God’s appointed goats. Instead, he depends on them, even without a specific certainty who they are. God is the one who separates them on the Last Day. Until then, we trust in the Holy Spirit to handle the complexities.
An increasing number of western countries are making it illegal to quote Scripture that condemns public immorality. Already, people who profess the gospel message are in jail for that, or suffering other legal troubles. Every so often, yet another western county joins this madness. The Canadian government is working on such a law right now. Leftist governments are notorious for this.
However, this is neither left nor right. Here in the US, we’ve seen attempts from both sides. From the right, it’s already very dangerous to teach a biblical message that denies the importance of the modern State of Israel. It’s dangerous to quote the Scripture regarding the Synagogue of Satan. Politicians on the right are trying to make it illegal.
By no means should we pretend we can change such government policies. However, there are multiple ways of denouncing sin, and some of them require methods we aren’t all comfortable engaging. We’ve said clearly before: Scripture sees no problem with assassins, per se. Who can forget how Ehud was portrayed as a hero of faith? We don’t live under the Roman Empire of Paul’s day. Some governments are protected by God for certain times and places, and others are not.
Follow your own convictions.
