Faith First Media

Conquering Evil by Doing Good

by Matthew Elton

copyright 2009 Matthew Elton

Unless otherwise stated, scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

I wrote this article in response to the claim made by an anonymous individual that Christians should "take justice into their own hands" by leading a "vigilante-style armed revolution" against abortionists.  Such a claim is, obviously, extremely unchristian, even satanic.

Instead of following the world's twisted concept of "justice" (which is really just revenge in disguise) we should offer help to those who sin by following Christ's model of forgiveness and instruction in righteousness, trusting that God will, in the end, establish perfect justice upon the Earth at the Final Judgement when he judges with far greater justice than any man could achieve.

"If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses ever fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

--Jesus, in Matthew 18:15-17, NASB

Our goal should not be to punish those who sin, but to help them understand why their sin is wrong, with a motive of compassion, so they can make the choice to seek forgiveness and repent. Whether or not a murderer "serves their time" in jail is irrelevant. What matters is that they realize that they have sinned not only against man but against God, and that they seek forgiveness and repent of their sins in their heart and actions.

The worst thing we can do as Christians is seek revenge. Did Jesus ever go "vigilante style" when confronting sinners? No! Instead of punishing those who sinned, he ate with the sinners, he healed them, died for them, showed them compassion, and instructed them in righteousness. By doing so, he won them over like no punishment (judicial or vigilante) ever could!

The idea that we should punish those who sin comes from the Law, which the Apostle Paul described as the law of sin and death (2 Corinthians 3:6-8). Jesus freed us from this law and instructed us to a higher calling of forgiveness.

"But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit."

--Romans 7:6

We should follow the example of the Amish man in the newspaper a few years ago, whose son was killed by a gunman. The Amish man did not make any attempt to defend his son through violence. When the gunman later took his own life, an entire Amish congregation attended the gunman’s funeral and visited the gunman’s family in order to comfort them. The Amish forgave the gunman for the murder he committed and told the gunman’s family that they were sorry for the gunman’s family’s loss. I guarantee that such love and compassion is far more powerful in changing even the most vile of hearts than any judicial punishment could ever be!

“You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

--Jesus, in Matthew 5:38-48

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

“I will take revenge;

I will pay them back,”

says the LORD.

--Romans 12:17-19

Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.

--2 Corinthians 13:11

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

--Hebrews 12:14

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

--James 3:17-18

Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.

--1 Peter 3:10-15

God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross, so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.

--1 Peter 2:21-24

"Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good."

--Romans 12:21

Sadly, the modern church seems to have forgotten these teachings, yet the early church took Christ's commands concerning forgiveness and nonviolence very seriously!

"For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity... But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wondeful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all thing with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all others; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at some time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned. They are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are spoken evil of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honor; they do good, yet are punished as evildoers. When punished, they rejoice as if quicked into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks, yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred."

--Mathetes, c. 130, Letter to Diognetus, 5:1-7

"For it is not in war, but in peace, that we are trained. War needs great preparation, and luxury craves profusion; but peace and love, simple and quiet sisters, require no arms nor excessive preparation."

--Clement of Alexandria, c. 195, The Instructor, book 1, chapter 12

"Shall it be held lawful to make an occupation of the sword, when the Lord proclaims that he who uses the sword shall perish by the sword? And shall the son of peace take part in battle when it does not become him even to sue at law? And shall he apply the chain, and the prison, and the torture, and the punishment, who is not the avenger even of his own wrongs? Shall he, forsooth, either keep watch-service for others more than for Christ, or shall he do it on the Lord’s day, when he does not even do it for Christ himself? And shall he keep guard before the temples which he has renounced? And shall he take a meal where the Apostle has forbidden him? And shall he diligently protect by night those whom in the daytime he has put to flight by his exocrcisms, leaning and resting on the spear the while with which Christ’s side was pierced? Shall he carry a flag, too, hostile to Christ?... Then how many other offenses there are involved in the performances of camp offices, which we must hold to involve a transgression of God’s law, you may see by a slight survey. The very carrying of the name over from the camp of light to the camp of darkness is a violation of it. Of course, if faith comes later, and finds any preoccupied with military service, their case is different, as in the instance of those whom John used to recieve for baptism, and of those most faihful centurions, I mean the centurian whom Christ approves, and the centurion whom Peter instructs; yet, at the same time, when a man has become a believer, and faith has been sealed, there must be either an immediate abandonment of it [military service], which has been the course with many; or all sorts of quabbling will have to be resorted to in order to avoid offending God, and that is not allowed even outside of military service; or, last of all, for God the fate must be endured which a citizen-faith has been no less ready to accept."

--Tertullian, c. 211

"A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath. If he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected for baptism. A military commander or civic magistrate who wears the purple must resign or be rejected. If an applicant or a believer seeks to become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has despised God."

--Hippolytus, c. 215, The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome, 16:17-19

"And to those enemies of the faith who require us to bear arms for the commonwealth, and to slay men, we can reply, “Do not those who are priests at certain shrines, and those who attend on certain gods, as you account [call] them, keep their hands free from blood, that they may with hands unstained and free from human blood offer the appointed sacrifices to your gods; and even when war is upon you, you never enlist the priests in the army. If that, then, is a laudable custom, how much moreso, that while others are engaged in battle, these too should engage as the priests and ministers of God, keeping their hands pure, and wrestling in prayers to God on behalf of those who are fighting in a righteous cause, and for the king who reigns righteously, that whatever is opposed to those who act righteously may be destroyed!” And as we by our prayers vanguish all demons who stir up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and disturb the peace, we in this way are much more helpful to the kings than those who go into the field to fight for them. And we do take our part in public affairs, when alongwith righteous prayers we join self-denying excercises and meditations, which teach us to despise pleasures, and not be led away with them. And none fight better for the king than we do. We do not indeed fight under him, although he may require it; but we fight on his behalf, forming a special army - an army of piety - by offering our prayers to God."

--Origen, c. 248, Origen Against Celsus, book 8, chapter 73

"For since we, a numerous band of men as we are, have learned from His teaching and His laws that evil ought not to be requited with evil, that it is better to suffer wrong than to inflict it, that we should rather shed our own blood than stain our hands and our conscience with that of another, an ungrateful world is now for a long period enjoying a benefit from Christ, inasmuch as by his means the rage of savage ferocity has been softened, and has begun to withhold hostile hands from the blood of a fellow-creature. But if all without exception, who feel that they are men not in form of body but in power of reason, would lend an ear for a little [while] to his salutory and peaceful rules, and would not, in the pride and arrogance of enlightenment, trust to their own senses rather than to his admonitions, the whole world, having turned the use of steel [for swords] into more peaceful occupations, would now be living in the most placid tranquility, and would unite in blessed harmony, maintaining inviolate the sanctity of treaties."

--Anobius, c. 305, The Seven Books of Arnobius Against the Heathen, book 1, chapter 6

“You just need to look at what the gospel asks, and what war does. The gospel asks that we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the homeless, visit the prisoner, and perform works of mercy. War does all the opposite. It makes my neighbor hungry, thirsty, homeless, a prisoner, and sick. The gospel asks that we take up our cross. War asks that we lay the cross of suffering on others.”

--Dorothy Day, 1896-1980