Christianity and Nonviolence

if you want to help this ministry subscribe to the channel thanks for watching God bless you Christianity and Nonviolence Can there be such a thing as just war from the Christian perspective? One of Anabaptism’s foundational documents seeks the answer. By Peter Riedemann FEBRUARY 8, 2023 People Are Grafted into Christ God draws near to the one whose heart is fearful, who is sorry for his sin, and who does not know where to turn in his distress. The world itself is too restricted for him, and he lifts up his heart to God alone.1 God will show himself to this person, provide comfort in his sorrow, and point to his Son, who says, “Come to me, all you who are heavily burdened, and I will give you renewed strength. Put on my yoke, for it is easy, and my burden is light” Matt 11:28–30. Such a call the Lord extends to us through his servants whom he has chosen from the world2 to be his witnesses. Those who hear his voice and come to him will never be rejected. We teach further that Christ came into the world to bring salvation to sinners. As it is written, “This is the Father’s will, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him shall not be lost but shall have everlasting life.” We teach also that a person may be planted and grafted into Christ through faith. This is how it takes place: as soon as a person hears the gospel of Christ and believes it from the heart, he receives the seal of the Holy Spirit. As Paul says, “After you believed, you were sealed with the Spirit of the promise. That is the Holy Spirit, the pledge of our inheritance, the promise that we who belong to God shall be redeemed, to the praise of his glory.”This spirit of Christ, promised and given to all believers, makes them free from the law or power of sin and grafts them into Christ. He makes them one with him in mind, in his very character and nature, so that they become one plant and organism with him.9 Christ is the root or stem; we are the branches. As he says, “I am the true vine, and you are the branches. Thus we are one substance and essence with him, truly one bread and body. He is the head, and we are all members, belonging one to another. Christ is the root and the vine, and we are grafted into him through faith. Just as the sap rises from the root and makes the branches fruitful, so the spirit of Christ rises from the root, Christ, into the branches and twigs to make them all fruitful. The twigs are of the same nature as the root and bear its kind of fruit. Christ shows this in a parable: “No one gathers figs from thistles or grapes from thorns. No good tree can yield bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bring forth good fruit, but each tree is known by its own fruit.” Christ is a good tree, a true vine; hence, only good can flourish and be fruitful in him. Thus each person becomes one with God and God one with that person, as the Father is one with his Son. Each person is gathered and brought into the church of Christ so that each may remain in God.… Warfare Christ, the prince of peace, has prepared a kingdom for himself, namely, the church, and has won this kingdom by shedding his own blood. Therefore, all worldly warfare in this kingdom has come to an end. This is what was promised through the prophets: “The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into grape knives, pruning hooks, and scythes. From that time on, the nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” Therefore, Christians should not take part in the war, nor should they use force for purposes of vengeance. Paul exhorts us not to avenge ourselves but to leave retribution to the Lord, who says, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay. Since vengeance now belongs to God and not to us, it ought to be left to him and not to be practiced by us. Since we are Christ’s disciples, our lives should be examples of his nature. Jesus could have repaid evil with evil, but he did not. He could, indeed, have protected himself against his enemies by striking down all who wanted to seize him with a single word. But he did not, nor would he permit others to do so. He said to Peter, “Put your sword in its place.”19 This shows how our king, with a powerful army, sets out against his enemies, defeats them, and exercises vengeance! He restores Malchus’ ear which had been struck off. Jesus also says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple, let him take up his cross and follow me.” Christians cannot take part in war or avenge themselves.… Whoever does so forsakes and denies Christ and is untrue to Christ’s nature. Christ wants us to act as he did. Therefore, he commands us in these words: if you like the video leave a comment like this way I can make more videos like this subscribe for more turn-on notification bell