The cause of war

[phillip]

The cause of all war according to God's Word is found in James 4:1-2 which says, "From whence come wars and fightings among you?  come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust and have not:  ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain:  ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not." 

The desire to have something which someone else has whether it be sex, money, pride, etc., is lust.  The Nazis, the Fascists, the Communists, and the Islamic fanatics all desire to control the world!  They are devoid of the divine holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Vietnam, Iraq, Iraq-Iran, Korea, World War I, or World War Ii all involved lust for the forbidden.  Adam and Eve desired the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Satan desired to be as God and above God, and we lust after money, sex, drugs, or any number of ungodly desires.  Yet Jesus Christ came to die for our lusts and sins!  He rose that we might be justified before God, found in His holiness and not our own!

[phillip]

With the rise of international terrorism and local terrorism, only the peace of God through Jesus Christ will solve the problem of hatred and sin in our own lives.  I am far from perfect, but I have learned something about forgiveness.  When Jesus commanded Peter to forgive his enemies seventy times seven, He was giving us the answer to one of the problems in society which is an unforgiving spirit.

Galatians 6:1 says, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."  When we seek to restore a brother who has been overtaken by a spiritual problem, we should restore that person in a spirit of meekness.  If we do not, we may fall into sin ourselves!

 

[Soldier4Christ]

Hi phillip,

While I do not disagree with your overall of your post I must disagree with your assessment of the verses in James.

Note that James is talking to the Jewish Christians and he states that these wars are "among you". He is not speaking of wars between them and other nations. When using scripture to substantiate teachings of the Bible we must insure that we use them accurately. This can be difficult at times but if we look at the overall context of the verses and who is being spoken to we can get to the root of the situation. We see a little later that He is speaking of the "lusts that war in your members". This is speaking of the members of the body of Christ that are lusting to have what others have, as in positional authority. Many attempt to use these verses to say that we as Christians should not be involved in any wars whatsoever. This is not what is being told to us here for it has nothing to do with warring with those that are from without the body.

In your second post you speak of the verses in regards to Jesus instructing Peter. Here you mention enemies. In the actual verses Jesus does not call them enemies he is referring to those who are brothers not of enemies:

Mat 18:21  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Mat 18:22  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Yes, we are most assuredly to love our enemies ( Mat 5:44, Luk 6:27, 35 ) yet again the verses that you reference do not have anything to do with our enemies but rather our brothers in Christ.

[phillip]

Pastor Roger:

While Christians may not agree on every jot and tittle, they can still love you other in the Lord!  Praise the Lord for His love and our love for each other!