Let’s Never Forget

Pairs of Terms – III There’s Only One You

Let’s Never Forget

If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

Tomorrow marks the eleventh anniversary of the heinous attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the thwarted fourth attack that ended up in a field in Pennsylvania. Let’s all stop to remind ourselves how fleeting our freedom is and how easily it is attacked by the destructive forces of Satan’s armies of evil.

Let’s all honor the memories of those killed on that horrible day by lifting up their families in prayer. Let us also pray that nothing like this is allowed to happen again.

Sometimes I hear people say that as Christians we should forgive and forget. We should not condemn these terrible, cowardly acts but should put them in the past and move on.

We need to differentiate between our positions as Christians and as citizens. As Christians, we are called upon to forgive sinners. But as citizens, we are called upon to be diligent in pursuing the welfare of our nation.

Yes, we should forgive any sinner who confesses and repents of his sins. No matter what those sins might be. However, even God doesn’t promise to forgive those who neither confess nor repent of their sins. See my post on 1 John 1:8 & 9 for more on this subject.

Since none of the perpetrators behind this atrocity have been even the least bit repentant, I see nothing in God’s word that says we should forgive them. The same goes with this army major at Fort Hood who massacred all those people. These jihadists claim to be acting in behalf of the god Mohammed told them to worship, and they see no reason to repent. As long as that’s true, I see no reason to forgive.

Even if we do presume a Christian obligation to forgive, that obligation would be from individual Christians to individual sinners. As a nation—and as citizens thereof—we have no such obligation. In fact, we have an obligation to hold suicide bombers who survive their missions, saboteurs, mass murderers and other who commit atrocities against our nation accountable for their actions.

We also have an obligation to try to protect our nation and its citizens from future attacks by such people. If we have to use mild forms of torture such as waterboarding in order to gain the intelligence needed for that protection, I think we have both the right and the duty to do so.

What do you think about our rights and responsibilities with regard to defending our nation? Let us know.

Have a New Testament passage or concept you’d like to see discussed here? Maybe something you’ve never quite understood. I’d love to hear from you about that, too. I’ll try my best to explain it.