Читать книгу Paul: The Lost Epistles - Robert M. Price - Страница 6

1 ¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, called by God his Father to wage war against the Principalities and Powers that set themselves against God,

² To the brothers and sisters in Beroea,

May the grace and peace of our Lord Christ, who garrisons us about with hosts of angels, keep you safe.

³ I thank my God on your account every time I think of you, remembering as I must your sincere thirst for the truth of God from the first day I preached among you the word of our Lord, Jesus Christ. ⁴ For you embraced it as a mother embraces a returning son whom she had thought lost in war. ⁵ I have none so zealous as you for greater understanding of the way of Christ and what the Lord requires from us who invoke him. ⁶ For you are not as many who consider themselves merely as clients and not as slaves of our Lord Jesus.

⁷ I have lately heard from more than one of your number that some of your youths have been called upon to bolster the ranks of Rome's legions. ⁸ While some of these are glad enough for the opportunity to travel and to show their zeal and courage, ⁹ you, their parents, are well concerned whether such a call may not be incompatible with our calling in Christ Jesus. ¹⁰ It is a grave and difficult question, and well deserving of our attention. ¹¹ And while I have no prophetic word of knowledge from the Lord himself concerning these things, I am mindful that true perfection such as we seek lies in training our faculties to weigh matters upon which Scripture and prophecy shed no light directly, ¹² so that we may gain wisdom, which fails not even when the voices of Scripture and prophecy fall silent. ¹³ It was for lack of such wisdom that Saul resorted to the abomination of the seeress at En-Dor. ¹⁴ For the righteous one is ever more than a mere channel for the voice of God; rather is he one who has learned the ways of God to decide for himself.

¹⁵ It is plain to all that Scripture records very many commands for the children of Israel to make war upon their enemies, and this not merely in defense, but also, humanly speaking, without provocation. ¹⁶ For so did God cleanse the promised land of the wicked Canaanites with whom no terms of peace might be made. ¹⁷ Again, in this manner Moses and the children of Israel achieved just vengeance upon the Amalekites and others who had hindered them in their holy trek to the land of promise. ¹⁸ But these wars were one and all ordered by the word of God in the hearing of Moses, Joshua, and Samuel. And his blessing was seen from the fact that, of the Israelites, not a man was lost, save for Achan's treachery. ¹⁹ Nevertheless many of them fell in later years when David and Saul and the rest campaigned in worldly fashion, trusting in the might of horses and chariots, of numbers and armaments. ²⁰ And do not forget the humiliation of Jehoshaphat when the Lord God sent a lying spirit into the mouths of the hireling prophets of the king of Israel. ²¹ But neither should we hasten to lay blame on those who had no certain word from God whether to wage war, for did not their situation mirror our own at the present time?

²² Those of you in Beroea who are Jews need not fear the Roman conscription, and while we who are in Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles, regard ourselves as rightful heirs of Abraham, the Roman authorities do not see it so. ²³ But we are nonetheless a priestly people before God, in service to him as we obey his commandments and as we worship him with songs and hymns and shouts of joy. ²⁴ What does Scripture say of the priesthood concerning warfare? In the early days the priests and Levites might engage in combat, ²⁵ when wars were ordained of God and the vanquished were placed under the ban as those "devoted to the Lord." ²⁶ But later on, we see Samuel rebuking Saul, for that Saul offered holy sacrifice with hands bloody from battle. ²⁷ In like manner, God told David that it was not for him to build the temple of the Lord because his hands, too, were stained with the blood of his foes. ²⁸ Thus we can see that it was deemed unseemly for the priest in his state of purity to join battle, or to shed human blood. ²⁹ Being ourselves not under the Law, we may yet learn a lesson from the Law. For we are a priestly people unto our God. ³⁰ Shall we then conclude that we may not take up arms? Some may say, "We are too pure in the service of the Lord to defile ourselves with the shedding of the blood of human beings." ³¹ But you who enjoy the protection of Caesar from disturbance within and barbarians without, do you refuse to share the burden of that protection? ³² Shall others put their bodies at risk for your sake, and you will not do the same for them? ³³ Are they defiled when they bear the sword for your good? Let us not risk bringing shame upon the name of Christ for seeming to be cowards who will not take up arms for the common welfare.

2 ¹ And yet what of our priestly calling? Bear in mind, my brothers and sisters, how the call of God is diverse, and all are not called to the same task. ² There are among us virgins, male and female, who have pledged themselves to undivided devotion to the Lord, wherefore we consider them exempt from the common duties of this world. ³ They are not to be distracted by the worldly obligations of caring for family and earning a wage, but God feeds them through your charity and that of all the saints. ⁴And so we ask them to pray for us. The same holds true of bearing the sword. ⁵ Some are called to pure and undivided service to the Lord, and it is only these who correspond fully to the priests who serve in the temple. ⁶ Their hands are truly too pure to shed human blood, just as they are too pure to touch a mate or to toil in the fields. ⁷ But for the rest, we may say that if they would be exempt from the service of Caesar, they ought equally to renounce all gainful employment, not to mention marriage.

⁸ For you must understand, my beloved, that while we still live in this present world, though it may not be for long, we must breathe the same air that others breathe. ⁹ We cannot eschew food because it may be prepared by an adulterer. We must not throw off all clothing because we suspect the tailor may be a drunkard. ¹⁰ If you were to separate yourselves from the wicked of the world altogether, you must needs leave the world altogether. ¹¹ But while we are in the world, we are subject to the strictures of the world, even as our Lord Christ was when he left the purity of heaven to sojourn here on earth. ¹² May we use no coins because they bear the image of a tyrant? Indeed, how shall we preach the gospel if we feel ourselves too pure to associate with those who need it? ¹³ What doctor is there who cannot bear to look upon sickness? ¹⁴ And so the world is filled with enterprises to be shared by all alike, both those who are being saved and those who are perishing. And warfare is one of these. ¹⁵ Do you not know that this world is given into the hands of fallen Principalities and Powers who rule the world by means of the sword and the purse? ¹⁶ Hence the wickedness and venality of judges and kings. And yet they are a dam to stem the flood of chaos. ¹⁷ And the task of the soldier is not one that is beneath you. A bad man may work for a good cause, but that does not mean you must eschew that good cause for his sake. ¹⁸ Join him in what is good and show the goodness you have thanks to Christ Jesus.

3 ¹ But are not those who serve in Caesar's armies required to swear oaths to the spirit of Caesar? Are they not required to bear ornamentation of pagan design? ² See if it is possible instead for you to swear an oath to our Lord Jesus to serve faithfully and to bear the sword for righteousness' sake. ³ Swear, as do the priests who attend the altar, to pray daily for Caesar's safety, for we wish no one ill. ⁴ And as for pagan facings and inscriptions, do not become as those who scruple over that which is minor while missing what is of importance. ⁵ A piece of clothing is no more than cloth, so do not let your faith appear to others as some superstition that requires you to fear and shun trifles of clothing. ⁶ Was not Naaman the Syrian, the great general of the army, justified when he received the blessing of Elisha the man of God to go with his king into the temple of Rimmon, as he had to do? ⁷ If he had the blessing of God to enter an idol's temple, how much more shall God bless him who merely wears some piece of adornment?

⁸ But know this, brothers and sisters: in the last days, persecutions will increase, even as you have heard we endured. ⁹ Someone will ask, "May we not take arms to defend ourselves and our families, even our faith lest it perish from the earth?" ¹⁰ God forbid, for this is a struggle we must wage with weapons that are by no means worldly. ¹¹ Our true citizenship lies in heaven, and we must not refuse with sword and club to return there, or all will know we have no faith in what we profess to believe. ¹² We shall have won the victory by our endurance, and this victory is hidden to human eyes in bloody defeat. ¹³ But we walk by faith, not by sight.

¹⁴ Moreover, Christ has provided us an example by yielding to the cross. ¹⁵ When we are persecuted for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are offered up as sacrifices to God. ¹⁶ Indeed those who persecute us have no priestly intention, but we are sacrifices nonetheless. ¹⁷ And just as our Lord Jesus was both priest and sacrifice, so is the one delivered up to death for his sake. ¹⁸ Such a one has left earthly concerns behind. And thus he has no right to bear the sword, as we have seen.

4 ¹ So we see it as a law: to the extent that one retains obligations to this world, he cannot serve Christ with undivided devotion, and to give one's body unto death is the greatest devotion that can be offered. ² If husband and wife alike face persecution with resolve, they are no more husband and wife but brother and sister looking toward a common sacrifice. ³ But as to their children, they shall not be summarily handed over to death. For no one can volunteer another for martyrdom. ⁴ If the child be of age and willing to die for his Lord, so be it. He is, like Samuel, a saint already in his youth. ⁵ But if the child is too young to have had his own faith, he yet binds his parents in a tie of obligation, ⁶ and they must see to his protection, otherwise they are like those in Israel who offered up their firstborn to Moloch. ⁷ Do not make Christ a demon to receive child sacrifices! Only in this case may the parents take arms to defend their children. ⁸ But if it is possible, it is better to entrust the child to some relative or brother and sister in the Lord.

⁹ And must we take sword in hand to preserve the name of Christ? ¹⁰ You may say, "If God has left it to us to spread the name of his Son through the world, might he not also make it our task to defend that name against those Powers who seek to blot it out?" ¹¹ Such zeal is praiseworthy, but it is in vain. Such a one is reasoning after the fashion of men, not of God. ¹² For just as the power of God is hidden in weakness, the victory of God hides within defeat. ¹³ Just as Jesus Christ came to the world to save and was rejected, and in that very rejection did save all who believe, ¹⁴ so must those who are his preach his gospel to the world and, if need be, suffer rejection as he did. ¹⁵ And if we, too, are to die, I mean the full number of believers, then that very rejection must issue forth in the final redemption of the world, ¹⁶ for then the consummation would come, the full number of witnesses to the faith having been offered up.

¹⁷ Bearing all these things in mind, brothers and sisters, let us train ourselves in the use of the weapons of the Spirit which no enemy can withstand. ¹⁸ These are the bold witness to the gospel, meditation on such Scripture as you may know, the sharing in the body and blood of the Lord, daily prayer, and uplifting talk. ¹⁹ With these you may both fortify your spirits and prepare yourselves for the arena of our daily conflict against the sin that seeks ever to conquer the kingdom of our members. ²⁰ Let everyone see your advancement in the things of the Spirit so they may give glory to the God who is at work in you. ²¹And make my joy in you complete as you continue to seek the truth and to live by it.

²² Greet all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ and share the hope in his resurrection with a holy kiss. ²³ Those with me, especially Sosthenes and Barnabas, greet you in the Lord. Luke greets you also. ²⁴ And now may the Lord himself secure your devotion with his unyielding love. Peace be yours. Amen.