Verse: For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of that authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword in vain, for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Romans 13:3-4
If you follow our blog devotionals, social media, or podcast you will soon discover us using the term “Minister(s) of the sword”. That term comes from this this passage of scripture. I would like to take this section and break down what this scripture passage is saying and also how it applies to us.
The beginning of Romans 13 is a description of government and how it is designed by God. We must note that not all governments function in this way. Like all things created by God, the fall and sin have affected them. Government cannot live up to the righteous standard that God has set up for it because it is run by sinful people. Nevertheless, like a church it is still the “minister of God”.
The very basic role of government as designed by God is put simply in 1 Peter 2:14, “for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good.” Now whether or not we must obey the government and go along with tyranny when they choose that route is a discussion for another post and another day. Here we will focus just on God’s ordained role for this ministry.
In America where I live there are different branches of government that are designed to distribute power throughout a wide range of places so that it is hard to centralize it. Each state is pretty much their own small country that falls under the purview of the federal government. They are all broken down into three major branches being the executive, judicial, and legislative.
We see in Romans 13 that these powers are minsters of God for our good and for that reason we are to be subject to them and pay taxes for the work they provide. When there is a traffic light or speed limit we are to submit to that law. In America we are fortunate to live in a Constitutional Republic where we are able to elect people at all levels who agree with us generally and therefore make these decisions. But how do they enforce these laws or policies?
The way they enforce this is through the sword or in our day a gun. This is what I like to call the “execution branch of government”. Whether it be national or foreign policy there is an executor making sure it happens. This flushes out in three main ways: Military, Police, and Border Security.
To put these all-in basic terms the Military is our protector who is sent out. They are the ones who receive the foreign policy and then execute it via a war. They deploy to other countries to stop terror like we have done for the past 20 years or to fight against a country who goes against our national interest in the world like WWII, Vietnam, or any other of the wars and conflicts that we have been in in our nation’s history.
The second is the police departments at the town/city/village, county, state, and national levels. I am going to lump all the at home three letter agencies like the FBI into this as well. These are not just the beat cops but also the SWAT, intelligence, detectives, and so on. I think you get the picture.
To take their vast and important job and boil it down to a simple saying, they protect sinners from egregiously sinning against one another. People have a sin nature and scripture tells us that, “None are righteous no not one” (Romans 3:10). So, because of this we need someone to step in and protect us from each other. Our brave men and women on the police force fulfill this role.
The last category is border security. These are the men and women of the coast guard, border patrol, ICE, and others that make sure illegal activity does not go on or is allowed to flourish on our borders. They execute our national policy and ensure foreign militaries, drug dealers, human traffickers, and illegal aliens do not gain access. They also ensure that people who want to come into this country do so legally.
The people who serve in these roles are minister of God. The pastor ministers the truth of God’s word and ensures the care of His people. The Minister of the Sword’s ministry is different in the sense that they are “an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” This evil is here at home on in a criminal (police and border security) or abroad like on the terrorist or Nazis (military). They are equally ministers but their ministry is very different. That is why the church itself is not to bare up arms to spread the Gospel, that is not their God ordained purpose.
Does this mean that all those in these occupations are Christians? No. But neither are all Pastors and elders. There are false teachers in the church just like there are those who are not saved executing this ministry. Now they are hopefully guided and enforcing those laws that are in line with God’s Moral Law, which is how God designed them.
Throughout the entire Bible both Old and New Testament we see that God uses a country’s military to accomplish His goals. He used the nation of Israel in this way as we see them sent out to fight the Philistines and the Canaanites, but he used other armies as well against Israel like the Babylonians. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will.” Even the Roman occupation of Israel accomplished God’s will of having Christ crucified at that time and in that place.
So, God uses those in the military and police to accomplish his goals. They are to be the ones who pour out His wrath on the evil doer and reward those doing good. But how do they figure out what is good and what is evil? This is where the Church must step in and show what good, and evil is.
We will get into the ministry of chaplains later, but each one of these ministries of the sword usually has a chaplain that accompanies it. This is because in our nation we knew that these men and women needed to be guided by the God’s word so that they would know who was good and who was evil.
Armed with that knowledge they need to discern whether they are doing right or wrong when receiving orders. If you get orders to do something that you just don’t want to do, then you need to examine and most likely submit to that order. But if that order goes against God’s word (ie. The My Lia Massacre) you need to say no and refuse. You need to follow your conscience which should be guided by the Holy Spirit. No matter what your position is, you will stand before God one day and give an account for all the decisions you have made, Christian or not.
So how do we go forward with this great truth? I feel that the military and police are not always seen as a ministry by the church. That is why “churches” have joined in on the spitting on troops in the Vietnam era, called for the abolishment of ICE, and in 2020 started to call for the defunding of police. Christians who want to be loved and accepted by the world will always go along with their narrative and do whatever they can to be accepted.
I think the true church who loves the truth can start by encouraging the want to go into the ministry of the sword as a good thing. Young men will always want to fight, and some are created with more of that nature than others. Do not scoff at them but rather encourage them into this great ministry that God has designed for our world.
With that encouragement comes instruction. As ministers of the truth and Gospel we better be able to educate and lay a firm foundation for those who will go down this path. We must show them what the word of God has to say about this ministry and preach that into their hearts. They will face opposition to the truth by their peers and leaders and we need to be able to build a firm foundation for them. That is the aim of the Godly Grunt Ministry.
As ministers of the sword, you need to be well versed in the righteous decrees of God. He expects you to wield your sword in righteousness and will hold you too that whether it be in the mortal life or in judgement. Even if you have been drafted and do not agree with the war, God hates a coward, and you need to uphold His decrees even if it means your life.
As a Christian in this ministry, you need to be witnessing to those around you. Proclaiming the truth of God in and out of season will affect those under your leadership and will impact how they act. If you are a leader or subordinate, do not tolerate any illegal activity and set that standard. Uphold your oath to the constitution of the United States (In America) and to the people. If that means disobeying the evil orders of a tyrant than that is what must be done.
Lastly, be the best soldier you can possibly be. Train harder than any other of your comrades because you represent God. People should be asking you why you work so hard at your craft, and you should be able to point them to Christ. Not just because you’re a Christian and no matter what profession you find yourself this should be true, but because when you squeeze the trigger there is no coming back. You are a minister of God’s wrath, a minister of the sword
By John Cooper
Godly Grunt 6
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