There seems to be a concern among many God-fearing Christian people, that standing up against the evils of tyrannical government is not something that Jesus would have done, or would do if He were here today. One man wrote to me in this regard – the following is my reply.

“You mention that Jesus did not get involved in fighting the system, the Roman rule of His day. While that is true, I believe the reason was, in part, because he was focused on the one specific mission that He was sent for. Others in the Bible did stand up to and oppose rulers or invading armies. Some were called to be military leaders who led the battles to defend against evil enemies, others were called as prophets to warn the people or even speak to and confront kings who were corrupt or in error.

While Jesus did not lead a revolt against Rome, He certainly did speak out against the corruption of the religious leaders of the Jewish people, calling them snakes, hypocrites and sons of the devil. I expect He knew the Jewish people and their leaders needed to repent and truly submit to God before God could be justified in delivering them from the oppression of Rome.

There were times in the Bible where God told His people to fight to take the promised land – times when they had to fight to keep that land – times when they fought and succeeded because they were right with God – times when they fought and failed because they had forgotten God. There were times when prophets stood up to kings and confronted them because they were wrong and times when God’s prophet stood up to, challenged and killed the false prophets. There were times God’s prophets told the people to repent to avoid judgment – times when they did repent and avoided judgment – times when they didn’t – times when they repented, then fought to turn back enemies – times when they failed to repent in time and were conquered and taken into captivity – times while in captivity when men like Daniel had to refuse the kings decree in order to honor God (and God honored him). In the New Testament, Jesus calls John the Baptist the greatest prophet who ever lived, yet John lost his head because he openly and publicly came out against the king for his immorality. Many of these who opposed kings, fought enemies and resisted evil in the land are listed in the Hebrews 11 Hall of Fame as God’s Heroes of Faith.

Now I am aware that there is a theological view that reasons that if God is sovereign, then everything that happens on planet earth must be his will, therefore we should not resist governments, kings or congress, as they must have been put in place by God and be his will for us. My problem with that view of sovereignty is that to be logical, we should carry it out to its logical conclusion and deem that all things that happen on planet earth are the work of God and thus his will. Therefore, we should not resist the robber, the rapist or the murder. However, I read that I am to “resist the devil” and thus I would reason I am to resist any work that is of the devil.

My understanding of spiritual matters is that there is a Creator God, Jehovah, Lord God, the God of the Bible and there is a devil, Satan, Lucifer. God is the author of Good, Satan is the author of evil. “God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” All of Satan’s works are works of darkness. The issue is, that man has been given the privilege to choose who he will serve (Deut 30:19, Rom 6:16). This does not negate the sovereignty of God, He is still sovereign over time, space and eternity, but in this period of time and in this place called planet earth, he has given man sovereignty over a sphere of influence and the right to choose – some men choose evil and some choose good – some choose God and some choose Satan. Therefore, not everything that is happening on planet earth is God’s will, but it is His will to let it happen rather than deny man the privilege of choice.

Much of what is happening in our time and in our nation is happening because men have chosen evil and because evil men are attempting to bear rule. But we have a choice, we can choose to resist the devil and the works he seeks to do through men who yield themselves to him. If we use our right of choice to choose not to resist evil men and oppressors, then I believe the blood of many is on our hands.

I realize I’m dealing with a matter of theology here and our party does not take official stands on theological matters, that is left for the church. However, as a party of predominantly Christian people who seek to secure the blessings of God for our land and as a Christian man who has been confronted with an inherently theological matter, I am sharing by belief and understanding of the matter.”
Sincerely,

Robert W. Peck
Chairman, Constitution Party of Spokane County