FM1

1.1 The morality of arming and organizing
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Memorize: "He said to them, 'But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you
don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.'" -- Jesus Christ (Luke 22:36)

1.1.1 Biblical inspiration and authority

Before we can rightly consider arming and organizing ourselves as a militia, we must consider
whether or not doing so is the right thing to do. Later on we will see that we have the historical
and constitutional right to form a militia. But ultimately, right and wrong is determined by God's
will, and God's will is determined from the Bible. Why turn to the Bible to answer our questions
about right and wrong?

If you are a Bible believer, you must be committed to following its moral standards. If you do
not believe the Bible, you should still know and weigh what it says and use it to justify your
actions to Bible believers.

To answer this question we will briefly look at what the Bible says about its own inspiration,
inerrancy, sufficiency, and authority.

First, look at 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is God- breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work." Here the apostle Paul is teaching us that the Bible (or
Scriptures) are inspired by God or God-breathed. Take careful note of two things that Paul
says are God-breathed or inspired. He says that "all Scripture is God-breathed." Notice here
that it is the actual Scriptures themselves, the words of the Bible, that are inspired
(God-breathed) and not simply the authors. God gave us the precise wording of the Bible in
its original Hebrew and Greek, not just the main ideas. Paul also says that "all Scripture is
God-breathed." It is not just portions of the Bible that are inspired but all of it. We therefore
say that the Bible is the word of God! This testimony that the Bible is the word of God runs
throughout the whole Bible. (See, for example, Exodus 34:27, 2 Samuel 23:2, Jeremiah 26:2,
John 12:49, John 17:8, 1 Corinthians 14:37, and Revelation 2:18.)

Now to say that the entire Bible is equally inspired word-for- word does not necessarily mean
that it is all of equal value or interest to us. It simply means that word-for-word it all came from
God.

The Bible is word-for-word the word of God. Therefore it is completely true or without any
errors. This is what we mean by "inerrancy." Think about it. If God knows everything (1 John
3:20) and cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18), and if the Bible's words are God's words, then there
cannot be any mistakes in the Bible. Otherwise, God would either have to be wrong himself or
lying to us.

While this line of reasoning is undeniable, the Bible does not leave us to make our own
conclusions about its truthfulness. The concept of infallibility or inerrancy is clearly the Bible's
own teaching about itself. Jesus said, "Not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen,
will by any means disappear from the Law" (Matthew 5:18). In other words, the Bible must be
fulfilled in the smallest detail. He also taught that "the Scripture cannot be broken" (John
10:35) and praying to the Father stated, "Your word is truth" (John 17:17). God's word can
only be truth if it is free from errors. Remember in school when true or false questions on tests
were false if any part of them were wrong? Luke wrote his gospel "so that you may know the
certainty of the things you have been taught" (Luke 1:4). Peter wrote, "We have the word of
the prophets made more certain" (2 Peter 1:19). More certain than what? Read 2 Peter
1:16-18. Peters says that the word of the prophets is more certain than his own eyewitness
experience of Jesus Christ.

Now the fact that the Bible doesn't have any mistakes is not simply "academic" truth. It is of
immense practical importance. Only if it is all true can we know for sure that any particular part
of it is true. Do you want to do right by obeying a command in the Bible only to find out later
that you were wrong to do what you did? Of course not. We need a Bible that is true
throughout to have any real hope of pleasing God.

There is still more you need to know about the Bible. Not only is it God's word, not only is it
true, but it contains everything you need to know about God and your relationship with him.
The fact that it is everything we need to know is summed up by the word "sufficient" and is
clearly taught by Paul the apostle in 2 Timothy 3:15-17. It tells us everything we need to know
for salvation (2 Timothy 3:15), truth (2 Timothy 3:16), and good works (2 Timothy 3:17). This
is why the Bible tells us over and over again never to add to it or to take away from it
(Deuteronomy 4:2, Proverbs 30:6, Revelation 22:18).

Now when we say that the Bible tells us everything we need to know, we need to realize that
some things are stated directly and some indirectly. A good algebra textbook, for instance,
may not give answers to every algebra problem. Yet is does fully define the rules and
principles by which every algebra problem may be solved. The Bible likewise contains all that
we need for our relationship with God even if it does not provide direct answers for every
problem or question we face. On such indirect issues we must draw valid conclusions based
on what Scripture does say.

This leads us to the final point which needs to be made about the Bible: the Bible alone is
authoritative meaning that it, and only it, must be completely believed and obeyed. Since all of
the Bible is God's word we cannot pick and choose what we want to obey. Since it is all true
we cannot neglect a portion of it by raising doubts about its reliability. Since it contains all we
need for our Christian walks we cannot appeal to something or someone besides the Bible as
our final authority on some issue.

We cannot argue with any part of the Bible any more than we can argue with God himself!
God has "laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed" (Psalm 119:4). If we disobey, we will
surely fail (Matthew 7:24-25).

We must make sure that whatever we do in any department of life, including the use of force,
conforms to the truth and moral principles of the Bible.