Trusting Christ by Doing what He Commands

 

 

What does it mean to trust Christ? Some wrongly believe that trusting God means that we no longer have a role to play. One devout Christian informed me, “I don’t trust in political solutions.” However, God does! He had continually raised up judges and kings to protect or to liberate His people Israel.

 

We find this principle at play even under the New Covenant: 1 Peter 2:13–15 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

 

In this context, doing good is also a matter of obeying God’s institutions, taking advantage of what God had ordained for the good of our neighbors and our nation:

 

Romans 13:1–4 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

 

According to Jesus, this principle even pertains to government, which we regard as hypocritical or evil: Matthew 23:2–3 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.”

 

Others say, “I’m merely going to prayer and trust God when I see my neighbors threatened by evil.” While prayer and trusting God are essential, our God-given responsibilities do not end there. If it is in our power, we are also required to intervene, call the police, and to expose the threat:

 

James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

 

This is especially true in view of the ongoing terrorism to bring the whole world under submission to Allah and Shariah. Ibn Khaldun, the 15th century Tunisian historian, stated:

“In the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force... The other religious groups did not have a universal mission, and the holy war was not a religious duty for them, save only for purposes of defense... Islam is under obligation to gain power over other nations.”

 

Here’s the Quranic basis for this:

“Make war on them until idolatry is no more and Allah’s religion (Islam) reigns supreme, (Koran 8:37)

 

“When the Sacred Months are over, kill those who ascribe partners [like Jesus] to God wheresoever ye find them; seize them, encompass them, and ambush them; then if they repent and observe prayer and pay the alms, let them go their way’.” (Koran 4:5)

 

“…kill the disbelievers wherever we find them” (Koran 2:191) and “murder them and treat them harshly” (Koran 9:123), and “Strike off the heads of the disbelievers” (Koran 8:12, cp. 8:60).

 

Some respond, “I have Muslim friends who are very nice people.” However, if they take their religion seriously, they use deception as does Allah:

 

Quran 13:42 And verily, those before them did deceive/scheme but all deception/scheming is Allah's. He knows what every person earns, and the disbelievers will know who gets the good end.

 

Quran 4:142 Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them.

 

Therefore Muslims use deception even in “friendship”:

Quran 3:27: “Let not the believers take the disbelievers for friends rather than believers. And whoever does this has no connection with Allah unless it is done [deceptively] to guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully.

 

Quran 5:54: O ye who believe, take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors to each other.

 

The following comes from the fatwa which quotes the Quran in support  (www.koranqa.com; fatwa 59879; but is no longer available):

 

“Undoubtedly the Muslim is obliged to hate the enemies of Allaah and to disavow them, because this is the way of the Messengers and their followers. Allaah says:

 

Quran 60:4: “Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibraaheem (Abraham) and those with him, when they said to their people: ‘Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allaah, we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred for ever until you believe in Allaah Alone’”

 

 “Based on this, it is not permissible for a Muslim to feel any love in his heart towards the enemies of Allaah who are in fact his enemies too. Allaah says”:

 

 Quran 60:1: “O you who believe! Take not My enemies and your enemies (i.e. disbelievers and polytheists) as friends, showing affection towards them, while they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth”

 

 “But if a Muslim treats them with kindness and gentleness in the hope that they will become Muslim and will believe, there is nothing wrong with that, because it comes under the heading of opening their hearts to Islam. But if he despairs of them becoming Muslim, then he should treat them accordingly.”

 

Love takes many forms. One form of love is to warn of danger. To fail to do so is to neglect the welfare of our neighbors. To trust in Christ is to do what He has instructed us to do: to love our neighbor and to expose the impending threats.