Does the Bible support gun control?
Some Christians believe you should not even defend yourself based on the following verses:
Matt. 5:39: “Do not show opposition against an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also.”
Matt. 5:44: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Rom. 12:19-20: “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. ‘But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’”
There are 4 basic Scripture interpretation rules:
Rule #1: Consider the verse itself:
Matt. 5:39: Some have interpreted these verses as that you should not own a gun to defend yourself or even your family from a murderer. But is this what Jesus is suggesting?
To begin with, Jesus defines the kind of “evil person” He’s talking about– “if someone slaps you…”. This is certainly not describing a murderer for not having a gun for self-defense.
When Jesus said to turn the other cheek if slapped, I don’t think He was suggesting, if someone shoots you in the chest to then turn and let him shoot you in the back.
But even if someone is slapped, Jesus did not say, then let him poke you in the eye. Nor did He even say, let him keep slapping you. Jesus actually limits how much someone should respond – just enough to expose their “evil” and demonstrate your righteous character.
Matt. 5:44: Here Jesus says to “pray” for your “enemy” who “persecutes” you. Jesus defined the “persecution” (v. 11) as being “lied” about or being “insulted". That’s not the same as defending yourself from a murderer.
Rom. 12:19-20: These verses say to never take your own revenge. “Revenge”, by definition, is reacting to someone. But this is impossible to do if you don’t defend yourself from someone who would otherwise kill. Moreover, it says how to “heap burning coals on his head.”
Rule #2: Consider the immediate context, before and after:
How did Jesus define the word “evil” in the immediate context of His “Sermon on the Mount”:
Matt. 5:11 - “Blessed are you when peopleinsult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me”.
The context using the word “persecute” or “evil” was being insulted and speaking falsely, not where you would need a gun to protect yourself.
Matt. 5:37 - “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.”
Again, the context for using the word “evil” is in reference to how you speak, not someone who is trying to kill you where you would need a gun for self-defense.
Matt. 7:11 - “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
Here also the word “evil” is even used for a good father.
Mat. 5:17: Jesus said, “I did not come to abolish the Law.”
And in God’s Law every person had the right and even responsibility to own a sword for self-defense, which was the most lethal killing weapon in that day. Today it would be a gun.
Mat. 7:6 – “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”
Jesus more than once, referred to the unsaved Gentiles as unclean “dogs” (Mat. 7:6 & 15:26) or as unclean “swine”. So still in the same sermon, Jesus even limits giving anything of material value to the unsaved.
Rule #3: Consider the extended context of the book itself:
Mat. 12:29: “For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger.” And as Jesus also said (Luke 12:39) - “If the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.” Jesus is declaring how the head of a house protects their house – being stronger than a thief. Today that could be necessary to have a gun. But Jesus is not just talking about being stronger for self-defense but even for the purpose of protecting your own possessions.
Mat. 26:51-54 (AMP): “And one of those who were with Jesus reached out and drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back in its place; for all those who habitually draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?”
Jesus did not tell Peter to get rid of his sword but rather to keep his sword - “Put your sword back in its place.” This was not the time to defend Jesus as He came to this time to be crucified for our sin.
Regarding “all those who habitually draw the sword”, this is probably referring to soldiers, “habitually” being the correct Greek meaning. The renowned Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary:
“Grotius gives a probable sense of this, making those that take the sword to be, not Peter, but the officers and soldiers that come with swords to take Christ; they will die by the sword. ‘Peter, thou needest not draw they sword to punish them. God will certainly, shortly, and severely, reckon with them.' They took the Roman sword to seize Christ with, and by the Roman sword, not long after, they and their nation were destroyed.”
Mat. 28:20: Jesus’ last command in the book of Matthew was to, “… teach them to obey all that I have commanded you”. And all that Jesus commanded certainly included the Sermon on the Mount “to obey and teach… God’s Law” (Mat. 5:17-19), which mandated to have a sword, equivalent to a gun today, to defend yourself, your family, and any others from dangerous persons.
Rule #4: Consider the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).
The “whole counsel of God” is all the Bible - Old and New Testament.
Old Testament
In God’s Law everyone in the nation was to have a weapon to defend themselves and others from any wicked persons, foreign or domestic. God’s Law even gave liberty for others to hunt down anyone who killed someone else, unless that person fled to the City of Refuge to await their trial.
New Testament
Jesus said, “To love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat. 22:39). The apostle Paul said, “Love… always protects” (1Cor. 13:7 NIV). If you love someone you would certainly protect them from harm, especially a murderer, which would require having a gun.
The apostle Paul said: “Those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers” (1Tim. 5:8). If you reject having a gun to defend the lives of your family or relatives, there’s no way you’re “caring” for them and “have denied the true faith.”
Jesus ordered His disciples to carry a sword, equivalent today, Jesus ordering his disciples to carry a gun: In Luke 22:35-36, “Jesus asked His disciples, ‘When I sent you out to preach the Good News and you did not have money, a traveler’s bag, or an extra pair of sandals, did you need anything? ‘No,’ they replied. ‘But now,’ He said, ‘take your money and a traveler’s bag. And if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one!”
Jesus never said this earlier when He sent His disciples out to “only go to the lost sheep of Israel.” But now they would soon be going out to all the dangerous heathen nations in the world to spread the gospel.
Since that time many Christians have wisely needed to have a gun to protect themselves especially evangelizing in hostile places. The famous Scottish Reformer John Knox used to carry a giant seven-foot-long two-edged sward with him every where he went to stand next to his mentor George Wishart when he was preaching all over Scotland.
Unlike going to their own Jewish people when Jesus told His disciples to NOT take any money or a traveler’s bag, now Jesus was telling them to take money, extra cloths, and a sword.
Jesus said it was more important they have a sword i.e. a gun, than warm cloths. It’s also interesting to note in Luke 22:38, that Peter and the disciples had already been carrying two swords with them. Today in affect Jesus would say, “If you don’t have a gun, sell your coat and go buy one!”
We see through the Old Testament and all history until even today, only wicked government leaders try to keep you from owning a gun… but not Jesus.
Finally, a seldom reported fact - the Justice Department reported: “It is conservatively estimated that guns are used 1.5 million times per year to save lives.” So, if you don’t have a gun, maybe you should do what Jesus said to His disciple – go buy one!
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