The Cross and The Sword

~ Grill a Christian

I think this question about the Cross and the Sword is already a tricky one from the first letter. The Sword has a different connotation in the bible. I have touched this very subject in the beginning of a short story: The sword as the Word of God, divine judgment, and spiritual warfare.

“The Sword of the Spirit (The Word of God): Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12

The Sword of Division: Matthew 10:34

His ultimate authority and the power of His word in executing judgment. Revelation 19:15

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Eph 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Mat 10:34 Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Rev 19:15 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” (Psalm 2:9) He treads the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.

Psalm 2:9 You will break them with a rod of iron (Or will rule them with an iron scepter); you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

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"This Hymn Needs More Gong" , page 1/first & second paragraph.

As far as I understand these verses Jesus is against violence, and predicts turning the other cheek. But he can also defend protecting people with the powers in him. Which can ultimately mean that Christian faith, however not willing to fight and touch blood to make the faith more dominant, can use violence in a restricted way to protect the innocents. Jesus as a defender of good, not an offender.

Romans 13:4,
4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

I think Jesus is against using violence but he is not a pacifist. I was a pacifist for a long time in my early years, wore the broken rifle pin in the seventies and eighties.

That changed. With the objectives of some guerrilla wars I could have sympathy, for instance the French resistance against the Nazis. Or the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002) UNITA against the MPLA government. I was a lefty, busy with action against ignorance and injustice.

WC: 435
”Note” ▶︎

FEBRUARY 2026 PROMPT , Grill a Christian. The Cross and Sword
Can violence ever be done in God’s name and still be righteous? From the Crusades, especially the first, where motives were arguably clearer, to biblical conquest and genocide in Canaan, Conquistadors in the Americas, resistance to tyrants like Bonhoeffer’s stand against Hitler, and revolutions where Christians took up arms (the English Civil War, the American Revolution, even the Taiping Rebellion in China), where, if anywhere, does faith justify force? Should “holy violence” be limited to the state, or can individuals act for God’s cause? Do war, conquest, or overthrowing governments ever prepare the way for the gospel, or do they ultimately betray it?

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Review of "The Cross and The Sword"
Featured in "Spiritual Newsletter (July 8, 2026)"