[pee-jay]

This is an awesome article check it out:


Terrorism, Justice, and Loving Our Enemies
from John Piper

Someone asked me after our Tuesday prayer service in
response to the terrorist attack, "Can we pray for justice,
and yet love our enemy at the same time?" The answer is yes.

But let's start with or own guilt. Christians know that if
God dealt with us only according to justice, we would perish
under his condemnation. We are guilty of treason against God
in our sinful pride and rebellion. We deserve only judgment.
Justice alone would condemn us to everlasting torment.

But God does not deal with us only in terms of justice.
Without compromising his justice he "justifies the ungodly"
(Romans 4:5). That sounds unjust. And it would be if it were
not for what God did in the life and death of Jesus Christ.
The mercy of God moved him to send the Son of God to bear
the wrath of God so as to vindicate the justice of God when
he justifies sinners who have faith in Jesus. So we have our
very life because of mercy and justice (Romans 3:25-26).
They met in the cross.

So we are not quick to demand justice unmingled with mercy.
Jesus demands, "Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is
in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the
good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous"
(Matthew 5:44-45). And, of course Jesus modeled this for us
as a perfect man. "While we were enemies we were reconciled
to God through the death of His Son" (Romans 5:10). And even
as he died for his enemies he prayed, "Father, forgive them;
for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

So the resounding command of the apostles is, "Bless those
who persecute you; bless and do not curse... Never pay
back evil for evil to anyone... 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'" (Romans 12:14-20). When we live
this way we magnify the glory of God's mercy and the
all-satisfying Treasure that he is to our souls. We show
that because of his supreme value to us, we do not need the
feeling of personal vengeance in order to be content.

But it does not compromise this truth to say that God should
also be glorified as the one who governs the world and
delegates some of his authority to civil states. Therefore
some of God's divine rights as God are given to governments
for the purposes of restraining evil and maintaining social
order under just laws. This is what Paul means when he
writes, "There is no authority except from God, and those
which exist are established by God... [This authority
is] a minister of God to you for good... it does not bear
the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an
avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil"
(Romans 13:1-4).

God wills that human justice hold sway among governments,
and between citizens and civil authority. He does not
prescribe that governments always turn the other cheek. The
government "does not bear the sword for nothing." Police
have the God-given right to use force to restrain evil and
bring law-breakers to justice. And legitimate states have
the God-given right to restrain life-threatening aggression
and bring criminals to justice. If these truths are known,
this God-ordained exercise of divine prerogative would
glorify the justice of God who mercifully ordains that the
flood of sin and misery be restrained in the earth.

Therefore, we will magnify the mercy of God by praying for
our enemies to be saved and reconciled to God. At the
personal level we will be willing to suffer for their
everlasting good, and we will give them food and drink. We
will put away malicious hatred and private vengeance. But at
the public level we will also magnify the justice of God by
praying and working for justice to be done on the earth, if
necessary through wise and measured force from God-ordained
authority.

Seeking to magnify ALL of God's glories,
Pastor John
Desiring God Ministries

From Stephen Ambrose's book, "Band of Brothers", a regimental prayer for the 101st Airborne, 506th Regiment, written by Lt. James Morton, read by company Chaplain McGee following initial losses at the invasion of Normandy. I've got no problem with the theology here. (Well said Pastor John on above post.)

"Almighty God, we kneel to Thee and ask to be the instrument of Thy fury in smiting the evil forces that have visited death, misery and debasement on the people of the earth . . . Be with us, God, when we leap from our planes into the dark abyss and descend in parachutes into the midst of enemy fire. Give us iron will and stark courage as we spring from the harnesses of our parachutes to seize arms for battel. The legions of evil are many, Father; grace our arms to meet and defeat them in Thy name an in the name of the freedom and dignity of man . . . Let our enemies who have lived by the sword turn from their violence lest they perish by the sword. Help us to serve Thee gallantly and to be humble in victory."

source: Ambrose, Stephen E. "Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest"