Should a Christian be a vigilante?

Romans 12:19. "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." This is a kindred precept to the previous injunction, not to render evil for evil: still, it is varied and amplified. The Christian, under any provocation, must never avenge himself; we must leave that matter to God, who, in His own good time, will certainly avenge His "dearly beloved." Nothing can be more touching and beautiful than these terms of endearment. Just when provoked and excited to retaliation by wicked and unreasonable men, the voice of tenderest love is heard rising above the strife of human passions: "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath." Retire from the scene; give place to my government, because of the injury you have received. It is my prerogative to punish. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." See Deuteronomy 32:35.

The knowledge of God, as the avenger of His people's wrongs, is not intended to awaken in our hearts the smallest desire that the divine vengeance should overtake our enemies. This we must watch against as a secret desire for we are prone to count on the divine vengeance falling on those who have injured us; and such expectations are closely allied to the hope that it may come. This must be guarded against; it is natural to us, and bordering on the principles of the world. It is a most unhappy thing to be dwelling, either in our own minds, or in conversation with others, on the injuries — supposed or real — which we have received. How much happier to forget them, and commit ourselves and all our affairs into the hands of the Lord! To advance in arms against our enemies; to watch for their halting; to wait our opportunity to give out what we have been nursing within; to exaggerate their failures, that they may receive double for their sins; to rejoice inwardly when we think they have been repaid in their own coin, is to indulge a spirit entirely contrary to the mind of the Lord in the passage before us, and to the whole genius of Christianity. To the Lord alone rightfully belongs the prerogative of vindicating the innocent, and of punishing the guilty.

This may mean the sacrifice of personal rights, but if walking by faith we shall steadfastly refuse to avenge ourselves. Let the enemy rage if he will, but let us never rush to our own defense. “For it is written, Vengeance is Mine: I will repay, saith the Lord.” Good for us to remember that only our God knows both the time and the measure of recompense that is perfectly suited. “Faith can firmly trust Him, come what may.”

True, he strongly objected to the blockade which led to the war; but he advocated a direct appeal to arms, which is as far from the spirit of Christ as a commercial interdict. And the two things for which the Reformer urged the government of Zurich to take up arms were the slanders and the persecutions of the papists. But what does the blessed Lord say? "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." And again, "Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not." And knowing the state of irritation which slander and persecution would naturally produce, the gracious Lord condescends to approach the oppressed in terms of the greatest endearment. "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." Surely both the blockade and the appeal to arms meet their utter condemnation in these divine precepts of our Lord and Master. (Matt. 5:11-12; Rom. 12:14, 19, 20)

After the flood God gave to Noah the law that "whose sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed," Gen. 9:6; and to this day in the East it is considered the solemn duty of the relatives of a slain man to see that his blood is avenged. The law made a distinction between murder and man-slaughter: when a person was killed accidentally the man-slayer could run to a City of Refuge (q.v.) and be protected. God has invested man with governmental authority to carry out this universal command, which was given long before the law by Moses, and which has never been repealed or relaxed. In the N.T. the magistrate bears not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God for the punishment of evil-doers. Rom. 13.

Under the law of Moses it was enacted 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' Matt. 5:38; Ex. 21:24. With the Christian it is quite different: having been dealt with in grace, he must act also in grace towards others. The word to him is "Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." Rom. 12:19; Rev. 6:10; Rev. 19:2. Now it is the day of grace; but there is a day of vengeance coming for those that "know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thess. 1:8. The duty of a Christian in not avenging himself in no way clashes with the exercise of the government of God by magistrates, who derive their authority from Him, in repressing and punishing evil.

(Vv. 1-2). The Psalm opens with a prayer. The godly man finds himself, not only in a world in which the people of God suffer, and the proud prosper, but, where to natural sight it might seem that God is indifferent. Therefore the Psalmist prays that God would "show" Himself, act on behalf of His suffering people, and deal with the proud. At the same time it is realised that "vengeance" belongs to God. This, surely, is a truth of which the Christian needs to be reminded, for the Apostle Paul can say to us, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." In the presence of provocation, anger, and deliberate insults, let us beware of seeking to take vengeance. The insults and injustice may arouse righteous indignation, we cannot be trusted to take vengeance. That the Lord keeps in His own hands. Our part is to "give place" unto wrath. If a person's anger makes me angry, then I am "overcome of evil" (Rom. 12:18-21).

The Apostle thinks of the envy and malice, the insults and affronts, the bitterness and evil speaking, that believers have to meet. In the presence of those things we have to beware of the natural tendency to answer the flesh by the flesh, to revile when reviled, and to seek to take revenge on an offender. We have neither to assert out rights nor avenge ourselves. All is to be met in "Gentleness" - the spirit of Christ. As the Apostle can say, "Let your gentleness be known of all men" (N.Tn). Gentleness is irresistible, but how can we act in a way so contrary to our natural tendency? Only as we realise that the Lord is our resource. Thus the Apostle can say, "The Lord is near" (N.Tn.). He is near to support us; as the Apostle can say, in another Epistle, when some did him much evil and all deserted him, "Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me" (2 Tim. 4:17). He is near as the One to whom we can commit ourselves when reviled by others (1 Peter 2:23). He is near to act on our behalf in His own time and way, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12:9). Realising His presence - that He is near - we can afford to be silent, and "be still," and learn that the Lord is God, a very present help in trouble (Ps. 46:1, 10).

(Vv. 19-21). Finally we are exhorted as to showing a right Christian spirit in connection with wrongs that we may have to meet. In a world like this we may have to suffer wrong, face insults and opposition, and that even from professing Christians; but come from what quarter it may, we are not to attempt to avenge ourselves, but quietly give way to wrath. Naturally we should seek to revenge a wrong, but this the Lord does not entrust to us. Vengeance He keeps in His own hands, for He has said, "Vengeance is mine: I will repay says the Lord" (Ps. 94:1). Our part is, under all circumstances, to maintain the Christian spirit and seek to win our enemies by shewing kindness to those who have acted wrongly toward us. Thus acting we shall not be overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

In earnest entreaty the psalmist addresses the "Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs" (v. 1), for God is the only One who has any right to exercise vengeance. If man tries to avenge himself, he will always go beyond what is perfectly just and right. We can never be trusted to make perfectly fair judgments in our own case. We may think too that judgment ought to be carried out more quickly than it is, but God knows better than we both the time of judgment and its character. Interestingly, the psalmist adds, "shine forth," though possibly he did not understand the force of what he wrote. Has God "shone forth"? Yes, in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus, in whose face all the glory of God is shining (2 Cor. 4:6). Is not the shining of that face the full answer to the need of saints of God who endure days and months and years of suffering?

Fourthly, He "committed Himself to Him that judges righteously." To do no sin, to speak no guile, to keep silence in the presence of malicious words, have a negative character. This last step is positive. If we keep silence in the presence of insults, it is not that there is no answer to evil and malice, but rather that the answer is left with God. We are never to attempt to take vengeance upon the wrongdoer. God retains all vengeance in His own hands. He has said, "Vengeance belongs to Me, I will recompense, says the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge His people" (Hebrews 10:30). Our part then is to follow in the steps of the Lord Jesus, and in the presence of insults to commit ourselves to Him that judges righteously, remembering that word which says, "Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine: I will repay says the Lord" (Rom. 12:19). Again we may recall the words of the prophet, "Jehovah is good to them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. It is good that one should both wait, and that in silence, for the salvation of Jehovah" (Lam. 3:24-26).

Finally, as realizing the strife that is going on between good and evil, we are to abide in the good, assured that here is that which alone can overcome it. "Evil for evil" can never overcome evil. We are to be careful to have," things right before all men," as the word here means, so as to give no occasion to the adversary. As to one's own spirit, as far as it depends upon us, (as we familiarly say, "It takes two to make a quarrel,") we are to be "at peace with all men." Nothing can invade this sanctuary of ours unless we open it to the invasion. The spirit of revenge will surely do this. On the contrary, we are to give place unto wrath, not meet it with wrath, for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will recompense, saith the Lord." We must not take the judge's place, and we must not desire to do so. Love is still that which overcomes here. "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."