In the matters of State and War

In the matters of State and War, if a person is a soldier, a spy, working undercover, etc.... is it a lie to tell information that is false? Would it be considered as acting in God's sight? Could a person legitimately tell a drug-dealer that they're not working for the cops, even if they really are?

Please let me know. One of my good Christian friends brought this up this morning... as it caused like a 80 (or so) minute discussion in Ethics class he said.

I know this does not answer Your Question Bob Jones Student but maybe the Same should be asked about , lets say a Christian Family or owner of a small or large retail outlet selling Cigarettes, liquor, beer ,wine and pornography or other unGodly material is this also wrong....I think it is and probably an easier answered question than Yours.

In My heart I would say that We have to follow what Christ wants Us to do and that is not to Lie and if a person is in this vocation that person needs the leading of the Holy Spirit in order to enable Him to skillfully circumvent these requests from His superiors without disobeying orders....How that would be done in Order to not let go of state or municipal plans , well I have no idea. I'm sorry I was not much help I just added more questions to Your Question. I am anxious, though to hear what Others come up with, God Bless You Bob Jones and I hope You can Supply Your Friend with This answer All Praise Honor and Glory Is God's alone,Amen and Amen.....Dave

In Joshua chapter 2, we find the famous story of Rahab telling a lie to protect Joshua’s two spies whom she had brought up to the roof and hidden. In Hebrews chapter 11, we find her listed among the list of men and women of faith,

Heb. 11:31. By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace. (NASB, 1995)

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And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:

16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. 20

Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21

Situational Ethics?

I know the story of a man who opened a grocery store. He decided early on in his business that even though he personally didn't think anything wrong with alcoholic beverage consumption or the use of tobacco many of the Christian friends that he had didn't agree with his opinion. Because of this he dedicated his store to God. And because he made many sound financial deals and was conveniently located the store grew into several stores. He even had a commisary for all independant grocery stores. None of the stores was ever open on Sunday, sold beer, or sold tobacco...it was devoted to God.

After he died his son took over...and then that son's son...Neither son nor the grandson was the same as far as business smarts and the commisary was sold...and the stores began to suffer slightly at first...and then more as time progressed...

The grandson began to really let things slide...open on sundays, then selling tobacco...and finally selling beer...

The whole chain sold and the name has now disapeared.

No one can serve two masters...
You either belong to God completely or you do not.

God regularly uses those that are not devoted to him for his own purposes...but that doesn't mean that they are going to be saved.

I know the bible says this, but I am questioning anythign i see that represents a cognitive distortion. This is 'all or nothing thinking.'

This is list of things we tell ourselves to make us depressed, anxious, guilty or angry.
1.ALL-OR-NOTHING THINKING:
You see things in black and white categories. If your performance falls short of perfect, you see yourself as a total failure.
2.OVERGENERALIZATION:
You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.
3.MENTAL FILTER:
You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that discolors the entire beaker of water.
4.DISQUALIFYING THE POSITIVE:
You reject positive experiences by insisting they "don't count" for some reason or another. In this way you can maintain a negative belief that is contradicted by your everyday experiences.
5.JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS:
You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion.
Mind Reading: You arbitrarily conclude that someone is reacting negatively to you, and you don't bother to check this out.
The Fortune Teller Error: You anticipate that things will turn out badly, and you feel convinced that your prediction is an already established fact.
6.MAGNIFICATION (CATASTROPHIZING) OR MINIMIZATION:
You exaggerate the importance of things (such as your goof-up or someone else's achievement) or you inappropriately shrink things until they appear tiny (your own desirable qualities or the other fellow's imperfections). This is also called the "binocular trick."
7.EMOTIONAL REASONING:
You assume that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are: "I feel it, therefore it must be true."
8.SHOULD STATEMENTS:
You try to motivate yourself with shoulds and shouldn'ts, as if you had to be whipped and punished before you could be expected to do anything. "Musts" and "oughts" are also offenders. The emotional consequence is guilt. When you direct should statements toward others, you feel anger, frustration, and resentment.
9.LABELING AND MISLABELING:
This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. Instead of describing your error, you attach a negative label to yourself: "I'm a loser." When someone else's behavior rubs you the wrong way, you attach a negative label to him: "He's a goddam louse." Mislabeling involves describing an event with language that is highly colored and emotionally loaded.
10.PERSONALIZATION:
You see yourself as the cause of some negative external event which in fact you were not primarily responsible for.

Lemmiwinks! When You started on Here were you this negative? You are saying that a Christians Beliefs are substantiated on a list of shoulds and shouldn'ts You Say that the faith is based on negative thinking and Narrow ideals, Well , I for one never thought of My faitha as negative it is compoletly in the Positive Based on Love and assurance, While you are correct in saying that that We feel bad because of the Sins We commit, We need to feel Bad because if We did not that would Mean that the Holy spirit was not in us and that we were in a avery serious position between God and Our selves .

Not allowing the Holy Spirit To Work within us, not allowing Him to make the changes necessary to become a new Man through Christ Jesus Our Lord, Puts us in the very dangerous position of a Christless eternity ,an eternity Without My Jesus is in comprehendable and very very Sad. Most especially when Christs offer is free and all that is required is acknowledgement , Belief and call on His Name and confess that You are a Sinner That is all that is required. But I don't believe that We can go on sinning without asking forgivness or caring about Sins that We commit. and Just continue to trvel Lifes Journey Sinning Willy Nilly and expect No reprocussion from God For it.....God Bless You Brother We are here for You Perhaps someone will say something at some point in Your Life to consider all that You know and what Is required of You For God's Kingdom ....Dave