Judgement Day?

Question

Now that I'm 62 & retired I'm starting to think more about my own mortality. I've got no fear of dying. However, while in Viet Nam I broke the Thou shall not kill commandment. In a war you follow orders from a superior, not GOD. No laws were broken. But the commandment sure was. Do I need forgiveness for doing as ordered? How can I ask for forgiveness if I am not truly sorry. I regret that it happened, (more than once). But when it happened I felt great. Now I don't feel great but I'm not sorry. If I must be the shooter it's better than being the shot. Your feelings?

Answer 1

I admire your honesty. God judges as we judge ourselves. If in your heart you have a clear conscious, then there is nothing to forgive. Most of us do what we have to do to survive. There is no shame in that. Be at peace with yourself.

Answer 2

I can not read your mind or know what you are thinking or what your are feeling regarding this subject. With that in mind, my question to you is this:

Do you believe that no person can serve God with the nature that they are born with? The reason why I ask you is that no person ever born, is being born this very second, or will be born, can serve God with that nature. Each person, with the nature they are born with,

MUST

have this nature, the nature that they are born with, radically executed by God, and His Holy Spirit infused into the person.

The good news is, is that each person can be forgiven and have this happen to him or her.

War is an evil that will happen.

NOT

in every persons life time BUT it will happen. Jesus said that there will always be wars and rumors of wars. I am glad that you do not feel guilty of what you had to do because people will die in a war; being the nature of the thing. I am also glad to hear that you regret that this happened. I am glad and thankful that you made through that war.

Now the matter of what you have to do has nothing to do with human warfare. It is what every person must deal with whether it is war time

OR

peace time. Salvation is a simple process to do for it has nothing to do with duty to the nation. It has to do with your

NEED.

You need to be saved. You need that nature which you were born with to be shot to death by God, so that He can make you truly alive forever. There are many things which every person shares when they are not saved, no matter what status in life they are in or what occupation in life they are in at any given moment. For instance many are murders or would murder if they could get away with it. The majority are liers. Many have filthy mouths. Many are adulterers or fornicators. Many are touble makers. Pick something sinful that you do and I can find someone who never has been in a war who does or has done the same thing as you that is a sin. I have lied, cheated, hated, fornicated, and gotten drunk among other things. I needed a savior and Jesus saved me. It is not a matter of because. It is a matter of I must had to get saved. What about you? Think about this and we can talk more on line about this if you are serious concerning Judgement Day.

Answer 3

I really don't think that when your government calls you to war, that God will hold it against you for killing people. War of course, is ugly, but it is also a part of human nature. It's either kill or be killed. You were serving under your governments orders and also defending yourself. Many people in the Bible (King David, Joshua, etc.) attacked and defeated cities and killed many in opposition WITH God's help. I don't think I would feel guilty in your case either. As long as you have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior and have repented from your sins, etc., then all is forgiven and you have nothing to fear on Judgment Day. I am certainly no theologian, but I have heard this from many sources, including the Bible, so I believe it is true. Take care!

Answer 4

It is my understanding that the commandment actually reads (in the original language) You shall not murder.

To murder means to take a life without just cause. Self defense or defense of another is just cause so as I see it, the comandment would not apply to defending your country in wartime. In the Bible, you will see the story of many battles where people were killed. God also destroyed entire cities because He had just cause. Using His own example as your guide, I think you can stop being afraid that what you did will affect your relationship with God. I'm sure that if you had been offerred a choice in the matter, you would have preferred not to take anothers life.

Answer 5

God had his own armies in the OT and more than once instructed us to trust and obey our government.

From one Vet to another, I know Vietnam was messy, but it's also my understanding that most of you were drafted. I don't believe it would have been God's intention for you to be a deserter.

I do not think we should "kill" on our own violition, but I do not believe that war is the same as the type of "killing" God meant in the commandments.

It's a debate we even have in our singles group at church between those who have served and those who have chosen not too. I don't suppose we will know the right answer till the end

Answer 6

Your sins are not limited to Viet Nam. All of us have sinned all through our lives. To be saved, one must repent of your sins (lying, cheating, stealing; lust, etc. - doing any of these, at any time in life is a sin) and ask Jesus to be your savior. You don't have to sit down and remember every single time you sinned, but you do need to be sorry for your sins.

I respect your opinions and your honesty. But the way to salvation, as described in the bible, is repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ.

Answer 7

Killing in a war is alot different than killing for the hell of it. In war it's killed or be killed. Part of me senses that you have somewhat of regret but if you don't, you don't. Vietnam is a touchy subject with me. They trained kids for a few weeks & then sent them to battle. If I was you, I'd be thanking God that you're still here. Vietnam screwed up alot of people, Thankfully you're not one of them.

Answer 8

The fifth commandment forbids the intentional destruction of human life. Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all war, the Church insistently urges everyone to prayer and to action so that the divine Goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war.105

2308 All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war.

However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed."106

2309 The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:

- the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;

- all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;

- there must be serious prospects of success;

- the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the "just war" doctrine.


The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.

2310 Public authorities, in this case, have the right and duty to impose on citizens the obligations necessary for national defense.

Those who are sworn to serve their country in the armed forces are servants of the security and freedom of nations. If they carry out their duty honorably, they truly contribute to the common good of the nation and the maintenance of peace.107

2311 Public authorities should make equitable provision for those who for reasons of conscience refuse to bear arms; these are nonetheless obliged to serve the human community in some other way.108

2312 The Church and human reason both assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflict. "The mere fact that war has regrettably broken out does not mean that everything becomes licit between the warring parties."109

2313 Non-combatants, wounded soldiers, and prisoners must be respected and treated humanely.

Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are the orders that command such actions. Blind obedience does not suffice to excuse those who carry them out. Thus the extermination of a people, nation, or ethnic minority must be condemned as a mortal sin. One is morally bound to resist orders that command genocide.

2314 "Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation."110 A danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opportunity to those who possess modern scientific weapons especially atomic, biological, or chemical weapons - to commit such crimes.

Answer 9

the True judgment day is when You accomplish this:

Create a Private, Personal, Direct, Divine Relationship with Our Creator and save Your Soul from religion's and atheist's beliefs and start Your journey back home, to Heaven.

<<<<<<< Love is the answer >>>>>>>

Love and Believe in Our Creator;
Love and Believe in Yourself.

Only with Our Creator's Love and Peace will we be Truly Free!

Without God, there is No Love; Without religion, there are No Wars!

"religion is Spiritual fraud";
"religion is the Worse invention of humanity";
"Universal Truth has eliminated religion from Spirituality",
quotes of Jesus Christ, Buddha and any one else with Spiritual intelligence.

"When a person is freed of religion, they have a better chance to live a normal and wholesome life." S. Freud

Freedom of religion is Freedom from religion.

atheists = all the people in religion = all the ignorant fundamentalists = all the cults/superstitions = paganism = wicca = xians = homosexuals/lesbians.

Answer 10

God is forgiving if you are truly sorry....