QUESTION: Is it good for Christians to be soldiers?

ANSWER: A man can be a soldier and remain a faithful Christian! Some have thought otherwise on the basis of the sixth commandment which says, “Thou shall not kill.” This commandment had to do, however, with the individual and did not apply to governments. It was simply a prohibition against premeditated murder. Every man has the right of self-protection and self-defense (Exodus 22:2), as the protector of home and family. The same principle would be true in defense of one’s homeland. However, to engage in any capacity in wars of hatred and conquest for purposes of territorial expansion, liquidation of peoples, and/or confiscation of another’s wealth is wrong. In such activities a Christian may not engage, though he may be so directed by his government. God’s Law in this case supersedes government law. When such occurs, we are to obey God, rather than man (Acts 5:29)!