Mike,

Is it okay for Christians to have guns? Thanks, you are a wonderful blessing every day. God has really given you wisdom and understanding,

May He keep on,
S____

Hi S____,
Thank you for your question. You ask:

Is it okay for Christians to have guns?”

The short answer is, certainly it is okay for a Christian to have a gun.

Now if you had asked me ‘Is it okay for a Christian to have a gun for self defense?’ the answer would have been certainly not! No man of God depends on the strength of arms for his protection from evil.

Psa 9:10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
Pro 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Mat 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Mat 5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [ than others]? do not even the publicans so?
Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

“Be ye… perfect,” is the aorist tense, and should read ‘Become you perfect…’ The moment any Christian takes up physical arms to protect himself, he has, at that  very moment, lost his spiritual “shield of faith,” and has lost any protection that the spirit would have afforded those whose “trust is in the Lord.”
The whole orthodox Christian world takes these words of our Lord to say ‘Love your enemies unless they really are your enemies, and they mean you and your family bodily harm. In that case you can blow them away.’ But that is not what our Lord has said and that certainly is not what He meant when He said these words in rebuke to Peter:

Mat 26:52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

I know that I have readers all around the world who probably think that it is simply bad policy to have a gun in the house, but the truth of God’s Word remains that “nothing from without a man can defile him, but what comes out of a man, out from his heart, this defiles the man.”

Mar 7:14 And when he had called all the people [ unto him], he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one [ of you], and understand:
Mar 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
Mar 7:16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

Christ had nothing against having a sword with His apostles, but he had them all to know that the purpose for that sword was “that the scriptures might be fulfilled…” It was not for the purpose, as so many have claimed over the years, of self defense.

Luk 22:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
Luk 22:37 For I say unto you, t hat this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.
Luk 22:38 And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

Eleven disciples and two swords, and “it was enough” to fulfill the scripture “that is written… And He was reckoned among the transgressors…”
So where do murders originate? Are guns the reason for murders?

Mat 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

I was raised with rifles and shotguns in the house, but I can honestly say that I never one time thought of those guns as a means of self defense. We had them there for use in butchering livestock and hunting for game. The thought of shooting another human being never once crossed my mind in all of those years.
I hope this helps you to see a Christian can own a gun, and I also hope you see that murders do not come from guns but from “evil thoughts which proceed out of the hearts of men.”

Your brother in Christ,
Mike >