Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Monday, August 19, 2024

Should Christians Vote in Political Elections?

The Scriptures do not address this topic specifically, that I am aware of, but they do give us some guidelines to go by which I believe are related to whether or not we should choose to vote in public political elections. But every one of us has to make that decision for ourselves after we have prayed about it and have sought the Lord and examined the Scriptures to see whether or not God would be honored by us choosing to vote. 


The first thing that comes to mind comes from the Old Testament where the people were crying out for a king. In 1 Samuel 8:6-9 ESV we read:


“But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’”


From that I get the message that we are not to desire human kings to rule over us as though we need a human king (president, government official), and that God is not enough. And all throughout the Scriptures we are warned against putting our trust and our confidence in other humans, and against turning to other humans or nations to save us from what ails us rather than us trusting in God alone to save us and our nations and the people in our nations from what ails them, which is sin, in reality.


We are not to put our “trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.” “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” “They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval.” “Where is your king, that he may save you? Where are your rulers in all your towns, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’?” Our faith is not to rest “on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” And we are warned against being taken captive by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceit.


See: [Psalms 118:9; Psalms 146:3; Psalms 147:10-11; Isaiah 40:23; Jeremiah 17:5-6; Hosea 8:4; Hosea 13:10; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; 1 Corinthians 7:23; Ephesians 4:14-16; 2 Peter 3:17-18]


And here we have Jesus’ words in response to Pilate when he asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36 ESV) And we are to live our lives in Christ Jesus as though we are part of his kingdom doing his kingdom work believing him to rescue us from the evils of our societies.


And the work that we are to be doing and that we are to be fighting for, in defense of, is in the spreading of the gospel of our salvation to the people of this world, for only through more and more people believing in Jesus and walking in obedience to his commands will the evils of our societies begin to diminish. For only Jesus Christ can deliver us human beings from our sinful addictions and hate and violence and wickedness and all sorts of evils which plague the world that we live in. Only Jesus Christ can save our nations.


So, what should we be fighting for? For the truth of the gospel. And what message should we be spreading to the people of the world, especially on the internet? The truth of the gospel. For we are called of God to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth in preserving and in sharing the truth of the gospel of Christ. And we are all to be those who are proclaiming the excellencies of God who called us out of spiritual darkness (sin) into the light of his truth and righteousness to holy living in obedience to him.


[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Eph 5:11-14; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6; Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14]


“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” (2 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV)


I see so many Christians posting all sorts of political stuff on social media where they are for one political candidate and against another, and so they promote the candidate they like while they will sometimes then put down the other candidate, based upon whatever information they are being fed by their respective political parties and via the news media. But I don’t see many of them promoting Jesus Christ as the only solution to what ails us as a people in this world, and not many are sharing the gospel message.


And I believe that is really where things begin to go the wrong direction, when we are looking to human beings to be our “saviors” from what ails us, and when we are busy promoting men (or women) to come to our rescue, but when we are lacking in doing the work that God has called us to do in being his ministers and in taking the full message of the gospel to the people of the world so that they can be delivered from their sins and now live godly and holy lives in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands.


So the problem really comes into being when we get our priorities all out of order and when we are looking to humans to save us from what ails us as the people of this world instead of us looking to the Lord to be our KING and our only SAVIOR. 


My Sheep  


An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV


My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.


So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.


Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 


They know my voice, so they follow me.


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