Vote, Christian Perspective

^{“And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21)}

^{It has been said that “religion and politics don’t mix.” But is this really true?}

^{Be assured that if there is anything that will spark a spontaneous debate, if not an outright argument, it is a friendly discussion involving politics—even among believers.}

^{As followers of Jesus Christ, just what should be our stance, attitude and involvement with politics? Is it possible that we can have political views outside the considerations of our Christian faith?}

^{The answer is no, we cannot. What does the Bible have to say? I discovered two truths regarding our Christian faith and our stance towards politics and government.}

^{Before we dig in, i must share basic biblical guidelines, responsibilities of a Christian involving our position, as far as living in for the most part a non-believing world.}

^{That said, there is no doubt that our responsibility to government is to obey the laws and be good citizens (Romans 13:1–2).}

^{“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2)}

^{“Every Christian ought to obey the civil authorities, for all legitimate authority is derived from God’s authority, and the existing authority is appointed under God. To oppose authority then is to oppose God, and such opposition is bound to be punished.” (Philipps Version)}

^{In other words, for a believer to know and obey, is that God has established all authority, and He does so for our benefit, “to commend those who do right” (1 Peter 2:13-15)}

^{Paul teaches us in (Roman 13:1-8)  that it becomes the government’s responsibility to rule in authority over us—hopefully for our good—to collect taxes, and to keep the peace. Where we have a voice is through our votes to elect our leaders, and we need to exercise that right by voting for those who best define and demonstrate Christian principles.}

^{What God has purposed, He will bring to pass, and no government can thwart His will ((Daniel 4:34-35)}

^{“For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?”}

^{And also, remember that it is God who “sets up kings and deposes them” (Daniel 2:21)}

^{In other words, even if evil men abuse their political power, meaning it for evil, God means it for good and is of this moment working “all things together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28)}

^{One thing for sure, that we need to get, we need to grab hold of is this; that our government cannot save us! Only God can.}

^{Nowhere do we read in the New Testament of Jesus or any of the apostles expending any time or energy teaching believers on how to go about reforming the world around them of its idolatrous, immoral, and corrupt practices through the government. The apostles never called for believers to demonstrate civil disobedience to protest the Roman Empire’s unjust laws or brutal schemes. Instead, the apostles commanded the first-century Christians, as well as us today, to proclaim the gospel and live lives that give clear evidence to the gospel’s transforming power.}

^{One of Satan’s grandest deceptions is that we, the church can rest our hope for cultural morality and godly living in and through the lives of politicians and governmental officials. We as the church is making a grave mistake when we begin to think that it is the job of politicians to defend, to advance, and to guard biblical truths and Christian values.}

^{In fact believers throughout the ages have lived, and even flourished, under repressive, pagan governments.}

^{This was especially true of the first-century believers who, under merciless political regimes, sustained their faith under immense cultural stress.}

^{They understood that it was they, not their governments, who were the light of the world and the salt of the earth. They adhered to Paul’s teaching to obey their governing authorities, even to honor, respect, and pray for them. (Romans 13:1-8)}

^{Most importantly, they understood that, as believers, their hope was in the protection that only God supplies. The same holds true for us today. When we follow the teachings of the Scriptures, we become the light of the world as God has intended for us to be (Matthew 5:16)}

^{One of Satan’s grandest deceptions is that we as Christian’s can rest our hope for cultural morality and godly living in politicians and governmental officials. Unfortunately, the church has ‘bit the bit’ and thinks that it is the job of politicians to defend, to advance, and to}

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^{In the U.S.A. Christians have been blessed with the right to speak about and choose our leaders without fearing for ourselves or their families. In our country in recent elections, about 2 of every 5 of self-professed Christians took that right for granted and did not vote. About 1 in 5 self-professed, eligible Christians are not even registered to vote.}

^{This is disheartening that in our day and age, there are so many who want nothing more than to drive the name and message of Jesus Christ completely out of the public arena.}

^{Voting is the opportunity to promote, protect, and preserve what is left of a godly government. Passing up this opportunity means letting those who would denigrate the name of Jesus Christ have their way in our lives.}

^{As we prepare for the upcoming election this year, we will be held to how we voted or if we voted at all. Either way, what we do, or do not do, will have consequences on our lives, our families, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers. Either way, you can be sure of this, it will have great influence on our freedoms.}

^{What’s on the line? That we can choose to protect our first amendment right to religious freedom and the right to spread the gospel, or they can restrict those rights. They can lead our nation toward righteousness or toward moral disaster. As Christians, we should stand up and follow our command to fulfill our civic duties}

^{“And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21)}