As we face hotly contested elections, many religious people are weighing in on who the next candidate should be. Many believe they have a responsibility to vote for the candidate they believe God wants in office. Intriguingly, though, there are people on both sides of the political divide who say they follow Jesus. So you have to ask, “Whose side is God on?” How can you know the answer? Most churchgoers today, viewing everything from the perspective of this world today, blindly assume this is God’s world. They see certain forces of evil in it, and these they feel they must oppose. They see the Christian duty to be that of working to make this a better world. That concept is a wrong viewpoint altogether.
This is a critical point that most churchgoers would disagree with. But it is a plain teaching of the Bible. 2 Corinthians 4:4 calls Satan “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Revelation 12:9 says “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” This is not a world of God’s making. This is Satan’s world! Satan is the invisible god of this present world. He is the author of its organization, its basic philosophies, its systems of government, business, society—yes, and religions! Scripture labels it “who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” (Galatians 1:4).
That is why, no matter who is in office, we always see appalling evils. Some politicians are less unrighteous than others; some embrace more biblical principles than others. None, however, try to run their governments by the law of God; if they did, they wouldn’t be in office for long. Rather, enormous effort is made to keep “church and state” separate. A Bible believing Christian is to emulate Jesus Christ, and Christ cares deeply about government. In fact, He came the first time to preach a message about government. During His time on Earth, He also qualified to replace Satan the devil. But He hasn’t assumed that throne yet. Jesus told the Roman governor Pilate that “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:36-37)
Jesus then announced the soon-coming destruction of all human, imperfect, ill-devised governments, to be superseded by one world-ruling kingdom under God the Father! “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15). Apart from making this news announcement, though, Jesus Christ was not politically active. He rendered unto Caesar that which was Caesar’s—as we all should—but He did not play an active role in man’s made governments. (Matthew 22:15-22)
In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:20 calls true Christians “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” Christians represent God and God’s government. As ambassadors and citizens of the Kingdom of God, Christians are no longer to be involved in man’s made systems of government. “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,” (Philippians 3:20). Christ taught that His Kingdom was not of this world. Consequently, His servants have no part in, but rather, are called out of this world (John 18:36; Revelation 18:4).
The Bible reveals that it is God who sets up rulers and removes them according to His will. (Daniel 4:17) The governments holding power do so only as long as God allows. While they do, Christians are instructed to be subject to them. (Romans 13:1) If, however, there should be a conflict between the laws of God and the laws of man, then, of course, we are to obey God rather than man. (Acts 5:29) Very soon God will strip all power from the kingdoms of this world. “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” (Daniel 2:44) “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15).
As Bible believing Christians it is the duty and responsibility of every Christian to vote and to vote for leaders who promote Christian principles. God is most certainly in control, but that does not mean we should do nothing to further His will. We are commanded to pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-4). In terms of politics and leadership, there is evidence in Scripture that God has been displeased with our choices of leadership at times (Hosea 8:4). The evidence of sin’s grip on this world is everywhere. Much of the suffering on earth is because of godless leadership (Proverbs 28:12).
Christians in many countries in today’s world are oppressed and persecuted. They suffer under governments that they are powerless to change and governments that hate their faith and silence their voices. These believers preach the gospel of Jesus Christ at the risk of their own lives. As Christians we have been blessed with the right to speak about and choose leaders without fearing for themselves or their families.
Scripture gives Christians instructions to obey legitimate authority unless it contradicts the Lord’s commands (Acts 5:27-29; Romans 13:1-7). As born-again believers, we ought to strive to choose leaders who will be themselves led by our Creator (1 Samuel 12:13-25). Candidates or proposals that violate the Bible’s commands for life, family, marriage, or faith should never be supported (Proverbs 14:34). Christians should vote as led through prayer and study of both God’s Word and the realities of the choices on the ballot.
In our day and age, there are many who want to drive the name and message of Christ completely out of the public arena. Voting is an opportunity to promote, protect, and preserve godly government. Passing up that opportunity means letting those who would denigrate the name of Christ have their way in our lives. The leaders we elect—or do nothing to remove—have great influence on our freedoms. They 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. (Matthew 22:21)
In the wonderful World of Tomorrow, there simply won’t be any candidates to vote for! Jesus Christ will return to set up God’s Kingdom, a world government with righteousness and justice. We are admonished to pray for His Kingdom to be established on Earth because then and only then will this world’s problems be solved. “This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10)
China - in His image 