This
November 8, we here in the USA will hold a national election, with the
Presidential race being perhaps the most polarized, most vitriolic, and
most sensational ever. As Christians, we should base our political ideas
and involvement upon what the Word of God says. After all, civil government was His idea. Actually, I think He intended it to be a lot more civil than it is. Can you say, “Bureau of Motor Vehicles”? Sure you can.
As you may have heard, WORDS HAVE MEANINGS! So let us define some terms for this brief piece. The Greek word for “city” is polis.
If you dig into the etymology, you will find related words such as
“citizen,” “civil,” and of course “politics,” “political,” “policy,”
“police,” and “polite” (how did that last one get in that list?).
Dictionary.com defines “government” as, “the political direction and
control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or
inhabitants of communities.” Thus, “political correctness” should
consist of the least controlling political policies best for all
citizens, and enforced by polite police.
If you have not seen The End Times
video, I encourage you to get a copy today. In it I talk a bit about
the origin of earthly government and why God instituted it. You may
recall that this took place in Genesis 9, after Noah and his family came
off the Ark. God promised him that He would never again judge mankind
as He had just done, until He sends Jesus Christ to earth to destroy all
wicked people. What a day that will be! At the same time, God
instituted the death penalty as the first of many godly laws, clearly
showing that He expected mankind to properly govern the world and keep
order until He could bring to pass His plan of a perfect race on a
perfect earth. In essence, God shared His authority with man, which fits
with how He relates to us reciprocally.
Why did God leave it up to man to establish godly government? Because He understands the spiritual war going on between Satan and Himself. That conflict is the backdrop before which the history of mankind is playing out. It is a war in which people are the prize, with God doing His best to save as many as possible from sin and death and then help them live quality lives amidst the insanity of this dying world. Conversely (and perversely), Satan is doing his best to steal, kill, and destroy as much as he possibly can. This is a war waged with WORDS, with God using TRUTH and Satan using LIES. The Word of God is the only absolute standard for determining truth and error, and, while it does not speak volumes about political matters, I assert that it does address quite a few directly and many others indirectly as we extrapolate from its timeless principles.
God knew that in the spiritual battle going on, wicked people would not fear an invisible God as a deterrent to their criminal ways, but they would fear godly people who would punish them for their crimes. It is plain to see that fear of punishment is the only thing stopping many people from criminal activity. The more godly the laws of a land are, the more swift the justice, and the less crime there is. In our exposition of the Book of Romans, we cover Chapter 13:1-7, where God shows how civil government is supposed to work.
How has mankind done in terms of providing godly government on earth? Not well. In fact, there are no adjectives sufficient to describe the tyrannical havoc that government officials have wrought on people throughout the centuries—and every one of them will one day stand before “Judge Jesus” to account for their crimes. The Millennial Kingdom is an intermediate step in God’s plan to totally regenerate the world, and during that wonderful time the perfectly just King, Jesus Christ, will be the monarchical government.
Why have nearly all governments, no matter their form, been ungodly? The answer: SIN. The Devil has used sinful man’s propensity for SELF-ishness to corrupt those in positions of power so as to enslave everyone he can, but most specifically to make it difficult forChristians to spread the Gospel. Never forget, THAT is what the spiritual battle is all about. That’s why Paul wrote the following exhortation to his young protégé, Timbo (Rambo’s cousin):
1 Timothy 2:1–4
1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Can the Devil read? Yes. Has he read those verses? Yes. Does he want exactly the opposite of what God wants? Yes. He wants no one to be saved or learn the Word. The only way anyone can
be saved and grow in an experiential knowledge of the Word is if
Christians who know the Word proclaim it in love to those who have never
heard. But if they are not free to speak it, and/or if they are
spending every waking moment just trying to feed their families, it will
be much harder for them to spread the Word. That is why Satan’s attack
on any country is aimed most directly at freedom and prosperity. Even if my choice is between the lesser of two evils, I will vote for those candidates who I believe will promote more freedom and prosperity than will their opponents.
Freedom is a big deal to God, and He speaks about it often, as per Galatians 5:1 regarding our freedom in Christ. Practicing Truth makes one free, while practicing error
puts one in bondage to some degree (John 8:31-32). Therefore, one major
criterion for determining whether a policy or program is godly is
whether it promotes freedom or a lack thereof. The purpose of government is to promote and protect as much individual freedom as possible, but where ungodly people rule, people’s freedom
is greatly restricted on many fronts. Conversely, godly government
encourages individuals to pursue whatever they choose as long as it does
not infringe upon another’s God-given rights.
Clearly, those who govern are to be governed by
the Word of God. God knows, and history shows, that He has designed
people with incredible potential for ideas, inventions, and ways to make
progress that will benefit mankind. Freedom allows
people to maximize their potential, and society benefits as a result.
Proverbs is loaded with verses about the difference between godly and
ungodly rulers as well as the benefits and consequences of each.
Freedom promotes prosperity,
which means “a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition.”
Ephesians 4:28 shows that the reason we are to work a job is so that we
have something to give to those in need, beginning, of course, with
supporting our own families. God says that those who have enough to give
should do so from the heart, but it is not the job of government to
make them do so. Socialism/Marxism promotes the involuntary
redistribution of wealth, forcibly taking it from those who earn/have it
and giving it to those who do not (though much of what is taken goes to
those who take it). History shows clearly that it has never
worked, and it never will. Yes, there are many evil people in business
who are cheating and abusing others, but overall, capitalism/free
enterprise results in the greatest prosperity for the most people.
Americans give to charity far more than the people of all other
countries. In a truly free society, people could, and would, exercise
charity of their own volition, and the poor would receive much help.
The uniqueness of our USA is that we are a Republic, wherein there is supposed to be true representation for all bodies of people, whether large or small. We are not a Democracy, which basically means “majority rule.” Ben Franklin reportedly once described it as two wolves and a sheep deciding what’s for dinner.
If we were a “Democracy” (as most of our politicians refer to us), a
majority could pass a law that is unfair, unjust, or inequitable just
because the majority believes it to be right. Our founders realized that
groups of men, large or small, were basically SELF-centered, so they
decided upon a Constitutional Republic. The Federal Government is given
only those rather limited powers enumerated in the Constitution, and all
other powers remain with the States and individual people.
Given the degree to which Christian principles permeated the founding
documents of our nation, it is heartbreaking to see how wicked our
government has become, especially in the last 100 years or so. It was
about that time that true capitalism was replaced by our current system
of cronyism. Few people realize the incalculable evil perpetrated by
those in power, but the Lord has it all recorded in his ledger, and one
day he will mete out true justice to every human being who has ever
lived. Come quickly, “Judge Jesus.”
Under Totalitarian,
Socialist, and Communist regimes, the elimination of Christianity is
always a critical part of the plan. For these slavish systems to work,
total dependence on “enlightened” leaders must be absolute and
unconditional. Hence, a belief system that teaches people to depend on
God must be struck down and trodden under foot. How often throughout the
Bible were the governments of the time godly? Hardly ever. Occasionally
God found a man or woman who stood for Him and thus was a catalyst for
prospering an entire nation. When Jesus Christ showed up after centuries
of Israel being oppressed, the Jews wanted him to fix the government,
but that was not his mission during his first stop on earth.
When the Lord Jesus comes again to the earth, he will BE the government! In
the meantime, God has shown us that He will be with us and help us in
miraculous ways, even in the worst of circumstances. Actually, God loves
to defy the odds, but He usually needs at least some human cooperation
to do so. He hid Elijah and had ravens bring him “carry out” until it
was time for him to go speak to the government. The Lord Jesus sent
Ananias to meet with Saul, who had government clearance to kill
Christians. Governments come and go, but the Word of God stands. The
question is: “Where do we stand?”
As Christians, it is our responsibility to try to elect those officials whose policies are at least less ungodly
than those of their opponent, although too often there is little
fundamental difference between them. The closer one’s policies are to
biblical principles, the better off the people will be. I assert that freedom and prosperity are
two criteria by which we can make that call. Personally, I will vote
for someone I consider a question mark if the other choice is someone
who is an exclamation point for evil.
2 Samuel 23:3 and 4
3 The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one
rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, 4 he
is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the
brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.’
Proverbs 29:2
When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.
Scripture is clear that the world has been growing more and more evil,
and that this will continue until the day when the Lord Jesus gathers
together all us Christians to meet him in the air. Ever since
Genesis 11, when God divided the one-world language into many so that
wicked people could not easily communicate with one another, Satan has
been working to bring to pass a global government under his domination.
We know that he will eventually succeed in establishing a short-lived
global reign, but, as I show line-by-line and word-by-word in The End Times video, 2 Thessalonians 2:1–7 clearly and specifically says that this cannot happen until the Body of Christ is removed from the earth. What I don’t see in the Word is how bad it might get for us before our Lord rescues us from “behind enemy lines.”
Let us never forget that our real Enemy is Satan. As Ephesians 6:12
says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Evil
spirits are manipulating willing human agents to ignore godly laws and
institute ungodly laws. Paul goes on to tell us just how to fight our
spiritual enemy:
Ephesians 6:13-17(ASV)
13 Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth,
and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod
your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 withal taking
up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Dear brethren, TODAY is “the evil day,” the “present evil age” from which our Lord will eventually rescue us (Gal. 1:4). Today, “political correctness” dictates that we Christians never say, do, or be anything that offends anyone else. Somehow, Christianity has become one of the most “offensive” things on earth, but that is because Satan has blinded most people to God’s Truth and duped them into calling light darkness and darkness light. One dictionary definition of “offensive” is “attacking,” but we do not use military weapons to get our point across. We speak words of Truth. We attack wrong doctrine with the two-edged sword of Truth. And we do so fully assured of our standing as sons of God and our glorious hope.
Philippians 3:18–21
18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Amen! And that hope is the “bottom line” of how we approach every day in this ever-darkening world. As we hold fast to that glorious hope, we shine ever more brightly amidst the growing darkness and despair all around us. And that light is inextinguishable!
