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Casting Christian Votes in Caesar's Ballot Box 10/5/2004
By Jan LaRue, Chief Counsel Christians have compelling Biblical reasons to vote and hold public office. Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.
— John Jay, First Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Christians have compelling Biblical reasons to vote and hold public office. "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" (Romans 13:1). "Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good" (1 Peter 2:13-14). At the same time, Acts 5:29 commands us to "obey God rather than men"!
Helping Laws Conform to God's Laws
Christians must obey God's law and man's law, except when man's law commands us to do something that God forbids or forbids us to do something God commands. Voting is vital to insure that laws are enacted that conform to God's laws.
God commanded the people of Israel to "appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment" (Deuteronomy 16:18). When the Jews were in Babylon, they had to obey God's laws and man's laws. Jeremiah 29:4-7 says:
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters-that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace. [Emphasis added.]
God used Bible heroes such as Joseph, Esther, Mordecai, Nehemiah and Daniel to influence pagan governments. Some held official positions within the government, which allowed them to enact public policies that conformed to God's laws.
Christians are Dual Citizens
Christians are described in 1 Peter 1:1 as "strangers in the world" (NIV) because "our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20). Yet, we have dual citizenship with dual responsibilities.
Just as Paul submitted to God and Rome, we are to obey God and properly fulfill our civic duties as citizens of a great nation. If we want to live in peace and prosperity and retain the right to publicly share the Gospel, we must seek the prosperity of America by praying and voting.
Don't be deterred by those who "we have to keep Church and State separate." They want to silence the Christian voice in the public square and keep us effectively disenfranchised. We have a right and duty to influence public policies on the sanctity of human life, religious liberty, marriage and family, pornography, property rights, tax policies, etc. These are moral as well as political issues about which God has spoken.
During the 18th century Great Awakening, Christians prayed and evangelized and thousands were converted to Christ. The Christians realized that the revival would come to an end, and they were wise enough to seize the opportunity to help enact new laws that would help restrain evil.
As it says in 1 Timothy 1: 8-11:
But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
The Founders and Christian Responsibility
Many of the Founders were Christians who took part in the Continental Congress. They signed the Declaration of Independence and influenced the text and ratification of the Constitution. They spoke about the responsibility of Christians to vote:
We electors have an important constitutional power placed in our hands: [W]e have a check upon two branches of the legislature, as each branch has upon the other two; the power I mean of electing at stated periods, one branch, which branch has the power of electing another. It becomes necessary to every subject then, to be in some degree a statesman: and to examine and judge for himself of the tendencies of political principles and measures. — John Adams
Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual-or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country. — Samuel Adams
When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, "just men who will rule in the fear of God." The preservation of government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. — Noah Webster
Pray and vote on November 2, because the government you get is the government God commands you to obey.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture references are from the New King James Version.
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