Thinking Biblically About Political Involvement

Why don't you listen carefully to this question?

Think it through.

Don't answer out loud.

But do you think that all people should be held to the same

biblical standards of right and wrong, good and evil,

morality and immorality?

Think about it.

Should all people throughout the world,

regardless of what they believe or even if they believe,

should they be held to the same biblical standards of right and wrong?

And why would you say whatever it is that you would say?

Well, the overwhelming majority of people who are unbelievers

would answer that absolutely not,

and they'd give a list of reasons why they would say absolutely not.

Many would say there's no one standard of right and wrong

for everyone in life.

They would say things like,

what may be right for you is not right for me.

What you say is wrong may not be wrong for me.

It's the common way of explaining all points,

all views are equally valid today.

People who would be more gracious may say,

well, if it works for you, then fine.

That's good.

But I believe everyone, deep down,

should just follow their heart.

You've heard that.

I hope you've not said that.

You hadn't thought it through if you said that.

Now, the overwhelming majority of Christians should say,

yes, it is absolutely right,

that all people will be held accountable

to the same biblical standards.

And can you explain why?

Can you give a reason for saying yes?

Well, that's what I want us to do first.

I want us to answer the question,

why are all people held accountable

to the same biblical standards of right and wrong,

good and evil?

I want to sort of summarize it.

First, God created this world.

You know that.

We have looked at that.

You just know that because most of you in this room,

you are faithful Christians,

you've studied God's word, but look at it.

The very first sentence of the Bible,

in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

And the rest of the first chapter of Genesis,

Genesis,

sort of gives us a step-by-step process

of when God made what.

As you move on into Genesis 1,

you come to the real climax of creation,

the creation of human beings.

And we've looked at that

in several different messages over the last month,

thinking about socialism and so forth.

But look at it, just one verse,

Genesis 127.

So God created man in His own image,

and the image of God, He created him.

Male and female, He created them.

God is the creator of everything that exists.

Therefore, the entire creation,

all people, all things belong to God.

Look next.

God reigns, rules, supremely over His creation.

God is actively involved in what He's created,

this world, our lives.

He is actively guiding all things

according to His purpose,

His plan, His will,

and He's doing it for His glory.

The Bible is filled with references,

both Old and New Testament,

on how God is involved in this world

and in our lives.

Directing things,

governing His creation.

Here's one of the most comprehensive statements

about how God is working out His purpose

in this world and in our lives.

Look at it.

In Him we have obtained an inheritance,

having been predestined

according to the purpose of Him

who works all things

according to the counsel of His will.

God is working in all things in this world,

all things in creation

according to, as it says here,

the counsel of His will,

His plan, His purpose.

Now, this next statement

shows us how God has made each of us

specifically as we are.

Look at this.

It's from Psalm 119.

For you formed my inward parts.

You knitted me together

in my mother's womb.

You are not an accident.

You are you by God's design.

The height you are.

With the abilities that you have.

With the ability to develop some things

that maybe you didn't have

or weren't naturally gifted with.

God created you to be you.

Now, the reason why all people

are held to the same standards

is because everyone has been created uniquely

by God,

in the image of God,

to live in a world governed by God

according to God's will.

Look at that on the screen

and think about that.

As a result of how God has created us like this,

everyone possesses at least some basic knowledge

of who God is,

that there is a God,

and everyone possesses

at least some basic understanding

of His moral standards,

right and wrong generally.

What's revealed in the Bible

about right and wrong.

Let me give you some examples.

Paul describes how all people

have some understanding of God

in Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

In Romans chapter 1,

Romans 1 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 18,

through chapter 3,

verse 19,

Paul describes how all people

have sinned

and come short of God's glory,

God's expectations,

how all people are sinners

in need of a Savior.

And as he begins that

in Romans 1,

Romans 1:19

verses 19 and 20,

he talks about how everybody

has some concept of God.

Look at it.

For what can be known about God

is plain to them

because God has shown it to them

for His invisible attributes,

namely,

His eternal power

and divine nature

have been clearly perceived

ever since the creation of the world

and the things that have been made,

so they're without excuse.

Paul is saying that

as you live in this world

and you look around at creation,

the complexity,

the orderliness,

there has to be some grand plan.

There has to be an ultimate designer.

There has to be some kind of divine power,

at least.

There has to be some concept of God.

Not as we know God revealed

throughout Scripture,

but there is just,

by living in this world,

enough awareness of the existence of God,

Paul says,

that everybody is accountable to God.

People who reject

what they know about God,

they're without excuse.

They're sinners

under the condemnation of death

because they've rejected

what they did know about God.

Look on in chapter 2.

Paul describes how all people

have some basic understanding

of right and wrong

as revealed in Scripture,

even if they have never heard

of Scripture.

They've never read it.

They've never had it read to them.

Look at this.

He says,

For when Gentiles,

who do not have the law,

by nature do what the law requires,

they are a law to themselves,

even though they do not have the law.

They show that the work of the law

is written on their hearts,

while their conscience

also bears witness.

What Paul is saying is,

human beings created in the image of God,

we have this innate sense

of basic morality,

basic right and wrong.

We have a conscience.

That's what he's talking about.

Now, here's an example

of how all people possess

a basic understanding

of God's standards of right and wrong.

If someone breaks

into an unbeliever's house,

if someone breaks

into an atheist's house

and steals his money

or his computer

or his TV,

he or she is going to call

the police

with the expectation

that the police are going to try

to find this person,

and if they find this person,

this thief,

they're going to arrest him.

They're going to put him in jail,

and hopefully,

they'll get their property back.

Every atheist knows

what every Christian knows.

There's a universal standard

of right and wrong.

What is mine

is mine

and not yours.

Theft.

There's just something within us

that tells us

it is unjust

for you to take,

steal,

that which is mine.

Everyone understands that.

Now,

stealing is a violation

of God's revealed law

in Scripture.

It is a violation

of the basic concept

of justice

that is written

in the heart

of every human being.

That's why

every normal person

in this country,

black or white,

rich or poor,

knows that rioting

and looting

is morally wrong.

It can never be excused

as anything

other than

unlawful

and sinful.

I say every normal person

because there are people

who are trying

to deny

that

what's happening

is

rioting,

looting,

anarchy,

lawlessness.

Some of them

want to just

let it go

until it gets

close to home.

the liberal

mayor of Chicago

at first

closed her eyes

to the anarchy

that was taking place

in her city

until they got

close to her house

and then she

calls out

the police,

the bad guys

according to her,

to come

and defend

her property

and her life

against those

who are

rioting,

looting

and sometimes

murdering

innocent people.

Put it another way,

if our non-Christian

neighbor steals

from us,

we're not going

to excuse

their behavior

because

they didn't know

the eighth commandment,

do not steal.

I'm going to say

there's not a person

in this room

who does not expect,

if you've got

an unsaved neighbor,

you expect

that unsaved

neighbor

to not steal

your stuff.

You expect

that neighbor

to follow

the commandment,

do not steal,

whether they've

heard it or not

because you know

it's just something

that we know

in our conscience.

It's wrong

to steal.

And if that neighbor

does steal

from us,

we're going

to consider

him or her

a lawbreaker

and we're going

to consider

it right

for him or her

to be punished

for breaking

this law

even if they've

never heard

of that eighth

commandment,

do not steal.

The Bible

makes it clear

that the moral

standards of God,

the standards

revealed in the Bible

are the moral

standards of all

people.

They're the moral

standards that all

people are going

to be judged by

on the day of

judgment.

Peter makes this

clear in his

first letter

in our New Testament.

First Peter

was written

to encourage

Christians who

were being

persecuted.

Peter was writing

to Christians

living in a

hostile environment.

At one point

he told them

that the non-Christians

around them,

look at this,

are surprised

when you do not

join them

in the same

flood of debauchery

and they malign

you,

but they will

give an account

to him who is

ready to judge

the living

and the dead.

Peter's saying

the people

around you,

they don't

understand why

you don't join

them in living

an ungodly

life.

While you're

not drunk,

being sexually

impure,

taking advantage

of people,

things like that.

They don't

understand it.

But Paul says

they will give

an account to him

who is ready

to judge the

living and the

dead for the

way that they

are living.

This shows us

that even

unbelievers

will stand

before God

and be judged

based on God's

moral standards

that we see

revealed in

scripture,

but on the

basic level

are written

in our hearts.

God has only

one standard.

He has revealed

it in his word.

He has put it

on our conscience,

written it on

our heart,

and we are

responsible.

All people

are responsible.

The book of Acts

tells us that Paul

believed the same

thing, taught the

same thing.

The book of Acts

tells us in chapter

17 about Paul's

encounter with

unbelieving Greek

philosophers in

Athens.

Look at it.

He told them

that the God

who made the

world and

everything in

it, verse 24,

also commands

all people

everywhere to

repent because

he has fixed

a day on which

he will judge

the world in

righteousness by

a man whom

he has appointed

and of this

he has given

assurance to

all by raising

him from the

dead.

Now Paul was

speaking to

people.

Who didn't

believe in the

authority of the

Bible if they

even knew what

the Bible taught?

They didn't care.

They didn't know

about Jesus or

what they did

know.

They certainly

did not believe

that he was the

son of God.

They didn't

believe in the

idea of his

dying on the

cross for their

sins and they

certainly didn't

believe in a

resurrection.

But Paul made

it clear that God

will judge all

people according

to his righteous

standards which

are revealed in

scripture and

God will judge

all people by

Jesus Christ.

Wayne Grudem

has described

things like this,

all of this kind

of stuff in

great detail in

his book,

Politics According

to the Bible.

And then he

makes this

application.

Look at this.

This truth has

significant implications

for how Christians

understand political

questions that

involve right and

wrong.

For example, if God

says that murder is

wrong, Exodus 20,

13, and if it is

determined that the

command to not

murder applies to

pre-born children and

to those who are

elderly or very ill,

it clearly affects how

one views laws

regarding abortion and

euthanasia.

Seven weeks from

today, or seven weeks

from Tuesday, rather,

Americans will go to

the polls to elect a

president, United States

senators, and House of

Representatives members

who will determine laws and

policies of right and

wrong.

The Bible addresses many

of those questions of

right and wrong as it

addresses issues related

to abortion, racism,

homosexuality, religious

liberty, as we've seen in

the past few weeks,

socialism.

Now, Democrats and

Republicans, according to

their own platforms, have

very different answers to

the questions of those

issues.

We as Christians have a

responsibility to evaluate

how each candidate answers

those questions in light of

what the Bible teaches.

And then it's our

responsibility to vote for

the candidates whose answers

are more closely aligned with

the teaching of Scripture.

Now, I know that some

Christians think that

political matters should not

ever be brought up in

church.

Such Christians are wrong to

think that.

And I want to show you why.

Number two, question number

two this morning.

Why should Christians be

involved in the political

process in our country?

Well, throughout the Bible, we

see God's people involved in

what we would call politics

or governmental affairs.

I want to give you one

example that's well known from

the prophet Daniel's life.

Daniel's one of the most, one

of the, a lot of Christians'

favorite Old Testament

persons.

I want you to look at how

Daniel spoke to King

Nebuchadnezzar.

Look at this.

He said, therefore, O king,

let my counsel be acceptable

to you.

Break off your sins by

practicing righteousness and

your iniquities by showing

mercy to the oppressed that

there may perhaps be a

lengthening of your prosperity.

Now, you can imagine Daniel

took a risk to say that to

an unbelieving king.

But Daniel was committed to

faithfully upholding God's

moral standards even to an

unbelieving secular leader who

had power over him, over his

life and death.

Daniel knew, he understood that

God holds all people accountable

for living by his moral

standards even though

Nebuchadnezzar had not been

brought up, had not been

taught these things other than

what Daniel and maybe some

other Jews had taught him.

The prophet Jeremiah told the

Jewish people who were in exile

in Babylon, seek the welfare of

that city.

Now, let me back up a moment.

Daniel was taken as a boy from

his home as a captive prisoner of

war to Babylonia.

And he did not compromise what he

believed.

You can read about that in Daniel.

The first few chapters, he stood

firmly in who he was, what he

believed, being a man of God.

And God blessed his faithfulness.

He became an officer in the

government of a pagan power.

And he spoke the word of God.

He held that king accountable to

live according to the truth of

God's word.

Well, Jeremiah told the Jewish

people who had also been taken

captive, taken as prisoners of war

far from their homeland.

He told them, look at this, seek the

welfare of the city where I have sent

you into exile.

Think about this.

The Babylonians defeated the nation

of Judah.

God's chosen people took those

people, many of them into

captivity.

The scripture says, I have sent you

into exile.

God said that.

God is sovereign.

God's in control.

God used the Babylonians to punish

his unfaithful people.

That's what happened.

But look at it.

Seek the welfare of the city where

I have sent you into exile and pray

to the Lord on its behalf for in

its welfare you will find your

welfare.

If the Jewish people were going to

seek the welfare of the city, they

needed to be involved in everything

they could possibly be involved in,

didn't they?

They needed to influence the leaders of

the city to the best of their ability

even though they had no opportunity

to vote.

They couldn't say a whole lot or at

least they wouldn't be heard a whole

lot.

But Jeremiah, God spoke through him

and told them, you seek the welfare of

this city.

Note two specific things about this.

They were to pray for the welfare of

everyone, even those unbelievers who had

taken them captive, their enemies.

But what it says here, they would find

that as the city prospered, they would

prosper.

No matter what we think about what's

going on in our country today, we must

never give up.

We, as Christians, we need to pray.

We need to do all that we can, work for

the welfare of our country, our state, our

county.

And as the country prospers, we will

prosper.

Just like God told the people, His chosen

people, living in exile.

Wayne Grudem says that this includes our

political involvement.

But look at this.

The true welfare of such a city will be

advanced through governmental laws and

policies that are consistent with God's

teachings in the Bible, not by those that

are contrary to the Bible's teaching.

Being actively involved in influencing this

world is our Christian responsibility.

Jesus clearly stated that He expects us

His followers to be living in the world, making

a difference, having influence, having an

impact.

Look at how He said this.

We're to be like salt, having a preserving

effect, preserving what we can that is good and

right.

Having a flavoring on our community.

Look at what Jesus said.

You're the salt of the earth.

But if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its

saltiness be restored?

It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown

out and trampled under people's feet.

When Jesus said, you're the salt of the earth, what does

He focus on?

He talked about, He's focusing on here, if we don't do

that, we're useless.

He's trying from a backhanded sort of way to say, get

involved.

Be involved in your community.

Be involved in this world.

Preserve flavor, influence.

Then He also said we're to be like light, shining light, the

light of the gospel, the light of the truth of God on our

community.

Look at this.

You're the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a

lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand.

And it gives light to all in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others so that

they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who

is in heaven.

We are supposed to be in this county, wherever we go.

We're supposed to be agents of God's grace and truth.

We're supposed to have this kind of influence in our schools, in

our businesses, and in government.

And one of the ways we accomplish this in government is by voting

according to the truth of Scripture on the issues that are

addressed in Scripture.

All issues are not addressed in Scripture.

And next week, we're going to come back and look at some of the

issues addressed in Scripture and see how the platforms of the

Republican and Democratic parties line up with the principles of

God's Word.

But before we do that, we must be convinced that the teaching of

Scripture has universal application.

Do you understand that the moral standards of God, the moral standards

that God has revealed in His Word, are the moral standards that all

people will be judged by?

That we will be judged by?

You know, if we are truly Christians, born again by the Spirit of God, have true

saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the penalty for our sins has been paid.

That's been determined.

Heaven is our home, as I'll point out in just a moment.

But we will be judged by the way that we've lived in this world, our works, and that will

have something to do with our reward in heaven.

It matters how we live now and on judgment day.

And by the way, our works, according to the New Testament,

according to James in a big way, our works show the reality of our faith.

James will tell us, if there is no evidence that we are Christians by the way that we live,

in relationship to God, in relationship to one another, we shouldn't have assurance of salvation.

But going back to this, are you seeking right now as a Christian,

trusting in Jesus Christ and Him alone for your salvation,

or are you seeking to live by the moral standards that God has revealed in His Word?

Let me ask you this.

When you have to make moral or ethical decisions,

do you first think about, if you already know, or look, study,

and try to figure out what does the Bible say about this?

When you have to make a moral or ethical decision

that involves you or your family or some matter of business,

do you seek God's guidance based on what He has revealed already in His Word?

Sometimes that's hard to do.

I'm talking about sometimes it's hard to put it into practice.

Sometimes it might cost us more financially or time-wise.

But let me ask you this.

Are you so convinced that God's Word is true, His standards are right,

that when it comes to making a decision, you're going to be faithful to God,

you're going to do His will, even if it costs you a lot of money,

even if it costs you a lot of time, even if it conveniences you?

Are you convinced that God's Word reveals the moral standards

by which all people are going to be judged, including yourself?

Are you seeking to understand what they are personally?

Are you seeking to obey them,

no matter what anybody else may say or think?

One final thought.

Our absolute loyalty and unwavering commitment

must never be to our country

or to a political party

or to any leader.

Our absolute loyalty, unwavering commitment

must be to Jesus Christ first and foremost.

Let's never forget that our ultimate and eternal citizenship

is not in this county, this state, or this country,

or even this world.

It's in heaven.

Look at what Paul writes to the Philippians.

But our citizenship is in heaven.

Paul talked a lot about

and was involved in this world,

the affairs of this world,

influencing even government.

But he says,

our citizenship is in heaven

and from it we await a Savior,

the Lord Jesus Christ,

who will transform our lowly body

to be like His glorious body

by the power that enables Him

even to subject all things to Himself.

Don't misunderstand.

We need to be involved in

the political process.

We need to be concerned about

what is happening around about us.

But nothing is going to last forever.

It is all going away one day.

It's all going to be going away

or gone when we die.

Tomorrow or whenever that may be.

As Christians,

we can look forward to living in a new heaven

and a new earth

where Jesus Christ is Lord

and the things of this world,

we won't even think of them anymore.

I encourage you.

Think biblically

about your political involvement.

It matters how we live here.

It matters that we exert

Christian influence.

It matters that we vote.

But this is not an ultimate matter.

Ultimately,

we are the children of God

who are one day going to leave

everything in this world behind

and live with Him

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Think about that

as the ultimate goal of our lives.

Let's pray together.

Father,

Lord,

help us to see now

in light of all that we have seen

about

how you are in control.

You've created everything.

Everything is yours.

You've given us ultimate standards

in your word

that apply to everybody,

that everybody will be judged by.

Help us to see, Father,

how important it is

that we exert

our influence

as Christians

who believe your word

on our community,

state, and country.

Help us to see

that it matters

how we vote,

the issues

that we back.

Help us

to seek your wisdom

in making the right decisions

in being involved

and then voting

seven weeks from Tuesday.

Let's just pray now

and listen to the Lord

about how we should

respond to Him,

about how we think,

how we speak,

and how we act

concerning these matters.

Make your word