And so the answer to the question as to who to vote for lies in the earlier quoted passage of scripture which teaches us what to pray for regarding a nation’s government, for the qualities that we pray for in a government are the same qualities that we should look for in prospective candidates. This passage teaches us that there are two main qualities that the church should always look for in the candidates and political parties that they vote for. Firstly, the church should vote for candidates that stand for honest government and law and order thus allowing the citizens of that nation to live quiet and peaceable lives, for as we have already seen, one of the primary reasons that God raises up those in authority is to act as His ministers in rewarding good and punishing evil (Romans 13:3-4). Secondly, the church should vote for candidates that support freedom of religion thus allowing the church to serve the Lord in all godliness and reverence without any constraints being placed upon the preaching of the gospel. And so candidates that meet these two requirements, i.e. standing for honest government, law and order and religious freedom, should always have the support of the Christian vote. We need to realise however that no candidate will ever be perfect in these areas, nevertheless in any election there will always be one candidate that will uphold these two principles more than their opposition, and it is those candidates that the church should vote for. And so we see that because God expects His saints to cast their votes in democracies, He then gives them clear criteria to look for in the prospective candidates, so that they will always know who to vote for. So what about praying for those same candidates to win the election? Just as our Lord gives His church clear guidance as to which candidates to vote for so it is that the church can be fully assured that praying for those same candidates to win election will result in those prayers being heard and answered.
Michael E.B. Maher
Opmerkingen