1 Timothy 2:1-4 “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, (2) for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. (3) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, (4) who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
So what about democracies? We have already established that God admonishes His saints to be submissive to the various laws of the nations in which they reside. Democratic nations have laws that empower their citizens to vote for candidates to be elected into various governmental positions, and so as good law abiding citizens in those nations all believers that are eligible to vote should do so. There are a number of democracies that make it compulsory for their citizens to vote, and so it goes without saying that the saints living in those nations would therefore comply with that law and cast their vote. However, there are also many democracies that do not have mandatory voting laws but rather they have laws that merely give their citizens the right to vote, and they encourage their citizens to vote as part of their civic duty. Sadly in those nations there are some saints that walk in disobedience to the Lord’s counsel in this area, and for various reasons (mainly ignorance) they abstain from exercising their civic duty to vote. Nevertheless there are many of the Lord’s saints that are obedient in casting their votes, but the question that is then raised is how to know who to vote for? In order to answer that question it is important to understand just who the saints are voting for. In most instances the candidates of the various political parties are unbelievers that do not share the same values that Christians do, because of which many Christians end up not voting because they can’t find candidates or political parties that even remotely reflect their values. We need to understand the truth however, that God has not put governments in place to establish Christian norms in the earth, but rather to create an environment in which the saints can live peaceable and godly lives.
Michael E.B. Maher
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