“God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.” – Psalm 47:8
As we continue in the Vote Like Jesus series, you must know that, as a Christian, there are a few core beliefs from the Bible that help establish a more just government.
First, rights come not from government but rather from God through government. The U.S. Declaration of Independence says that “rights” come from our “Creator” and that “governments” exist “to secure these rights.” Simply stated, God is over government, and when people forget that fact, the government seeks to remove and replace God as sovereign. This explains why governments seek to be all-knowing and watch our every move, all-present by putting technology everywhere, and all-powerful by taking away the freedom and power of citizens to centralize it under the ever-encroaching hand of government.
Second, because everyone is a sinner, it is best to separate powers rather than have all power held by one leader or a few leaders. Once Jesus returns, He alone will rightly hold all governing power because He is perfect and without sin and therefore the only Person able to not be corrupted by power. Until His return, a separation of political powers is a safeguard against totalitarian tyranny.
Third, we have a legal system based upon laws because that is the pattern established in the Scriptures. In many nations, from the ancient world to the present, there are not laws but rather a supreme ruler who acts as a tyrannical god and a law unto themselves. However, as Christianity spread across the Roman Empire, spiritual leaders called bishops were given oversight of various geographic areas, and this included the legal right bestowed by the government to decide legal cases.
Fourth, the Bible distinguishes between human life and lower levels of animal and plant life. Only men and women are said to bear God’s image, unlike anything else in Creation. This God-given distinction helps safeguard the unique sanctity of human life, something that radical animal rights and environmental activists are unable to rightly understand.
Fifth, because all people equally bear God’s image, both men and women, including Christian heterosexuals and non-Christian homosexuals, stand eye-to-eye as human beings and deserve equal protection under the law. As Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female…”
Sixth, the basic framework of the Bible lays the groundwork for a just government. For example, in the 10 Commandments, we are told not to steal, which establishes private property rights extending to forbidding trespassing (Exodus 20:1-17). They also forbid murder, which establishes the right to life (Exodus 20:1-17). The New Testament goes on to forbid slave trading, (1 Timothy 1:10) along with other crimes that deny human rights established by God. Furthermore, the Bible speaks of peace through military strength (2 Chronicles 26:9-15), equality before the law (Acts 10:34; Exodus 23:6), and the importance of justice (Jeremiah 23:5; Isaiah 3:13-14; Amos 5:12-15, 7:6).
In tomorrow’s devotional we will discuss the “wall of separation” often used to divide Church and state.
Are any of these concepts new truths that you haven’t considered before?
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