American voters are just days away from casting our ballots to decide who will become the 47th president of the United States.
Months of election primaries, campaign rallies, political advertisements, nominating conventions, candidate endorsements, debates, press conferences and media interviews will finally culminate when citizens choose the nation’s next commander-in-chief.
Voters are also electing candidates for Congress as well as governor, state legislators and local school boards even while approving or rejecting a number of state constitutional amendments to codify abortion rights. I pray that Christians will vote their Biblical values with each choice they make.
Without a doubt, this is the most consequential election in my lifetime. Last month’s special election issue of Decision clearly explains the vast differences between the presidential candidates and their party platforms on key Biblical issues. The moral and ideological contrasts between the Democratic and Republican parties could not be more evident.
The Bible teaches that government is ordained by God to deter evil and defend righteousness (Romans 13:3-4). That’s why it is imperative that Christians seek to elect political candidates who will govern most closely to the dictates of God’s Word, especially when it comes to the sanctity of human life and our Creator’s design for human sexuality, marriage and the family.
Today, while many Americans reject God’s precepts, our enemies—both foreign and domestic—increasingly threaten our safety and security. Two assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump and a porous border reveal just how vulnerable we are as a nation in these perilous days.
Nevertheless, the Apostle Paul assures Christ-followers in 2 Timothy 1:7-8: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the Gospel according to the power of God.”
Remember the story of Esther in the Old Testament. She stood boldly before the king of Persia to intervene on behalf of her captive Hebrew people. And God sovereignly and miraculously delivered the Jewish people from their deadly captors.
Our country needs that same kind of godly courage for such a time as this to help turn America away from endorsing sin and evil and instead take a stand for Biblical morality and justice. The Bible declares: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord …” (Psalm 33:12).
Instead, America seems hell-bent toward implosion while our leaders not only embrace blatant decadence but also passionately advocate for such godlessness. Proverbs 29:12 warns of the results of leaders who promote iniquity: “If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked.”
The Bible says that “sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). The debauchery of sexual immorality that plagues our land and the drug epidemic destroying our cities is the bitter fruit of a nation that has turned its back on God.
Let’s remember God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14 and pray fervently in the days ahead for God to have mercy on our country by ushering in a movement of the Holy Spirit that will lead to national repentance and spiritual healing across our land.
That will only happen when people profess that Jesus’ shed blood on the cross and His victorious resurrection from the grave for the forgiveness of their sins is the only way they can receive God’s free gift of eternal life.
The Bible has so much to say about the blood of Christ. For example, the Bible says that redemption and forgiveness of sin is made possible only through the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7). The Bible says that we are justified through Jesus’ blood (Romans 5:9). The Bible says that God’s wrath on sin is only satisfied through the perfect sinless blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23-26). God’s Word tells us that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
According to Scripture, believers can have confidence to enter God’s presence only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:19-22). The Bible says that during the Great Tribulation, the martyrs will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (Revelation 12:11). And there will be a blood-bought multitude from every tribe, nation and tongue that will worship before God’s throne (Revelation 5:9).
God’s promise that His Word will not return void was evident recently, when I preached before 21,000 people in Naples, Italy, about the One “who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5). Then I stood in awe of the power of the Gospel as hundreds of people made professions of faith in Christ as their Savior and Lord.
I’m looking forward to returning to southeast Asia for the third consecutive year Dec. 3-4 for the “Seasons of Love Festival” in Can Tho, Vietnam. I appreciate your prayers as many of the 20 million residents in the Mekong Delta region have never heard the Name of Jesus.
I’m trusting, as always, that the proclamation of God’s Word will accomplish His purpose to rescue souls from hell, as many are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. It never gets old seeing people who are spiritually dead in their sins be born again in Christ for all eternity.
Let’s continue praying that God’s plans and purposes will prevail in the election on Nov. 5. Yet, regardless of the results at the ballot box, I will continue serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by preaching His Gospel of forgiveness, joy and peace found only through repentance and faith in the King of kings and Lord of lords. ©2024 BGEA
Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version.
Photo: Thomas J. Petrino / ©2024 BGEA