Side Bars – Our Obligations – The Purpose of Civil Government – The Witness of the Reformational Church to the Role of the Civil Magistrate – Closing Exhortation

Ballot Recommendations Summary Measure 26 Measure 27 Measure 28 Measure 29 Measure 30 Measure 31 Measure 32 Measure 33 Measure 34 Measure 35 Measure 36 Measure 37 Measure 38 Measure 39 Measure 40 Measure 41 Measure 42 Measure 43 Measure 44 Measure 45 Measure 46 Measure 47 Measure 48

How Shall We Then Vote?
Biblical Presuppositions - Our Obligations

1. Christians Have an Obligation to Vote

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Gen. 2:15

A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Song of Solomon 4:12

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. Eph. 5:28,29

And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. Jeremiah 29:7

The Christian Householder’s Civic and Political Obligations
God has given His church stewardship over the earth. In the New Covenant age, our “garden” is now the whole world, including Oregon. It is our job to protect and cultivate this state. While clearly political action is just one small part of that job, it is a part. Particularly when so many of the attacks on our society and families come either from the state itself, or from those whom the state should be punishing (rapists, murderers, etc.) Men have a particularly strong obligation to guard their families. This means an active concern for our money, the education of our children, our land, our physical safety and much more. These things are all under attack. While the State cannot produce the cultivation of our families, it can and should be part of the mechanism by which they are guarded.

2. Christians have An Obligation to Vote In A Distinctively Christian Fashion

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:13,14

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Exodus 20:7

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. I Cor. 10:31

The Third Commandment and Distinctively Christian Political Action
In the providence of God, Esther was brought to the kingdom for a time such as she lived in. This was a time when the civil magistrate was in the process of eliminating God’s people from the Empire. Esther needed strong words from Mordecai because she was at first reluctant to testify to her faith in the God of the Scriptures. In the providence of God, this November, all registered voters are “brought to the kingdom,” to exercise civil governance. How shall you perform your obligations in this regard? Shall you be like Esther was at first, reticent to act in a way that would openly manifest her faith? Or will you bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ in how you vote on ballot measures? Will you vote your pocketbook or your conscience? Will you, as Esther first did, think of your own personal well-being, or will you place the witness of the Lordship of Christ over every square inch of this earth at the fore? Esther was at first worried over her own well-being, over what would happen to her if she swung into action. But she was told by Mordecai that the only thing failing to act would mean was her own loss of well-being, and that of her family. God would preserve His people, but Esther’s own life was at stake if she failed to obey God. As long as she continued in her own course of inaction, her own attempts at self-preservation, the only thing in doubt was her safety! God will always preserve His people. We do Him no favors by being distinctively Christian. It is us personally that are at stake if we disobey.

The third commandment prohibits us from taking the Lord’s Name in vain, or in vanity, or other words, in emptiness. If you are a professing Christian, the third commandment commands you, as it did Esther, to witness to the Lord Jesus Christ as you exercise your small part of civil governance.

3. Christians have an obligation to conform their voting practices to the Word of God

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20

The Stirrings of A Christian Political Consensus
But how shall we then vote? This is a tough question! We have not been particularly well trained as Christians to think in a distinctively Christian fashion in all that we do. The issues you will be asked to vote on are complex, and our lack of knowledge of God’s Word at this particular juncture in history is great. I’m not asking you to put your life on hold until after November 5. But I am asking that you commit to God in prayer to try to evaluate how you should vote based on the Bible, not your own thoughts of what works or doesn’t work, what’s good for you financially or what may limit you choices. Consider what this Christian Ballot Measures Voter’s Guide has to say. We know its a meager first shot at providing a distinctively Christian perspective on these complex issues. We ask for your interaction as we all try to work through complex political issues from a Christian perspective. Pray, and ask for God to guide you, not by your feelings, but by your beliefs based on His Word.

4. There are blessings that accrue to the body of Christ as we obey these truths.

Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what great nation is there, that hath a god so nigh unto them, as Jehovah our God is whensoever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that hath statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but make them known unto thy children and thy children’s children. Deut 4:6-9

All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD. Psalm 138:4,5

All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matt. 28:18-20

Political Evangelism
As we apply our selves to a truly Christina political action, and as God blesses our efforts by transforming our laws, the result is a degree of “political evangelism.” This happens as people hear the implications of the Gospel of our Savior. Our lives are to be a pleasing aroma not just to God, but to those that He is calling to Himself as well. That is true not just of us individually, but corporately, as a group of people, as well. As a land conforms its laws to God’s revealed Word, that land becomes pleasing to those who are being drawn by God to salvation in our Savior. Kings and subjects, rulers and those ruled, governors and those governed, shall be affected by a consistent Christian message in every aspect of our lives, including the political. Now, to some, this will be a fragrance of death. Some will object and that right strenuously! But we leave them to our Savior’s providence, knowing that our message will be effectual to woo those God has chosen from before the foundation of the world.

This voters' guide produced by Parents Education Association, PAC.