Christian View of Politics (An Introduction)

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Welcome to Trueology, where we study Christian theology, philosophy, and apologetics.

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We do critiques on scholars, politics. We look into events in both classical and modern -day issues.

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We do interviews, debates, and much more. Our goal is providing a Christian resource to edify the saints and to engage the community.

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But most of all, we want to glorify the Lord through our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.

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So, stay with us as we open up the Word of God and look into everything pertaining to life and godliness.

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My name is Belushi Prevalon, coming to you from the Boston area. And right now, you are listening to Trueology, the study of the truth, as it is in Jesus.

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Welcome back to Trueology. My name is Belushi Prevalon. And I would like to remind you that you can find me on YouTube at Trueology, on Instagram at studyofthetruth, on Spotify at Trueology, where you could also vote for the next episode.

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I always leave polls there for your engagement, and I'm always interested in what you would like to see podcasted next.

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So, on Spotify, you have the opportunity to participate in the polls there. On X, you can find me at bprevalon.

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And yeah, those are all my social media outlets. And on this episode, actually, we will be discussing and giving a brief introduction to the

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Christian view of politics. I felt it necessary to discuss this, not only because the election is tomorrow, from my standpoint, which is today is

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November 4th, tomorrow is November 5th, in my state of Massachusetts, I will be voting tomorrow.

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I know some counties and some cities and even some states have already begun early voting and are done with it.

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But here in the Boston area, we are voting tomorrow. So I thought it not only necessary to address this, the

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Christian view of politics because of the election, but also for political affairs in the future, if we should have them.

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If Kamala doesn't get elected, maybe we will still have a functioning democracy, right?

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So on this episode, we will be addressing several questions, including what is politics in general?

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What is the Christian view of politics? How do I discern a good candidate? And who should

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I vote for in the 2024 presidential election? Believe you me, there actually is one choice better than the other.

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And another question we'll be addressing here is should Christians be involved in politics in their vocational life?

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Does voting even matter if God is sovereign? And that's a question for the Reformed. So we'll be addressing all of those.

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And hopefully, for your betterment, I can bring some understanding to this crucial and controversial topic of politics and the

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Christian responsibility to it. I want you to be asking yourself, you know, does a

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Christian have any duty in this? Does Christ have anything to say in this area of politics as we go along through this episode?

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So be asking yourself that. Keep that hanging over your head as we go through the material in my notes here.

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So let's begin with the question, what is politics? You know, we have we've gotten it all wrong for a very long time.

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You know, I actually don't. Sometimes I think we give the devil a little too much credit. You know, we give them credit for ruining politics.

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But really, I personally believe, and very jokingly here, I personally believe that the devil actually decided to corrupt men who in turn corrupted politics.

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But he did not foresee the effect, the long term effect of us misunderstanding what politics actually is.

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I mean, talk about diabolical. That old serpent, the devil, has caused us to have a wrong view of politics, not deliberately, but actually by secondary effect.

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You know, his job is actually to confuse the Christian church about God's creation.

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You know, when a mass shooting happens, who do you blame? Do you blame the gun or do you blame the person?

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When a drunk driving accident happens, who do you blame? Do you blame the total truck that's hit the tree?

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Or do you blame the driver that made the decision to be intoxicated? Likewise, when it comes to politics, we shouldn't be blaming the platform or medium of politics.

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What we should be blaming is we should be blaming the corrupt moral agents in the political sphere.

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And too often we as Christians tend to think that it is politics that is the bad thing.

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It is politics that we should not be engaged in. It has no value to us here, and therefore we should abstain from engaging and participating in it.

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To be honest, that's thoroughly wrong. And to the success of the devil, he has convinced us that that is true.

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He has discipled us not only through culture, but through his spiritual means and the people he's put in front of us to lead us into thinking this way.

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He has thoroughly discipled us into believing the wrong view of politics. And on today's episode,

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I hope I can redeem some of that for you and hopefully help you to go on and glorify

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God in the realm of politics. So what is politics? Well, if I could just give a concrete definition from the

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Webster's Dictionary here. Let me see. So a definition of politics, according to Webster, is the art or science of government.

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Ask yourself that question that I told you to have hanging over your head. Do Christians have a duty in this? Do Christians have a duty in government?

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Does Christ have anything to say in the area of government? The answer is yes. Webster's Dictionary continues to say,

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Ask yourself once again, does the Christian have any duty in the area of governmental policy or competing or trying to gain leadership in any way, shape, or form?

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Has Christ said anything in these areas? The answer is overwhelmingly yes, he has. And we will be getting into those.

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So that's just a concrete definition of politics, according to Webster's Dictionary. And I do greatly agree with it because I do believe that the

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Christian has quite a duty. And I do believe the Bible has spoken in these areas. And if we could just understand what politics actually is, just by that concrete definition, it would help us actually reshape our view of politics from that skewed view of, oh, it's this gross, immoral thing.

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It's filled with corruption and nothing but evil. And it's worldly, has nothing to do with the spiritual atmosphere in the

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Christian church. And I really want to regain that, rescue that definition of politics from us because politics is not itself evil.

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It has just been used for evil. So the typical negative view of politics also really stems from what we've personally experienced.

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Generation after generation, we've identified politics as basically an activity characterized by the artful or often dishonest practices of men.

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And that's widely true because what we've known from politics for centuries now has to do with a lot of dishonest practices of men.

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And therefore, we think it is politics that is the thing that is tainted and cannot be redeemed for Christ. You know, this view of politics is commonly portrayed to us through the mainstream news media.

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Right. And by the way, the mainstream news media is itself just, you know, it used to be such a great institution, but now it's just co -opted by such evils.

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And the people who are in charge of producing it no longer really care about their viewers, but rather they've been co -opted to basically just repeat narratives.

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They're highly biased towards conservatives. You know, they're corporation funded.

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The pharmaceutical companies have them in a stranglehold. They're antagonists against other alternatives.

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They just want all the attention. And yet they're the ones who are propagating this false view of politics because they're always so negative.

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And we are consuming that and we then therefore conclude that politics and anything that has to do with mainstream media and politics is just corrupt and has nothing to do with what

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Christ has to say in the scriptures. And yes, that is overwhelmingly wrong because politics is not itself the thing that is evil, but rather it's the men behind the product.

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So our typical negative view has also been shaped by obviously corrupted journalism, people who simply just focus on providing to us a corrupt media form and corrupt narratives.

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And it shapes our perception. And we think that, you know, Jesus has nothing to do with this.

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But beyond just the corrupt medium itself guided by the corrupt leaders and people who are invested in it,

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I do also believe that eschatology has actually shaped our negative view of politics.

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Typically people who are Christians who are premillennial and dispensational in their outlook tend to think that, you know, as history progresses, we are going to be in social decline and we are going to have less influence over time.

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And now that everything is looking as bad as it can get, that means that the time of the rapture is coming and we are soon to be out of here.

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And therefore there is no need to actually set in our roots and participate in the social atmospheres, including politics.

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So all that being said, you know, all that combined together, actually, the news media, journalism, our bad eschatology has shaped our negative view of politics.

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When really politics is just the science of government, you know, a way of guiding and influencing governmental policy.

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It's competition. You know, there are different groups that compete for leadership roles.

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And I do believe that Christ has much to say about that and has given us precepts to dictate how we go about it.

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Instead of allowing CNN and MSNBC to shape our view of politics, we should be looking to the scriptures to give us a proper biblical worldview of politics so that we can engage in it properly rather than neglecting a great part of what

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God has given to us as a means for His glory. So what would a biblical view of politics actually look like?

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Well, before I give you the biblical view, I would like to just present a more nuanced definition of politics, though I agree with the

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Websters. Here is a nuanced definition of politics that I think is more biblically fine -tuned.

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Politics is a social medium or a tool, and I thoroughly mean that, a tool created by God for the governance and influence of people, communities, and nations.

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I'm going to say that again. A social medium or tool created by God for the governance and influence of people, communities, and nations.

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How did I get to that conclusion? Well, I got to that conclusion, you would have never guessed, by the scriptures, right?

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The scriptures have much to say about politics in general, and there's much in the scriptures that helps shape and build our understanding of how we should see politics.

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For example, I believe in Genesis 2 .15, man was created to work.

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Man was put in the garden, but eventually he would go beyond the garden and expand the glory of God.

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He was made in the image of God. He is the vice -regent of God. In Genesis 1 .28, God commanded mankind to have dominion over all the land, the animals therein, and to expand the glory of God throughout the entire earth.

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And eventually, if Adam was perfect and good, he would essentially continue to create culture and bring about social politics.

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I think that would be a natural and logical outworking of all the faculties that God provided for him.

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In Genesis 4 .20 -22, we kind of see a little bit of that. Though man now being in corruption of sin, man develops culture.

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If you read that, it tells us about how Jubal invented the instruments, and some of his brethren invented tools and craftsmanship stuff so that they can develop culture.

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That's what man naturally does because he's made in the image of God. He has a natural incentive to create and make stuff.

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Some of the stuff that he makes is not just relegated to just tools for making their agricultural lives better or their entertainment life better, but also tools such as politics for the sake of governing and having influence in social relationships.

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In Genesis 9 .6, I believe this verse is often used as proof that this is where God institutes human government.

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But honestly, I think human government existed long before that. But here, what we see is

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God actually instituting capital punishment for unjust murders, right?

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So here, just these alone, I believe, are just key elements to helping us have a proper view of what politics should be like.

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I believe politics is work that is given to man, and it was created by God.

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It's used for the glory of God. Man develops culture because he is made in the image of God.

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He naturally will do so because God has wired him to be able to do so. You know, God has instituted many aspects in government that include capital punishment that also relate to our view of politics, right?

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So just these scriptures alone kind of help shape what I mean by the biblical view of politics, a social medium created by God for the governance and influence of peoples, communities, and nations.

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Furthermore, the entire Old Testament is filled with political kings, rulers, federal headships, influential figures, instructions for national governance, international relationships, and what's that other thing called?

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It's kind of woven throughout the entire Bible. I think it's, what's the name of it? Yeah, the laws of God, right?

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The laws of God is littered throughout the entire Bible. I mean, it's called the laws of God for a reason, because this is how

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God wants his people to live and work and honor him.

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The laws of God are not merely abrogated in the New Testament, but rather they are presupposed and used as the basis for judgment and righteousness.

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I mean, just take Jesus as an example. You know, on what basis did Jesus rebuke the

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Pharisees? Through the laws of God. He says, your righteousness needs to exceed the righteousness of the

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Pharisees. The Pharisees put unburdensome task upon the people, and they were hypocrites of them.

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But Jesus came correcting them about their hypocrisy and told them that they're neglecting the weightier matters of what?

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The law, right? Even Paul imposes the laws of God upon the

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Gentile churches in his letters to them. I mean, have you ever read 1 Corinthians?

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On what basis does Paul correct the dysfunctional Corinthian church? On the basis of the laws of God, right?

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He tells them not to commit adultery, to treat—easy for me to say. He tells them to treat each other better on the basis of what the laws of God says, right?

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You should love your neighbor as yourself. He has all those principles inculcated in all his teachings, and teachings that he also derived from Christ through direct revelation.

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So then, we see that the biblical view of politics is that politics is a tool, and the laws of God help inform us on how to use that tool for God's glory and sake.

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You know, if you don't believe that politics is important, I would like to remind you who actually does believe it's important.

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The devil. Yes, the devil believes politics is important. As a matter of fact, he believes it's so important that he works day and night to make sure that he maintains control of it, and he keeps you out of it, so that he does not lose the important use of it.

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You know who else believes politics is important? Mainstream politicians, corrupt politicians.

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And they work day and night to keep you out of it, so that they can retain power. And because politics is a means of getting power.

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And it's not itself the thing that is dirty, it's the people behind it.

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It's the spiritual influences behind it. And how much more can the people of God regain the realm of politics for God's glory than the devil in mainstream politics can use it for evil?

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Oh my, I'm hoping for the day that we wake up to the fact that politics is a medium for God's glory, and we can actually redeem it.

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And now this is not to say that we are looking for a day where the church is the one ruling the world, but rather we are looking for a time where Christians do not abrogate their responsibility to produce social influence, even in the realm of politics.

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I mean, if we take the realm of education seriously enough to form Christian schools, why do we not use the realm of politics to formulate

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Christian ethics in politics? I've never understood that. We will die on hills for Christian education, but we will not fight for Christian politics.

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I think that is very lopsided, and we need to change our view on that. But I hope this is so far helping you in understanding a biblical view of politics, because it's important.

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The devil is working hard to keep you out of it, and he uses it for evil. But once the Christian church wakes up to the fact that the

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Bible prescribes and uses politics as a means, and has given us record upon record of politics being used throughout the

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Bible as a way for God to bring about social order, raise leaders, and change things in culture,

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I think we have much to do and much to learn about what

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Scripture has to say on that, so that we can rightly use it and regain it for His honor and purposes.

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Question, if politics is about community, governance, relationships between peoples and nations, is it really wise to abstain from it?

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Well, the answer should be no, it's not really wise. Why? Because politics are moral and religious in nature, right?

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You cannot escape the moral nature and religious nature of politics.

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Politics affects literally everything you do. I know you might not think that it does, but it does, because the laws that are in your city, the policies that are in your state, the leaders that are in your country, and the culture and the environment you currently live in, as it relates to the world you live in, are all affected by politics.

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Yes, I know you think you can just ignore it and go about your day, but unfortunately, right now, you are being governed by politics.

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It is an inescapable fact that politics is a part of all our experience, and no one knows that more than the devil, who has misused it to oppress you.

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The very basic definition of politics, if we can even reduce what I gave earlier to you as a definition, would be, politics is essentially coming together to determine how we should live.

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Ask yourself this, does the Christian have any duty in participating in how we should live?

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Does Christ have anything to say about how we should live? Of course he does. Of course we do.

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If politics can be reduced to the basic definition of coming together to determine how we should live, one would think that Christians have a great responsibility to inform us on how we should live.

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Why? Because not only are we regenerated, we're able to understand the words of God and be led by his spirit, but we can see truth in light, and we actually know what justice looks like because God has revealed it to us.

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Therefore, in a community where we're asking ourselves how should we live, I think Christians have a great responsibility to participate in that.

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You see, Christians have become so scared of being called Christian nationalists that we no longer want to participate.

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We're so concerned with being called names and having fingers pointed at us that we have actually retreated into the corners and allowed the devil to steer the ship.

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You know, we don't believe that politics is redeemable anymore. We don't believe it is important.

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We think it is specifically just worldly to engage in. It has nothing to do with spirituality.

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But to be honest, that is the spirit of pietism. Pietism is having this disproportionate spiritual respect for the things of the church and nothing else.

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You know, it emphasizes spirituality over actual practicality.

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And pietism has not really helped the Christian church advance much, but rather has allowed the secular world to put its boot at our throats and laugh as we squirm.

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You know, our error is allowing CNN, MSNBC, The View, liberal news outlets to disciple us on what politics actually is.

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And bad eschatology has emphasized the problem, giving us a pessimistic view of history and bringing about pietism.

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You know, we've also been satisfied with this misinformed view of religious freedom.

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You know, this view has essentially made us secular. You know, we tend to think religious freedom means, you know, everyone is allowed to believe whatever religion they want.

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But when the founding fathers compromised on the definition of religious freedom, they were not thinking about Islam or Hinduism.

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They were thinking about the different Christian sects that existed in their time.

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And, you know, if we would just understand and grasp that for a second, we would see that, you know, and looking back in history, the founding fathers were not simply just allowing, you know,

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Native Indians to build their huts and having their, you know, their animistic services next to their churches.

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No, they weren't allowing that. What they were saying is that we're not going to have a Baptist state. We're not going to have a

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Presbyterian state in our federal government. But rather, we are going to allow the various Christian sects to freely, you know, believe and practice as they wish in their respected jurisdictions.

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So we've been satisfied with this misinformed view of religious freedom, which has essentially made us secular.

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And the reason it's made us secular is because today we're not only are we afraid of being called

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Christian nationalists, but we're hesitant to get engaged in Christian politics because we logically understand that if we get engaged in Christian politics, that it would mean that we would have to bring the laws of God and the lordship of Jesus Christ to bear upon the way we view politics.

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It's a good thing that we understand that that is the logical implication. But the problem is that we allow this misunderstanding of religious freedom to bar us from actually accomplishing that view.

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Why? Because our view of religious freedom is that, oh, if we actually allow politics to be informed by Christ's laws, then that means that we will make

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Christian laws. And to be honest, there is no better freedom outside of Christian laws.

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Even if you're not a directly a Christian, there are direct benefits for living under a Christian system.

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And history has proven that. So then in conclusion, you know, the negative sources, there's been various negative sources that have primarily shaped our view of politics.

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And it's made us hesitant to participate or trust politicians. We tend to use politics and we tend to see it as well as a power hungry scheme for the most favored and corrupt to compete for power.

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Instead of allowing God's word and his wisdom to inform our perspective on governance, influence, policymaking, legislation and the qualifications for leaders.

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And to be honest, I hope we don't stay there. I hope we mature past this point. But so far,

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I hope, you know, in answering the question, what is politics? I hope this has given you some sort of idea of a better idea on what politics actually is, what the problem is and how we fix it.

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All right. Next, let's answer the question. Let's address the question of what is the

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Christian view of politics? Obviously, we mentioned this earlier, but let's expand a little more on this.

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What is the Christian view of politics? Now, as when we say Christian view, we are talking about what the

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Bible has to say in relation to politics. Right. What is the Christian view of politics?

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Well, to start, the Christian view of politics has to do with the lordship of Jesus Christ. That's right.

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Jesus is not under culture. You know, we are not to elevate culture above Jesus Christ.

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Jesus is not starkly against culture. It's not like Jesus is the spiritual realm of church and stuff and ecclesiastical matters.

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And then the culture is out there, has nothing to do with us, has no eternal value. But rather, Jesus is above culture, which means that Jesus is the very goal of culture.

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Right. He informs and rules over culture. Christ is to be honored in every area of our lives, whether it's our day job or our family life or our social influences.

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Yes, including politics. Christ is supposed to be honored in those areas. We are not supposed to just merely adopt a neutral position when we engage in politics and sciences and history.

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And then when we go to church on Sunday, we pull out Jesus and say, all right, now you can be honored because this is what has this area right here has to do with you.

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But all these other ones have nothing to do with you. No, that is not the correct view. The lordship of Jesus Christ means that Christ has all power and authority to govern every area of our lives and to be honored and be the goal of it.

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And in the means through which Christ and his lordship come to bear upon every area of our lives is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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This is not merely just a top down kind of thing. We're not merely saying every Christian needs to get involved in politics so that we can have

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Christian governors, Christian leaders, yada, yada, yada. No, no, no. We're saying that it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the means to transform, bring about transformation and regeneration, not only in us, but also in the ways that we live.

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You see, the gospel isn't just relegated to your personal private salvation, but rather it's actually on how you continue to live and exercise and expand upon the glory of God.

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And that is not just in you, but allowing it to flow out of your fingertips, actually being represented through your actions and your ideas and everything that you engage in in life.

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This is what makes life meaningful. The gospel of Christ being the means to bring about the lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives.

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So what is the Christian view of politics? Well, it begins with the lordship of Jesus Christ as one of the guiding principles to give us a proper view and definition of such.

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Secondly, the laws of God. We touched on this a little bit. We said that the laws of God are woven throughout all the

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Bible. It is not abrogated in the New Testament, but rather it continues to abide in the

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New Testament. But before we get there, let me just mention this, that the law of God is the standard for morality, for justice, for wisdom, for righteousness.

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And when I say righteousness, I am not just talking about the vertical righteousness. I'm not just talking about your standing before God.

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I'm talking also about horizontal righteousness, right? Your relationship to mankind.

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God actually indicts his people for neglecting righteous behavior and being just.

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For example, in Isaiah 1 verses 21 through 24, the

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Lord says this, How is the faithful city become in harlot? It was full of judgment.

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Righteousness lodged in it. So here's God saying that the children of Israel have defiled themselves.

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It used to be filled with judgment and righteousness. But now murders, you know, thy silver is become dross, thy mixed wine with water.

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Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loves gifts and followeth after rewards.

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They judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

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Hey, folks, thank you so much for tuning in to Truology. My name is Belushi Prevalon, and if this has been a help to you in any way, please like, share and subscribe.

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And if you haven't already done so right now on Spotify, you can vote for the next episode. Now, I already have a bunch of things lined up, but I want to give you, the audience, the opportunity to participate on what

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Truology will be covering next. So go to Spotify, type in Truology, vote for the next episode, and I will see you next time as we study the truth.

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Thank you. What is what is God saying here? He's saying that you used to be just. You used to be righteous.

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You used to have used to be prosperous, but now your leaders are corrupt. They're no longer looking for righteousness.

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The very things that God is indicting his people for here are the very things that his laws command. So the laws of God have always been the standard for how

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God judges not only his own people, but all other nations. Right. It is the standard for telling us what the true nature and character of God is like.

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It is seen in Jesus Christ, but it is seen inscriptuated in his actual laws, the laws which he has given his nation, the people of Israel, to govern themselves so that they can reflect his holiness.

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It is on that same basis he judges them for neglecting that law and brings about radical judgment and the eradication of them from the land.

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And as I said before, this standard of God's law is not just for the children of Israel, but it is also required for all nations.

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And yes, I mean all nations. Oh, Belushi, how could you say that? The laws of God only are or only for Israel, only the children of Israel.

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No, no, no, no, no. That's not what the Bible says. Leviticus 18, 24 through 25 says this.

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Defile not yourselves in any of these things. This is God talking to his people, telling them how to be holy as he is holy.

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And he's saying, don't do these things. Why? For in all these the nations are defiled, which

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I cast out before you, and the land is defiled. Therefore, I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomits out her inhabitants.

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So on what basis is God judging the Canaanites and the Jebusites and all the other ites?

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He is judging them on the basis of his laws, the same laws he is now giving to his people, the children of Israel, to govern them as they live in the land.

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Sometimes people will try to use the objection of, oh, you believe the Bible? Well, you believe in genocide.

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You know, something that I have learned to respond with when I hear that is actually, oh,

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I actually don't believe in genocide. And to be honest, the Bible doesn't teach that at all.

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And I have a question to ask you. Do you believe in do you believe incest is good?

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Do you believe burning children is good? Because if you neglect what the Bible has to say in his execution of bringing the children of Israel to take out the

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Canaanites, then directly to be understood properly here, you understand and actually endorse incest and child sacrifices.

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And to be honest, the reason I bring that up is because when this verse is used against us to say, oh, we believe in genocide.

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The truth is the very reason for why God is casting out these nations is because they're committing all these abominable acts, including rape and incest and child sacrifices.

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So when someone objects to us for what the Bible teaches on God using the children of Israel to punish the

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Canaanites, what we should really respond with is, oh, are you in favor of incest and child sacrifices?

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Because the reason for why God judged them is because they did all these things. So if you're against God judging them for those things, then logically it would seem to indicate that you are in favor and support of these things.

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So on what basis does God judge all these nations? On by the standard of his law, the same law he gave his people.

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And that should be properly understood because we typically understand some

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Christian sects and some Christian teachers have taught that the laws of God are only relevant for Israel and Israel alone.

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And not only that, but only in the Old Testament. But so far we have seen that the standard of God's law is for his people,

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Israel, and beyond his people, Israel, the other nations who were judged on that same basis.

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But let's now transition into the New Testament. Does the Bible really, to understand, to have a

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Christian view of politics and what the central elements of it are, including the lordship of Jesus Christ and God's laws, does the

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New Testament actually teach that the laws of God are something that are not put away? Well, yes, it does.

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As a matter of fact, and here's the proof. The basis upon Christ's teachings was stood upon the laws of God.

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And in Matthew 5, 17, beginning there, Jesus says, think not that I am come to destroy the law.

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Now, for the people in the back row, if you can't hear me, listen to this. Listen to what the Bible says here. Don't try to fight it.

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Don't do mental gymnastics at this moment. Just listen. The basis of Christ's teachings was based on God's laws, upon which he said, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.

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I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. Ah, see, Belushi, there, Jesus came to fulfill, which means he came to do it and then put it away.

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Unfortunately, that's not what that says. To fulfill here does not mean to complete and put away, but rather to exemplify perfectly.

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With the intent of actually perpetuating the fact that, you know, you will come and follow

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Jesus and be like him rather than be like the Pharisees who are unrighteous and hypocrites, right?

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He has not come to destroy the law, but he's come to fulfill, show you the true meaning of the law. That's why he said, you have heard it say, but now

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I turn to you, right? Because the Pharisees have been wrongly teaching the people and bringing upon themselves unnecessary, burdensome laws.

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But now Christ was bringing the fulfillment and true meaning of the law. You have heard it say, don't commit adultery, but I say unto you, the true meaning of that is that if you even think of a woman with lust, you committed adultery with her already in your heart, right?

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Jesus is showing us the true meaning and teaching of that law. It wasn't just merely the physical actions, but it was also the spiritual intents of the heart, right?

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Jesus continues to say, whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments. What is he talking about?

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Is Jesus talking about commandments in the New Testament? Is Jesus reading John right now?

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No, the least of these commandments is he's talking about the laws of God. If anyone breaks one of the least of these commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.

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But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

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So what does Jesus say here, right? He basically says, I'm not come to simply just put the law away or ruin it and start teaching something new.

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No, I'm come to fulfill and show you the true meaning of it. So the basis upon Christ's teachings had to do with the law.

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If we are to understand a proper view of Christian politics and have a proper biblical ethic in our understanding of politics, we are to understand that it not only has to do with the lordship of Jesus Christ, but also the abiding law of God, the standard for all nations.

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The standard and basis of Christ's own teachings. And furthermore, the apostle

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Paul reminds us that the laws abide and are relevant to our lives. Yes, the apostle to the

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Gentiles spoke, I want to say, I wanted to say proudly, but I should rather say highly of the law of God.

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The apostle Paul speaks highly of the law of God. What does he, where does he say that? Well, after laying out an argument for justification by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, the propitiation for our sins.

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Paul says this, seeing it is one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith.

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Do we then make void the law through faith? I dare you to ask that question to almost any evangelical today.

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The answer would say, yes, we do make void the law because we have faith and it's all by grace. Now we're under grace.

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We're not under the law, but rather what does Paul say? He says, God forbid, may it never be. Don't even let it enter into your mind.

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No, that is not what that means. Yay, we established the law, Paul says. Right. So here is the apostle

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Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, writing this letter probably to a mixed

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Jew and Gentile church. And he's saying that we do not make void the law of God just because we have faith in Jesus Christ, who's who's obeyed and completed all the law and whom we have faith in his blood.

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And he is the only propitiation for our sins and our righteousness, the one that we're looking forward to to to have hope in heaven.

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We are not bringing our own righteousness, but we are simply trusting on his work and finish and finish accomplishments and his perfect obedience.

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No, he's saying we're not we're not putting the laws away just because because he has completely fulfilled it all.

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But rather, we've come to we are we are here to establish the law. We are here to show the abiding validity and necessity of the law in our lives.

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Because why? Because the law of God is the basis upon all moral, just teachings.

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It shows us wisdom and righteousness, the same righteousness which not only God indicted his people for, but he holds over the head of all other nations, the basis upon which he judges all other nations.

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So then what is your view of politics stemming from now? Is it coming from scripture or is it coming from CNN?

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You know, our view of politics should be without exception be formed by the reality of the lordship of Jesus Christ over all things, literally all things, every institution, every realm of power and the law of God as the basis for all truth, justice, moral influence, judgment, wisdom, and even knowledge.

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If you want to know anything at all, what does Proverbs say you must begin with? You must begin with the fear of the Lord. You must look to God as the one who knows it all and is able to revealed it all to us.

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If we will simply humble ourself and acknowledge him as the truth teller, the one who is on the moral high ground and pedestal of truth to inform to us what we shall do.

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The church is not to view itself as only lucky enough to escape the terrible atrocities of the secular world once a week by joining together for about two hours in a fellowship meeting only to return back into the world of despairing tragedies and collapse.

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We are supposed to view ourselves as the moral pillar and ground of the truth, the spiritual institution of almighty

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God. We have an unassailable authority to proclaim the gospel of the king of kings and the lord of lords.

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We are supposed to be seeking to establish his rule and influence through the mediatory work of the saints on earth.

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You see, the work of the church on earth is the work of Christ. They cannot be separated.

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What the church is called to do on earth, whatever influence and objective we have on earth here, that is the

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Holy Spirit working through his people and which also means that this is what

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Christ is doing in the world. And God the father has ordained and we should properly follow and understand it to be that way.

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So when it comes to what is your view of politics or what is the Christian view of politics, just remember it is the lordship of Jesus Christ.

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It is the laws of God and it is all to be done in God's honor and favor and glory.

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So I hope that helps you a little more. And if you are following thus far,

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I hope that you can continue to use this to your betterment as you think about what politics actually means and what is the

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Christian view of it. Okay, now let's continue.

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What's the next question? How do I discern a good candidate? With all of that in mind, with this

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Christian view of politics in mind and what politics itself actually is and what the true problem is, with that understanding, how do we actually discern a good candidate?

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You know, if we're looking at two specific candidates right now in our election, how do we discern, you know, which one should we vote for?

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Before we actually really dive into this, I'd like to offer two quick warnings. Warning number one, avoid being led by soundbites on media, right?

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Because we cannot just simply just listen to a 30 -second speech or soundbite on the news or on our favorite social media outlet and decide, oh, that was so encouraging, that was so motivational.

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Oh, this candidate must be the one, right? No, we were supposed to avoid little miniature soundbites that only give us a snippet of what the person that we're supposed to be considering for an election actually is like, right?

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Second thing is don't be persuaded simply by written speeches on television, right?

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I am a student of political science, and one thing that I've learned through my studies in school is that politicians lie.

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And politicians not only lie, but the speeches they write are written by other people and prepared ahead of time, and they basically just – some politicians just read them verbatim.

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And just simply seeing them speak speeches on television doesn't really give you the full analysis of what they're really like and what the policies really will be.

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Most of these politicians are basically just putting on the show on television. Therefore, you must go beyond the things that are not seen, which is actually their political policies, which brings me also into assessing their moral qualities.

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What comes to the surface as they engage with different groups that they're supposed to be appealing to?

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Do they compromise on things? Do they maintain truthfulness? Do they change, or is there a certain demographic that they don't engage with?

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We can also – believe it or not, you can go to almost any government site in your state and actually do research on politicians and legislators.

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You can look up their work history. You can look up their voting history. If a politician says something on TV and you're like, yeah, they believe what

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I believe, and then you go onto their government website and you look up their voting history and you see that they've voted contrary for years on the very thing that they just convinced you on TV that they support, then you can rightly know that these people, not only are they liars, but you can know exactly what agenda that person has always stood behind.

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That's one way to practically help you assess what candidates to actually vote for.

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It's crucial because right now it's November 4th, and tomorrow's the election, at least for Massachusetts, and we have to make a decision not based on soundbites, not based on just written speeches, but rather the things that are not seen, the political history.

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What skills does the person portray? Are they motivational and exactly where does their motivation stem from?

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Do they demonstrate any sort of wisdom? What is their rhetoric like? And by rhetoric, I don't just mean just talking points.

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I mean actual skills in speaking. What affiliations do they have?

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Are they Republican, Democrat, Libertarian? Are they Marxist? Are they a religionist? What kind of ideas and philosophies do they stand behind?

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What are their goals? When it does come to actually listening to what they say, what are they aiming for?

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And are they laying out practically how they will actually get there, or are they just being vague and just making blanket statements?

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Ultimately, I think a practical way of assessing how to discern what a good candidate is really supposed to be like and which one to actually vote for, ultimately,

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I think politicians, you should remember that politicians are not your friends. They're not your family members.

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Politicians are workers, all right? You are voting for a worker. If your roof had a leak in it, who would you call?

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Would you call the guy that has 20 years of roof experience or would you call the person that just graduated from vocational school?

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I believe you would pick the former because that's the person that has the experience. That's the person that knows how to fix roofs.

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And when we assess politicians and candidates, we are not trying to avoid being lulled by politicians that try to act like your friends or your family members.

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Ultimately, realize that politicians are not those things. They are workers. You need to hire the right person for the job, and the way you hire them is by voting.

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So do your due diligence. Do the research. There's many resources out there for you.

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If you're too busy to actually do the research and find a good candidate and know exactly, be knowledgeable enough to make the right choice, then ask somebody you trust.

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And because it's so important, as a matter of fact, if you are busy, you need to make time for it because, as I said, politics involves all of your life.

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Maybe the thing that is keeping you so busy is because of political policy. So it's important to be involved in knowing what your local government is like, what your national and state government is like, because all of those things directly affect your personal life in some way, shape, or form.

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And you should not neglect that because it is important. So a question here

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I have. What if they all failed the test? What if after looking through, searching for moral qualities and wisdom and affiliations and all these things, what if the politician or the candidate fails all these tests?

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Well, my answer to that would be you need to really diligently pray and seek the Lord for some discernment, and you need to continue to do research.

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Maybe there's something you're missing. Maybe there's things you have not considered in your assessments. You need to look for the person that will allow the gospel to be advanced.

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Which candidate would allow the gospel, give the opportunity for the gospel to properly advance in the world?

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Though they're not a good candidate, under which administration would actually provide the atmosphere for Christians to actually mobilize and do something in the world for Christ?

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And which politician is actually attempting to strangle the means of Christian activity in the world?

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And if it really comes down to it, if it's really difficult, I do think there is a time and place for just not voting at all.

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And that's often rare, but in most political elections, there is a choice between one or the other.

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So I want to hasten here because, as I've mentioned in several episodes now, I've been trying to keep this under 45 minutes.

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Looks like we're approaching an hour. So let's put a little giddy on this episode and answer the next few questions here.

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So who should I vote for in the 2024 election? After keeping all this in mind, if you've been following along thus far, we have two candidates before us.

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We have Kamala Harris and we have Donald Trump. Kamala Harris, in my opinion, really comes off very inauthentic.

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It seems like her history is primarily built on scandals and lies. She seems like a political puppet.

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When I observe many things about her and do a little more background research, it just doesn't seem like she is the one that is going to be in charge if she is put in place.

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And I think greatly to the attention of people in America, that has been obviously manifested.

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We know there's something fishy about her. And I'm not just saying that to cast doubt, but in my personal opinion and assessment, it just does not seem like she is the one that is really behind the wheel of anything that she stands behind.

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And besides that, you know, the abominable political policies that she's advocated for, like unrestricted abortion and subsidizing corrupted educational institutions and providing racial groups with subsidies and illegal immigrants.

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And it just doesn't seem like the American ideals are harnessed and grounded in her.

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And beyond that is just her opposition to religious convictions. Though she props herself up as someone who actually used to go to church, it just doesn't seem like it's probably flowing out of her.

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And like I said, politicians are not your friends, they're workers. And some of them are not attempting to be religious leaders either.

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I'm not really looking for a religious leader, but there are various characteristics that do pour out of them.

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Which leads me now into Donald Trump, right? Because I do not think Donald Trump is a outstanding citizen.

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No, I've seen him compromise on many things that are pretty tragic. He is characteristically flawed.

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He's not always wise. He's pretty proud. And to be honest, you know, after hearing

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Donald Trump speak on various things, I honestly do not pick up much substance from him when he speaks.

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He's very vague and simple minded, in my opinion. And, you know, the difference between him and Harris is that, you know, he actually has presidential history.

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You know, we can actually look back and compare what life is like now under the Biden -Harris administration in comparison to what it has been under the

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Donald Trump administration. And I think that's one thing that is really going for him, the fact that he's already been president and we know what he is like.

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And fortunately, I think that's a great plus because as I assess between him and Harris, it's kind of leaning towards one direction rather than the other there.

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You see, Donald Trump also seems to be pretty friendly towards evangelical Christianity.

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I personally do not think that he is a professional Christian himself. I think he's just, you know, he's just a business, a successful businessman who got into this realm and he has core

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American ideals. But I don't think he is himself a practicing, professing Christian. But he seems to really be friendly towards that community.

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And by God's grace, I count that a plus. And, you know, even all the other foibles that he brings to the table,

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I think that is something that at least gives a little more room for, you know, voting for him if it comes to pass.

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I'm trying to do my best to be, you know, not give you any clues to who I'm voting for, but I think it's pretty obvious.

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So next question, you see, should Christians actually be involved in politics? And I mean this in general.

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I'm not just talking about like actual voting. I'm like actually, you know, pursue jobs in politics or endeavor to have combat certain political things in culture.

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The answer is overwhelmingly yes. Why? Because politics is a part of our worldview. You know, worldviews encompass and dictate everything we do.

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A worldview is as inescapable as a philosophy of life. You know, you cannot just not have a philosophy of life.

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You have a political philosophy, you have an outlook on philosophy, and that political philosophy and ethic is governed by something.

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I encourage you to allow your political ethic and worldview be governed by Scripture and the

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Lordship of Christ and his laws from which we from where we derive our meaning of morality and justice and righteousness and wisdom and knowledge.

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Right. So, yes, we should be involved in politics, whether God's called you to actually be a politician or some in some facet in local politics.

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I think you should greatly study so that you can understand what what your role ought to be in light of being a

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Christian in such a realm. And if you are not called to be in a political office or something like that, your duty is to support those who are and not bar them from engaging in it.

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Your duty is to vote. Your duty is to spread the word. Your duty is to educate your neighbors.

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Your duty is to do something culturally and whatever to whatever capacity you you are able for the glory of God's sake.

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And the common objections to getting involved in politics might be, you know, we need to make the main thing the main thing.

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Well, there's nothing more central than the worldview of Christ in our lives.

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Right. It's you know, Christ ought to be at the center of everything. Every medium that flows out of our expressive activities, including politics.

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Right. You know, the main thing is that Christ is honored in the gospel is perpetuated. And that does not only mean just on the street evangelism.

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Sometimes it means actually engaging in the political sphere. If we deem the educational sphere important enough to start

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Christian schools, guess what? We need to we need to we need to keep in mind and be self -conscious about the fact that our worldview also informs our view of politics.

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And therefore, the main thing is to allow Christ to rule in that facet.

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Next question is, does voting matter if God is sovereign? The overwhelming answer is yes.

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Why? Because God has not only ordained the ends, but he has also ordained the means, which means that the way through which people get saved in the world is the proclamation of the gospel being expressed through your lips.

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Right. Being obedient to God to actually speak about the truth from the scriptures.

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And likewise, in the political sphere, God has elected the one he will have to be the president of the

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United States. But the means through which he does that is through the means of people voting.

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So use your faculties for the Lord's sake. Right. And even those who are not saved in the world, they are using their faculties for the

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Lord's sake, whether they know it or not. And it is only it is only through the means it is only through the ends and purposes of God, do the means that he he brings about those purposes actually make sense.

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They correlate with each other. And the great value of what we do here is is is only standing because of the great purposes of God behind them.

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So then in conclusion, politics is a major part of our existence, you know, which means therefore that it deserves our full engagement.

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The scriptures are very deliberate on providing us with a wide range of political affairs recorded for us in scripture for our learning and our wisdom.

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You know, we should be using the laws of God to inform and shape our moral directions so that when we assess political candidates, we are not led by CNN's propaganda, but instead we are led by the spirit of God and by the scriptures, from which we actually derive spiritual intelligence to to judge between good and evil.

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You see, Christians should get involved in politics because it's part of our worldview. It is not just something that can be cut off out of the pie and set over there.

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No, it is part of the entire scope of our worldview. So when it comes to politics, you may not be called to office, but you are called to do something in the realm that relates to politics, which means sharing the truth with your neighbor.

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You see, we are to set aside pietism.

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We are not to overemphasize spiritual things, quote unquote, spiritual things over against practical things such as actually doing things, you know, laboring in the world and getting involved in our communities to make an impact and make

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Christ known through our actions. We need to get out there and actually study.

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Well, we need to stay indoors and study. And then after studying, go out there to proclaim the gospel.

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And when the time comes for it, we need to go vote. We need to go out there and actually vote, participating in what

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Christ has commanded and created as a means for accomplishing his great glory.

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So then that is going to be the episode today. I am recording this once again on November 4th.

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Tomorrow is the election and in the nation for those who haven't yet early voted.

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And I am excited for that. I hope I've been praying for this and, you know, the people who are involved.

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And I hope you are, too. But besides that, I hope this episode has done its job in actually informing you a little bit more on the

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Christian view of politics. I hope to do more episodes on how to properly understand politics from a

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Christian standpoint. So until then, I hope that you will continue to learn and grow and study the truth.

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My name is Belushi Prevalon. Thank you so much for listening. God bless. Trueology is a podcast that seeks to equip, effect and engage the world through Christ and his wonderful gospel of the kingdom, against which he has promised that the gates of hell shall never prevail, but increased by his government, his law and grace, till it be presented a glorious church without spot or wrinkle.

01:00:22

If there's any fear, threat or worry, remember that the one that has called you according to his purpose and grace has also promised that all enemies will soon be placed under his feet.

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Now, I want you to believe that not because I said it or because it sounds really nice and spiritual, but primarily and wholeheartedly and only and biblically, because it's the truth.