Positions for Healing Grace in an Election Year #2

#2 – Our ideology and direction come from Scripture – not party platforms or political commentators or social media posts.

As Christians we are dependent on God’s Word for our worldview, our ideology and how we should vote. You might say, but Pastor Jim, both liberals and conservatives use the Bible to affirm their beliefs and worldviews. The difference is, the believer allows the Word to shape his or her ideology, while the liberal and the conservative often use the Bible to confirm their ideology. Example: on the issue of Abortion – when does life begin – for the progressive they use the scripture in Genesis where God breathed life into man to say that life begins at first breath – so an unborn baby does not have life until he/she is out of the womb, therefore abortion is not taking a life and that is clearly a twisting of scripture. The follower of Christ looks at the Bible, not to confirm their preestablished belief, but instead to let the whole counsel of God speak. The Bible teaches that life begins in the womb - Genesis 25:23 The twins of Isaac and Rebekah “jostled each other within her” so she inquired of God and He said “Two nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you will be separated.” They were already acting out what God said would happen., Job 31:15 Job declares “did not the who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers” – God’s creation in the womb, Psalm 51:6 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me,” Psalm 139:13 David wrote “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depth of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”, Isaiah 44:2 “this is what the lord says—he who made you , who formed you in the womb and who will help you.”, Jeremiah 1:4-5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”, Luke 1:44 – John the Baptist leaped for joy in his mother’s womb – and who is in control of that creation inside the womb? God. Yes, in the past, the conversative has used the Bible to support racism and slavery and today the ultraconservative uses the Bible to support their idolatry of patriotism.

So how do we let the Bible govern our worldview and our political decisions? We realize that the Bible may not speak to every issue specifically, like abortion or the legalization of illicit drugs, but it does speak to the broader issues of the value of human life and not giving control of life to anything outside of God. Next, we examine the scripture – the Psalmist put it this way in Psalm 1 “Blessed the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD and on his law he mediates day and night.” Not listening to the cultural voices, or taking a stand the way the world does or sitting with those who mock the truth. Instead they meditate on the word – think about it, study it. Essentially the Psalmist says "See it for yourself." Psalm 119 says it many different ways v. 9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” v. 21 “You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed and who stray from your commands.” Or v. 29 “Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law.” Or v. 36 “turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.” v. 66 “teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands.” Each of those verses speak of knowing the difference between right and wrong, between good and bad, between what is righteous and unrighteous because of God’s word. In the coming weeks we will look at what God’s word says about our positions. So position #2 – Our ideology and direction come from God’s word.