TENET FOUR

Church and Politics

We believe that each local church is self-governing in function and must be free from interference by any government or political authority. We further believe that every human being is directly responsible to God in matters of faith and life and that each one should be free to worship God per the dictates of conscience.

The Bible teaches that a leader in the church should be a godly, moral, and ethical person which should apply to political leaders as well. If politicians are going to make wise, God-honoring decisions, they must have a bible-based morality on which to base the decisions they make.

Issues such as the size and scope of government and economic systems are not explicitly addressed in Scripture. Bible-believing Christians should support issues and candidates that adhere to Scripture. We can be involved in politics and hold public office. However, we are to be heavenly-minded and more concerned with the things of God than the things of this world. No matter who is in office, whether we voted for them or not, whether they are of the political party we prefer or not, the Bible commands us to respect and honor them. We should also be praying for those placed in authority over us. We are in this world but are not to be of this world.

There are issues the Bible does explicitly address. These are spiritual issues, not political issues. Two popular issues that are explicitly addressed are abortion and homosexuality and gay marriage. For the Bible-believing Christian, abortion is not a matter of a woman’s right to choose. It is a matter of the life or death of a human being made in God’s image. The Bible condemns homosexuality and gay marriage as immoral and unnatural.

Genesis 1:26-27; 9:6; Exodus 21:22-25; Leviticus 18:22; Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5; Romans 1:26-27; 13:1-7; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Colossians 3:1-2; 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9; 1 Peter 2:13-17; 1 John 2:15

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