Voting As A Christian And Never Die

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Hi C____,

You asked about Joh 11:36

Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

The reason this verse is hard to understand is that the whole orthodox Christian world cannot see that:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth [ gives life]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The whole orthodox Christian world believes that we will be given spiritual bodies of flesh and bone. This, of course, is an oxymoron. Here is the Truth from the mouth of the Truth:

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

The flesh recoils at such unfleshly words and twists the words of scripture to mix flesh and spirit and come up with an eternal glorified spiritual body that can be seen and touched. As the doctrine goes, since Christ ate and drank with the disciples after the resurrection, we too, will still be able to enjoy a good steak. How childish and carnal. Such a doctrine pits Christ’s words to Nicodemus in Joh 3 against Christ’s words elsewhere. But there is no contradiction except in the minds of the carnal. The fact that spirit can be manifested as flesh does not make it flesh. Did the Lord and the two angels that ate the fatted calf and the bread with Abraham really need that? Was that not for Abraham’s benefit? Did Christ really need the “piece of a fish and an honey comb to quench His hunger? Or was He not also eating simply to make the point: “These [the piece of fish and of an honeycomb] are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me”.

Luk 24:41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
Luk 24:42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
Luk 24:43 And he took it, and did eat before them.
Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Luk 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

Have you read the paper on Rightly Dividing the Word? That paper demonstrates that most of the scriptures quoted in the New Testament are what the Dallas Theological Seminary and all other seminaries, would say were taken out of context.

That was the direct result of “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures“. When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, He did not give Lazarus life, any different than you and I were alive at our birth. Lazarus was put right back into the same kind of body he was born with. Christ told one disciples: “Let the [spiritually] dead bury their [physically and spiritually] dead”.

Mat 8:21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Mat 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Here is Paul’s perspective on this “living soul” physical existence we have “in Adam”:

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Paul obviously understood what Christ meant when He said:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh [being ‘in Adam’] profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

I doubt seriously that Mary had any idea what Christ meant by his question:

Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

No one was even converted yet. Understanding of scripture had not yet been given. But it certainly had been given to the writer of Hebrews when he made this statement…:

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

… Paul knew that Christ’s “body of this death” could no more “inherit the kingdom of heaven” than could ours. “The flesh [even of Christ] profits nothing”. Physical death is not the subject of Heb 9:27! We in Adam are appointed to spiritual death. Until we see this, we cannot be judged. And since…:

1Pe 4:17 … The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

… it is imperative that we understand what Christ meant when he asked Mary:

Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

This was a spiritual statement which Christ was making by asking Mary, not so much for her benefit as for ours.

Joh 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
Joh 11:42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

I hope you have a somewhat better understanding of what Jesus was doing in asking Mary that question. He certainly was not speaking of physical death or physical life. Neither is Heb 9:27.

Now concerning voting, a Christian has no business getting involved in any doomed system in this world. Here are the scriptures that prove this:

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

This one simple command of our Lord and Master prohibits any “child of God” from supporting any government that would have him to defend his country by physically killing his country’s enemies. Peter thought he was doing the right thing when he took out his sword to defend the very Son of God. Now listen closely to what Christ told Peter. There a few indeed who have been given the spiritual “ears to hear” what Christ told Peter at this very juncture:

Mat 26:52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Mat 26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
Mat 26:54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

Have you never wondered why Christ never suggested that anyone should demonstrate against the Romans?

In Rom 13 we are told that we are to submit ourselves to “the higher power”. Pastor Adrian Rogers uses this scripture to encourage Christians to both vote and to be willing to fight for and to defend their country. The intimation is that we are a righteous nation under the God of Abraham, and the Islamic terrorists are from evil nations under the God of Islam.

Dr. D. James Kennedy quotes Christ Himself to “prove that we should both vote and fight for our country”. This is the scripture that to Dr. Kennedy proves that we are to kill our enemies and vote in our elections:

Mar 12:17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at him.

It is most instructive that ‘Caesar’s things’, things like fighting for your country and voting in its elections, take precedence over the “things that belong unto God”, things like “love thine enemies, and resist not evil.”

I witnessed on T. V. the bombing of a Christian Church in Baghdad, Iraq. Now under the ‘sound advice’ of these two spiritual “princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown” (Num. 16:2), what should these Iraqi Christians have done if Saddam had told them to take up arms and to fight for their country against the invading Christians? Pastor Rogers, Dr. Kennedy??? I don’t mean to single out these two men; they are simply the two I have just recently heard make these statements. They are not saying anything contrary to what the entire orthodox Christian church is saying. I remember well watching and hearing Jerry Falwell make the statement before his entire congregation at the Thomas Road Baptist Church; “It may be legal to burn our flag, but if you do it next to me I will whip you if I can.” And he was applauded by his Christian congregation.

Put all this carnal advice from these “princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown” up against these words of our Lord and Master, “choose ye this day whom you will serve:”

Mat 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

There you have it: “Fight for your country against your fellow Christians”, and “I’ll whip you if I can” versus “Love your enemy” and “Resist not evil”. Where these ‘men of renown’ go wrong is that they do not believe in a sovereign God. They actually believe that we should defend this nation as if it were the kingdom of God on earth. It is not the kingdom of God on this earth. Germany and Iraq are as much a part of “the counsel of His own will” as is any nation.

Christ told the Pharisees that “the kingdom of God is within you”. How then can an American Christian kill an Iraqi Christian? Well, the way that is done is the same way that American and German Christians killed each other. They all, like Peter, did it with zeal. But it is a “zeal that is not according to knowledge”.

Here is how Paul tells us we are to view all men:

2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh [Jew or Gentile, Christian or Muslim]: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Those witnesses of Christ who have received a “love of the Truth” take these inspired words seriously. “We are ambassadors of Christ”, and Christ told Pilate that “My kingdom is not of this world”. Where, then, is Christ’s kingdom? Here is where Paul tells us that our ‘citizenship really should b..’ It is this Truth only that will keep Christians from killing each other in the name of obedience to God.

Php 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

Php 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Php 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Greek word translated ‘conversation’ in Php 3:7 is politeuomai – Strong’s #4176. According to Strong, this word means “To behave as a citizen”. Then, warning us against those who are the “enemies of the cross of Christ”, we are warned that “they mind earthly things”. Things like fighting and voting in this world?

Then Paul comes right out and tells us “Our conversation is in heaven…” The Greek here is politeuma, Strong’s #4175. He defines this word as “A community, that is citizenship“. So “Our citizenship is in heaven” and “My kingdom is not of this world” and “We are ambassadors for Christ”. So should a Christian fight for His physical country? Should he vote in the elections of the nations of this earth? Here is Christ’s own answer to these questions:

Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Christ also told us this:

Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Neither can any man be faithful to two countries, especially when one is natural, and the other is spiritual. What country in all the history of the nations of this earth would ever tolerate its ambassador getting involved in the political affairs of the country to which he was sent as an ambassador? How can he possibly represent the country that sent him there while at the same time being involved in the affairs of the host country? It cannot be done. The question of military service just serves to amplify this point. How could our ambassador to Iraq have joined the Iraqi military and still retain his American citizenship? It cannot be tolerated, not even in the flesh realm. It certainly will not be tolerated by a just God.

Here is the proper attitude for those Christians who are truly “living by faith”. It will not make you popular in this world. You will be especially hated by the ministers of orthodox Christendom. In fact the Truth is:

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name’s sake: but he that endure the to the end shall be saved.

Apparently those who are “living by faith” are few and far between. But wherever they are, this is their attitude toward life on this earth:

Heb 11:13 These [all the O. T. faithful] all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth [Heavenly ambassadors].
Heb 11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
Heb 11:15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out [gave up their earthly citizenship], they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

I hope this has cleared up the question of voting for you. If not, let me know.

As far as the subject of homosexuality is concerned, a homosexual is no better and no worse than an adulterer. The fact is that adultery is always mentioned in scripture ahead of fornication. Both must be repented of. The battle that is presently raging over homosexual rights is nothing more than another one of the ‘affairs of this world’ in which a heavenly ambassador has no part. The fact that such a thing is even being considered is nothing more than a testament against the pervasive adultery rampant in what is called ‘straight society’. Where adultery is not tolerated homosexuality is not even an issue. Read this letter on homosexuals for more scriptures on that subject.

Mike

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