No Sin Vote

ByJim Stephens

Scripture: Romans 6

12 That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. 13 Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. (Romans 6:12-13 MSG)

We’re in the final few weeks of a very sharply polarized and hotly contested election campaign in the USA. This year it’s local, regional, and national elections and includes a bitterly contested battle for the office of President of the United States. It’s been a nasty election campaign, and there are deep divisions in the church and among Christians across the nation over how to vote in a Christian manner for the best candidates. It’s been a disappointment to me that many Christians seem to intend to vote strictly along ideological lines rather than on the character and qualifications of the candidates. There is a very strong push for citizens to register to vote and I’m praying and hoping that many people who normally don’t exercise their right to vote will register and vote.

That said, the rest of what I’m writing to you today is about another kind of voting. This is about no longer giving sin a vote in how we conduct our lives!

When Jesus died and rose again, he broke the power of sin. When I put my faith in him and his life entered me, he broke the power of sin in me. Now I am free!

The thing about this new freedom is that it is true freedom – freedom to choose. Before freedom in Christ, I battled with my will against the attitudes and desires of sin. Sometimes I got the upper hand but often sin got the upper hand. I was still allowing sin to have a vote!

In Christ, I am free to choose to live out of the new life Jesus gave me. I can reject sin’s vote in things and live “In Christ.” But because this is actual freedom, I can also let sin express its opinion and even choose to let sin influence my choices. After all, it is freedom! So today I’m embarking on a campaign to deny sin the right to vote on how I live my life! How about you? Care to join me?

Prayer:

Father, I purpose to use my freedom in Christ to choose life. I determine to deny sin the right to be heard in my decision making processes. By your grace, I am going to live freer than ever. Amen.