Election 2024: Grace Super-abounding
Note: This article first appeared on the American Thinker website, November 14, 2024. (See here)
Following the electoral miracle of 2024, many conservatives have swiftly moved on to a contemplation of the persons, procedures, and policies that will best advance an American renaissance. Kindly allow a retired pastor and bush league theologian to explain why they should not—not, at least, until they have paused to reflect seriously on the purposes of the One who granted it.
Consider, then, this short narrative recorded in the New Testament by Dr. Luke (Luke 17:11-17). The Lord Jesus has just healed ten lepers and ordered them to report the miracle to the priests. Demonstrating that a spiritual test lay hidden in his command, one of the former lepers, a Samaritan, came back to Jesus, fell to the ground, and poured out his heart in thanksgiving to Christ and God. The Lord’s response is well worth pondering: “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to the man, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
We do well to listen hard to this text. For decades the spiritual leprosy of atheistic Neo-Marxism has been spreading through our body politic, bringing massive sickness, corruption, and death in its train. But suddenly, in a patently miraculous turn of events, it was arrested and (one fervently hopes) permanently put to flight—not by President Trump, not by the MAGA movement, and not even by the voters, though all three were indeed heaven’s instrumentalities. Rather, it was put to flight by the sovereign God, in whose hands lie the hearts, minds, and votes of all men (Proverbs 21:1). He is the One, said the prophet, who changes times and seasons; who removes kings and raises them up (Daniel 2:21; 4:1-37). But if that is so, should we not be imitating the grateful Samaritan; should we not be falling on our faces before Christ and God, pouring out our hearts in thanksgiving to them? And should we not be asking God what he means by this stupendous miracle of providence, and what he would have us do? If we truly desire lasting wellness, surely we must.
I have just suggested two reasons for the miracle of 2024: God wants us to see that he himself is the One who performed it, and that, for our own spiritual health, he desires us turn back and thank him for it.
But what else does he want us to learn and do as we press on into a better future? I offer five brief replies.
First, he would have us understand how he works in history. The apostle Paul sums it up this way: “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” This principle—so dramatically manifested in Christ’s death and resurrection—governs the flow of all world events. For a season, by God’s wise decree, sin will abound. During such times, he is testing our discernment, integrity, courage, perseverance, and aptitude for self-sacrifice. Then, when it appears that evil is about triumph, he suddenly intervenes, grace super-abounds, goodness wins out, and the nations behold his sovereignty, wisdom, holiness, justice, mercy, and grace. We observe this principle in Scripture (Daniel 2, Revelation 13). We see it in the succession of world empires. We have seen it in recent history; in the rise and fall of Communist and socialist regimes. We see it in myth and great literature (think of Frodo and the triumph on Mount Doom). And (one fervently hopes) we are seeing it today in a fresh revival of the American Experiment. It began on November 5, 2024, a day when God’s grace did indeed super-abound.
Secondly, he would have us repent of all known sin. For surely the blessing of 2024 was not granted because of our righteousness (though there is some), but in spite of our manifold sins. Therefore, it was altogether of God’s goodness, mercy, and grace. And, as the apostle wrote, the goodness of God is meant to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4). So too are his providential chastisements, so painfully abundant over the last few decades (Hebrews 12:6).
Why, then, do we boast about making America great again? Would it not be far better—and far safer—to humble ourselves (presidents and parties included), repent of our sin, and purpose in our hearts to make America good again? In Scripture, the Great City (of proud, deluded, and fallen mankind) is slated for destruction (Revelation 18), whereas the Holy City (of penitent and redeemed mankind) is slated for eternal life and glory (Revelation 21). Do we want America to enjoy true greatness? Then let us swiftly agree to repent of all atheism, idolatry, lawlessness, abortion-murder, sexual immorality, military adventurism, greed, (class) hatred (a species of murder according to Christ), lying, slander, and tyranny of every kind. The message of 2024 is clear: Sin no more, lest something worse than the previous decade befall you (John 5:14).
Thirdly, God would have us come (back) to him through his one and only channel of redemption and blessing: the Lord Jesus Christ. In the noxious spiritual atmosphere now enveloping the West, a vague, generic spirituality will no longer suffice. To survive the new warfare, we must unite with the true victor. Lavishly, palpably, God has shown us that the victor is Jesus Christ. His righteous life, profound wisdom, mighty miracles, atoning death, public resurrection, and exaltation to the right hand of God—all in fulfillment of hundreds of ancient prophecies—plainly mark him out as a man set apart; nay, as the God-Man, as God in human flesh.
It is this Man—now seated at the right hand of God the Father, with all authority in heaven and earth—who just spared our country, having largely done so through concerned pastors, lay thought leaders, biblically motivated voters, and the residuum of Christian values still operating in the broader culture. But if all this is so, then surely God’s message in our recent election includes this most loving command: “Now therefore, be wise, O kings; and be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all who put their trust in Him!” (Psalm 2). Do we desire the blessing of 2024 to continue? Let us kiss the Son and put our trust in him.
Fourthly, God is calling us to recommit ourselves to the American Experiment. I opine that he is quite friendly to it. True, the founding fathers declined to make America a Christian theocracy. But they did make it a theistic republic, a republic in which the enjoyment of personal liberty is ever sustained by obedience to natural law and the Judeo-Christian traditions. Accordingly, our experiment involves a frank recognition of the depravity of man, of his perennial lust for power, and therefore of our need for institutional safeguards (i.e., democracy, separation of powers, limited government), all of which are enshrined in our majestic Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. This rich inheritance places great responsibility upon the citizenry: to honor God, educate oneself, cultivate strong families (the spiritual womb of the next generation), and remain ever vigilant against the manifold encroachments of tyranny. To receive God’s message in 2024 is to appreciate afresh the dangers of life in a fallen world, but also to celebrate the blessings of life in the last best hope of the earth. It is to rededicate oneself to understanding and living out the American Experiment.
Finally, through the election of 2024 God would prepare us for the dramatic closing scenes of universal history. Mercifully and graciously, he has revealed them to us in the Bible. There we learn that under the influence of invisible satanic forces a Babylonian Principle is ever at work in human history, according to which powerful (and powerfully deceptive) men are ever seeking to establish a global empire for the glory of man, rather than a global kingdom for the glory of God. Hitherto, the one true God has frustrated all such efforts. However, as we near the end of the present evil age, he will permit that effort one last time, and for a brief moment it will succeed. In that day, evil will abound as never before. But at the return of Christ, which will swiftly ensue, mercy and grace will again super-abound. And this time—in an eternal City set upon a hill—they will super-abound forever.
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For the life of me, I cannot understand why you people are so insistent on calling this bringing to power of a rapist, fraud, and serial breaker of the Commandments (particularly the 3rd and 9th commandments) a miraculous display of mercy. I think there may be another way to look at it and that is a righteous display of judgement upon our selfish and wicked nation to give us what we want and, frankly, deserve.
Thanks for commenting, Brent. If Mr. Trump were running for elder in my church, I would not vote for him. But since, by my lights, he was the less evil of the two candidates; since his previous administration accomplished a number of good reforms; and since he promised to assemble a team of basically conservative leaders (some of whom are pro-life), he got my vote. He also received a letter from me, urging him to repent of his new pro-choice position on abortion. The above article was also attached. We live in a mixed and fallen world. We make the best choices we can. We wait, eagerly, for the perfect, to be brought to us buy the only Perfect One.
Voting for the lesser of two evils changes nothing substantially from one (s)election cycle to the next. Perhaps “the American experiment” and “the American dream” we have heard about all of our lives, are myths, and underworldly schemes to get God’s people fixated on twin idols: idolatrous “America First” exceptionalism and idolatrous partisan politics. Thus we remain entrenched in a thoroughly corrupt and evil system instead of coming out from among them.
I have stopped voting for evil since 2016.
Brother, I suspect that you would not want an habitual liar, blasphemer, pedophile and adulterer to be your child’s teacher or your household plumber…but it is somehow acceptable conduct for your president, who holds the highest office in the land?! How does that even make sense?
In my opinion voting for the lesser of two evils has brought us to the dismal state we are now in. Compromise with evil has not resulted not in the betterment of society. Look and see. It has gravely damaged the reputation of the church and the holy God Christians claim to believe in.
Thank you for commenting, Jeanne. You write, “Voting for the lesser of two evils changes nothing substantially from one (s)election cycle to the next.” This statement is demonstrably false, and obviously so. Hence, the landslide victory for President Trump, whose policies and accomplishments during his first administration stood in the starkest contrast to the vicious evil, destruction, and death that burdened the nation in the Biden/Harris years. / It is not compromise with evil to vote for the lesser of two evils if we as Christians have the discernment and courage to address all evil in high places, including the evil of the person we voted for. / We live in a fallen world, where good and evil are always mingling together. This is true of the church, as well as the body politic. You can only escape evil through death or the return of the Lord. Till then, we recognize the hand of God in every good thing we see, and we vote in various ways to commend and encourage the good, even as we humbly but courageously address the evil. / Again I ask: What if every Christian followed your lead, and opted out of their civic responsibility as an American Christian? Where then would be today?
I agree with Mr. Perteet. I voted in the 2024 General Election because we had a radical pro-abortion amendment proposed for the Missouri state constitution, which sadly passed by 52%. Many of those approving it were also Trump supporters. I left the office of president/vice-president blank on my ballot because both parties had morally compromised candidates. I am glad and thanked God that the more extremely pro-abortion candidate did not win. But with the controversey surrounding some of Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, I can only think that we live in a decadent time and if he’s the best America can come up with for president, woe is us.
Thank you for commenting, Angela. And thank you for voting against that amendment. If only more Christians had voted at all, it would have been defeated. // Yes, some of those who approved of it were Trump supporters, but many more were Harris supporters, a profoundly flawed candidate who, unlike Mr. Trump, endorsed abortion up to birth. // I am glad you are glad that Harris did not win. But suppose that all Christians followed your lead and did not vote for President at all. In that case, Harris would almost certainly have won. Such efforts to protect one’s conscience would have led to a Neo-Marxist regime incalculably more destructive of human shalom than anything Mr. Trump is likely to bring in. / Please read my previous blog post, in which I wrestle with the problem of voting for a pro-choice candidate like Mr. Trump. My solution was to vote for him in order to avoid worse evil, but also to write him, urging him to repent of his betrayal of his own words, the laws of God, and the most fundamental principles of the American Experiment.
According to NBC, 58% of Missourians voted for Trump. So, while many of Harris’ supporters approved enshrining abortion at all stages of pregnancy in our constitution, many of Trump’s did too. I respect your right to conscience in voting for Trump and hope you’ll respect mine in not voting for him, as well. I’m reformed, so I believe the outcome of the election is how God ordained it and He honors me voting (or not voting) according to my conscience.
Mr. Trump’s apostasy on the abortion issue is grievous, and may indeed have contributed to the outcome of the abortion amendment. But other factors were in play: deceptive wording, Big Abortion advertising dollars, the selfishness and foolishness of the voters, and the de facto pietism of many Christians, such that they chose not to vote at all. Lots of room for self-examination on that one. / I do indeed respect your right to vote according to the dictates of your conscience, per Romans 14-15. But I question the wisdom of it, and wonder if your conscience had been stronger you would have seen the imperative of doing all you could to thwart a Harris presidency. Yes, God is sovereign in all outcomes; but that does not absolve us from making the kinds of choices best suited to producing the best outcome. So again I would ask: If all Christians, or all voters, did as you did, what kid of future would we be looking at today?
A Christian podcast described the fact that Kamala Harris lost as America being spared a terrible judgment from God. I think the podcast was correct in that opinion but it’s not the complete picture. After all, America received a judgment in Donald Trump being elected. He is by far the dumbest person ever to hold that office and he is a venal, ignorant, incompetent man. At a time when America and the world need a brave, experienced, and moral president of the US to lead the country and protect democracy and stability around the world, we have a man who only has an interest in lining his own pockets and who is reportedly so ignorant that he didn’t know which side America fought on in World War I. Even ignoring his many alleged crimes, he was plainly unqualified as president in his first term so why do we believe that this man in his late seventies, with diminished stamina and mental acuity, is going to be better? By a miracle, America survived his first term mostly in tact but at what cost to culture and the church? Society and our pews are divided, and bitterly so, over Donald Trump. Some see him as King David—flawed (see Bathsheba) but God’s instrument—while others think of him as a version of King Saul: in the end an apostate repudiated by the LORD. I know which of the two I think is closer to the truth.
Neither of these deplorable cretins should have been our candidates and the fact that we as voters were condemned to choose between two manifest evils is already the judgment of God on a nation—and a church—wallowing in filth and sin.
Michel, I would urge you to do as the old song says: Take a look at yourself, and you will look at others differently; so put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee. Only God fully knows the character and personal history of Mr. Trump. You are long on spotlighting his apparent flaws and sins, but short on mentioning the qualities that have endeared him to millions, the highly fruitful policies of his first administration, and the policies and personnel that he is even now putting in place in order to help a wounded nation heal from the calamitous Biden/Harris years. / I am under no illusions about man; like our Lord, I know what is in man, for I know what is in me. And you. So, let us humble ourselves, and let us be grateful for every bit a good we see entering this dark world, including the good that I hope and pray for during the upcoming Trump administration. And join me in praying that he may find the grace to repent of all his sins, and find forgiveness, new life, hope, and joy in Christ.