Only test for candidates

Batas Mauricio

I AM flattered and elated that our readers in this column are taking time out to react and comment to what we have been writing here in connection with the May 2016 elections. To be sure, not all who are reacting and commenting agree with some of the points I am raising, particularly on who is leading whom, but the reactions are priceless just the same.

But to push all the more our advocacy on electing only the candidates who have a clear agenda on God and spirituality among our people, allow me once more to publish here what I have been writing about the guidelines that God, through the Bible, have laid down on we must select as our new leaders come May.

President Aquino was right when he told voters in the mid-term elections three years ago that they should not elect “pretenders” to public office since only those who will and can really serve should be voted upon. But then, with due respect, he is totally wrong to assume that only those who wear yellow shirts have the capacity to serve well.

There are many who don the yellow color but are really undeserving of any elective position, even the lowest ones, and there are those who wear other colors but who are really able and capable.

What the President should be pounding upon for our people to vote for in May, if he wants his “right path” campaign to really succeed, arecandidates who have the fear and love of God in their hearts, and who are true believers well-versed and obedient to the Word of God, the Bible.

Then, and only then, will this country and its people be able to claim its rightful destiny as a nation blessed, led, guided, and protected by God. Consequently, the question that President Aquino and all of us should try to answer is: who are the candidates in the 2016 elections who have the fear and love of God in their hearts? The Bible gives clear indications as to who they are.

In Exodus 18:13-21, Moses was given by his father-in-law, Jethro, the guidelines for selecting officials who will rule over others. Jethro said: “… Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him.

“Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave.  But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens…”

In Genesis 41:15-40, the Pharaoh of Egypt asked: “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom the Spirit of God dwells?” Seeing that Joseph, the son of Jacob, had the Spirit of God in Him, the Pharaoh installed him as Egypt’s second ruler, next only to him, the king.

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A post from the past, but modified to suit the 2016 elections:  “Let’s continue talking about who we should vote for in the forthcoming May 2016 elections, regardless of family names, personalities, political affiliations, or any of the other usual standards in assessing candidates running for any position. Our main thesis here is this: Filipinos should elect only the candidates who are godly—that is, those who have genuine and sincere fear and love of God.

“These are the candidates who will be true to the faithful discharge of their sworn duties and responsibilities, if and when they get elected, regardless of whether they come from a family of politicians, or whether they are rich and famous, or whether belong to any political party, because when they have fear and love of God in them, they will not steal, plunder nor abuse their power and position.

“So, how do we concretely measure whether or not a candidate has fear and love of God? Well, a candidate who knows and obeys the Word of God—the Bible—will surely have fear and love of God in his heart. A candidate who does not know, or only pretends to know, in many cases, and does not obey the Word of God, will not have fear and love of God in his heart.

“One word of God that is going to be a good measure whether the candidate, of the male or female species, has fear and love of God pertains to his marital relationship with his or her spouse. In Mark 10:6-9 of the Bible, Jesus explains how a man should treat his wife, in a clear and direct manner which leaves on room for any interpretation or justification for a contrary conduct.

“He said: `…But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

“Now, the question is: is the candidate presenting himself or herself for election in May obedient to the foregoing admonitions of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior? Has a male candidate really left his father and mother, and got united to his wife, so that, until eternity, they are no longer two, but considered one flesh? Or is the candidate playing out the song of  post-war-era singer Patty Page entitled `Changing Partners’, and very often yet?

“On the other hand, the Bible, in its Ephesians 5:21-23, has this decree for women insofar as their respective husbands are concerned: `… Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior…’

“In considering this admonition from the Bible in assessing a woman candidate, can it be said that the woman obeyed this principle and therefore subjected herself to her husband, as she should subject herself to the Lord? Or is the woman the ruler of her husband, such that, even in the field of politics, it is she who is running and not her husband?

“My point of view here is that, if a candidate cannot obey these simple rules as required by God, it would be clear that they could not even serve God, the One Being who gave them their lives, their fortune and their abilities. If these candidates cannot even serve God, from whom they owe everything, can they be expected to serve mere mortals—you and me? What do you think?”

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com