Hello Yvonne,
Why should I call you 'Vonn', now that I know, what a nice name you have.
Now I answer your first two questions
Verse 6: Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's Commandments and regulations blamelessly.
Question: Seeing that Elizabeth and Zechariah were ob****nt to God's will - do you think that the 10 commandments are still valid and important to follow in today's society?
Question: Do you feel that you are living an upright and ob****nt life? If not, What can you do to change that?
This text is standing in Luke 1.
Zechariah and Elizabeth....both of them honoured and 'feared' the Lord in uprighteousness. they loved to do, what the Lord had ordered and they avoided to do what he had forbidden.
They were notg without sins. This showed itself out of Zechariahs unbelief, (18). But they made for themselves the following of the commandments and regulations of the Lord a matter of conscience.
'Upright in the sight of the Lord' does not mean that in the Lords eye they were by their way of doing without debt and totally corresponding to his law. It only means this:
They were not only 'keeping up appearences'...: as far as onther people could see 'right and living after Gods laws'.
No, in their 'inner person', their human spirit, they lived in ob****nce to God, be it with stumbling.
Now you can see it like this:
Romans 2 v 14 talks about Gentiles, who have very little light of God. But it shows that there ARE gentiles, who use the very tiny insight that they have in God to a level that is satisfactory in Gods eye. They show that they are 'Yes-sayers'. They had the fear of the Lord in the deepest of their human personality, their 'inner person'.
But the Jews from the old Testament had FAR more light . And Zechariah and Elziabeth were two specimen of Jews, who had not only Gods word at the outside of their being, but inside their deep heart
But nowadays Jesus has done his great work and left to us his Holy Spirit. We should have a righteousness, which is surely greater than that of the not-knowing Gentiles.
We should have a higher righteousness even than the Phariseans, the old testament- 'uppper class', (Matthew 5 v 20).
We should have a righteousness, in which the Law of the ten Commandments is comprimed, not in the words "You SHALL not" but in the words 'you shall NOT" The menacing element has made place for the assuring element.
Now:
- Gentiles, who were 'Yes-sayers', could do it very good and 'poorly' good
- Jews, with their higher level' of 'righteousness after the Law'....when they were 'Yes sayers'... could do it very good and 'poorly' good.
- Nowadays Christians , having the possibility by grace, by the sacrifice of Jesus and his glorious gift of the Holy Spirit, ...having the possiblility of the highest standard, can be- supposed they are ' yes-sayers'- pretty good and 'poorly' good.
Let us all try to live after all the glorious possibilities, the grace of God has given for our time.
When you have read the answer to the first question, the answer to the second question is easy. There are the possibilities of living without stumbling. The heroes of Revelation 11 shall reach this standard. Let we all pray to God to have grace by him to reach higer than we do now.
Greetings
Ger |
