Luke, in writing about John the Baptist’ parents said “they were both righteous before God, walking in ALL the commandments and ordinances of the Lord BLAMELESS. (See Luke 1:5-6). There is one other person in the New Testament of whom such language is used. Do you know who? Speaking of himself, the apostle Paul says this in the third chapter of his letter to the Philippians: “For we (new covenant believers) are the circumcision (true sons of the covenant), which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has whereof he might trust in the flesh, I (have) more. Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews (any and all who were of the tribes of Levi, Benjamin or Judah were regarded as the stock of Israel, a Hebrew of the Hebrews), as touching the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, TOUCHING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS IN THE LAW BLAMELESS!” (verses 3 through 6).
Paul, like Zacharias and Elisabeth before him, had grown spiritually to such a degree that it could be said of him what was said of the parents of John the Baptist. He walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Of course all three of them had sinned earlier in their lives, for ALL have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory of continual and eternal righteousness, but with each passing day they grew closer and closer in fellowship with the Lord and in the habit of continual obedience until one day it could be said of them that they walked in all the ordinances and commandments of the Lord blamelessly.
I feel badly for those ministers – and their congregations – who have no correct understanding of Romans 7, and who believe Paul is describing himself in that chapter of a spiritually defeated personality. They fail to home in on the 19th verse of Romans 6, where Paul says, “I speak after the manner of men (spiritually defeated men at that), because of the infirmity of YOUR flesh (not Paul’s flesh THEIR FLESH), for as YOU have yielded (Paul didn’t yield to his fleshly lusts and passions – the Romans did) your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity (sinning again and again and again), even so now yield your members as servants to righteousness unto holiness (like Paul).”
Folks, Paul was one of the holiest human beings who ever walked this earth. In writing the believers at Thessalonica, Paul said, “You are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe” (See I Thessalonians 2:10).
Paul wrote that a bishop, the spiritual overseer of a congregation, a pastor “MUST BE BLAMELESS!” (See I Timothy 3:2). “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God…HOLY!” (See Titus 1:7-8). In short, he must reflect the character of the parents of John the Baptist, of Paul, and of the Lord Himself. Some foolishly think Paul himself failed to meet these ironclad, inflexible and unchangeable qualifications of an overseer of a congregation of God’s people. Those who think that need to read Paul’s letters a bit more closely.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley