This is kind of revision of some ideas that have been going around my mind lately:
Love is the fulfilment of righteousness. We know this because the "Law" is summed up with love and the Law can be fulfilled by righteousness.
Righteousness covers two aspects: character and honour. (Again love is evident here).
Character is about how we conduct ourselves, how we think about ourselves and so on.
Honour has to do with how we relate to others.
Obviously a person of good character is gracious to others. Good character would not hold a grudge against a person, we know that because we are told, "Love has no memory of a suffered wrong" 1 Cor 13:5. However, honour goes beyond that. Jesus told us to love, pray for and bless our enemies! To honour someone is more than to just have good thoughts for a person.
We are told to "honour all people" 1 Pet 2:17
We are told to "Honour your mother and father"
We are told to honour those in authority (that is civil authorities as well as church authorities) because God is the one who gives authority. Now, our understanding will tel us that we should honour those who are good. But there is a lot against this:
1, we should bless our enemies.
2, we should honour all people.
3, at the time the letters were written saying that Christians should honour those in authority Nero was the authority! And he was one of the most evil rulers who has ever lived!
So how can we honour those in authority? Firstly, by understanding we are honouring the authority not the actions. When the Jewish authorities told the apostles to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, they asked how they could not preach in his name. They did not sneek around behind their backs in the hope of not getting caught! They faced up to "the authority." An authority will say "Do this or that will happen" usually stuff like keep the law of go to prison. It is honouring to the authority to keep the law, the law witch says "Go to prison" if that is what it comes to. It is not honouring to the authority to sneek around breaking the law and trying to get away with it.
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2 comments:
"It is honouring to the authority to keep the law, the law witch says "Go to prison" if that is what it comes to. It is not honouring to the authority to sneek around breaking the law and trying to get away with it."
Good thought!!
Yep, there are quite a few Christians over the years who have "ministered" by sneaking bibles into countries where they are illegal.
I have also heard testimonies where people have persistently prayed and asked for permission and eventually have not only been given permission but have been bowled over by the positive responce of the country. One printed the bibles on the government presses and took the first 500 for government employees!! (According to a testimony from a reputable missionary organisation)
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