Fundamentals of the Christian Faith in the Light of the Gospels
by Maulana Sadr-ud-Din
The Righteous Have Always Existed in the World Says the Gospel: Zacharias and His Wife were Righteous
“Zacharias and his wife, Elisabeth, were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke, 1:5–6).
“John the Baptist was righteous and great. It was said of him through a prophecy that he shall be great in the sight of the Lord … and shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:13–15).
These verses prove beyond question that Zacharias and his wife were both sinless and righteous, and that it is within the power of man to abide by and obey Divine Commandments, and that all blessedness and bliss lies in the observance of Divine Laws. It is, therefore, absolutely wrong to assert that the children of Adam are sinful by nature and that salvation is obtainable by atonement and not by means of righteous living.
The Church Christianity, as we have it today, condemns the best of creation by calling all the human race as inherently sinful. Such a teaching, it needs no saying, which casts disgrace on the entire humanity, certainly cannot be from the Heavenly Father.