True and False Zeal

True and False Zeal

In Romans 10 v 1, the apostle Paul expresses the great desire he had for the salvation of his own people. He knows that just like him once, "They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge" (verse 2). Paul, like them, had a zeal for outward religious, ceremonial worship. It was a zeal to make themselves right with God through their own works. It resulted in Paul and his fellow Jews being hostile to believers in Christ claiming to be right with God through faith in Christ alone. They hated these Christians who were saying all they outwardly zealously did would never cause them to be accepted by God.

Paul realised on coming to faith in Christ that his and his people's zeal was not according to a true knowledge of God's word. The faster we go in a wrong direction, the more we travel in the wrong way. People zealously follow non-Christian religions but end up getting spiritually lost.

However, the wrong zeal Paul had in persecuting the church, when converted turned into a right zeal for his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. All who believe on Christ are saved and it should result in through God's word, a zeal for Christ's glory, holiness of life and lost souls. It will be of little comfort when we die to reflect on all the things in life we had a zeal for, and how little zeal we actually had for Christ and His service.