My dear readers,

Had Zeal Without Knowledge

Romans 10:1-5: “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.”

Zeal is a powerful driving force in everyone’s life. The zeal to climb a mountain propels many to train with perseverance and save their hard-earned money. Many in the pursuit of worldly fame and fortune fuel themselves with zeal. Their zeal sustains them to the heights of sacrifices until they achieve their goals to the best of their abilities! This zeal is not limited to earthly and carnal desires but includes the religious zealots found in many religions, past and present.

“Zeal” comes from a verb that means “to be hot.” It is like water that must be at boiling point. If it is in solid form, then it must be hot till it glows. Zeal is the passion glowing within a person toward a goal that he believes is worth living, sacrificing and dying for. He will overcome all obstacles with his might and power to reach his passionate goal.

What was the zeal of Israel in the time of the New Testament?

The zeal Israel had was against Christ and all Christians. Israel believed that Christ was a blasphemer because He called Himself God. John 10:32-38: “Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.” After Christ’s death and resurrection and the founding of the local church witness, the persecution shifted to the disciples of Christ, who were called Christians (cf. Acts 11:26). The Bible calls this zeal of the Israelites a zeal without knowledge.

The zeal of Israel in Paul’s time was for the honour of the God of the Old Testament. They believed with all their heart that Jesus of Nazareth was not the Christ, that He was just a man who called Himself God, despite His teaching, perfect life and the evidence of many miracles Jesus did that only God can do. The Israelites believed in a conquering Messiah, and refused to accept a suffering Messiah despite God’s prophecies of a suffering Messiah (especially from passages such as Isaiah 53:1-12). For this reason, the Israelites rejected Jesus of Nazareth as Emmanuel (i.e. “with us is God”). The Israel that rejected Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah had this zeal, past and present!

They believed in the gospel message of the Old Testament after the advent of Christ, which becomes another gospel that cannot save. For example, when Isaiah believed that a virgin would conceive and bear a son and His Name would be called Emmanuel, he was saved as he looked forward by faith to the future Messiah who was to be born of a virgin and would die for his sins. But after the virgin birth of Christ, if the Jews believe like Isaiah that there will be a virgin who will conceive and bear a son and be called Emmanuel, in the future, they will NOT be saved! This rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as the Emmanuel of Isaiah’s prophecy, i.e., the Christ (Greek) or Messiah (Hebrew), is why God described their zeal as without knowledge.

The zeal of the Jews was without knowledge, i.e. spiritual knowledge. As long as the Jews reject Jesus of Nazareth as Christ, they remain dead in sin and spiritually blind. They will only know the Bible in terms of historical facts. Their obedience to the laws of the Bible is cultural only, void of spiritual significance. The apostle Paul was a prime example of this blindness before salvation. He testified that what he did was harmful to the cause of God even though he sincerely thought that he was doing God a favour when he persecuted Christians. 1 Timothy 1:12-15: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” The moment he was born again in Christ, God opened his spiritual eyes, and he understood that his zeal was without knowledge.

The entire Levitical system of worship pointed the worshipper to the coming Messiah, including the Passover, whereby the lamb represented the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world. The righteousness of God is revealed to all mankind, that without the shedding of blood by the Lamb of God, there is no remission of sins for all sinners. Animal sacrifices could not atone for the sins of man, as God made man in His image, and the animals were not. Righteousness demands that a sinless and perfect man must die for a sinful man.

Jesus of Nazareth alone qualified as the Son of God and Son of man whose sacrificial death fully satisfied God's perfect and holy justice when He died for the sins of the whole world. God raised Him from the dead on the third day as proof of God’s divine acceptance of the complete salvific work of Christ. All who believe and receive Jesus of Nazareth as Christ and their Lord and Saviour will be instantaneously saved and imputed with God's righteousness in Christ. Christ is “the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom 10:4).

The law of Moses, particularly the moral laws, i.e. the Ten Commandments, reveals to man the high standard of righteousness all men must have before God to enter heaven and into His holy presence. The Ten Commandments reveal to sinful man what God demands from him before he is declared righteous in His holy sight to enter heaven. Man must obey all the Ten Commandments perfectly! But no man could, for he was conceived and born in sin because of the first Adam. He was disqualified before he could even begin!

God gave man the law of Moses not as a means of salvation but as a condemnation to teach man his urgent need of the Saviour, Jesus Christ. No man can enter heaven by obeying the law. But the moment he believes in Christ, the righteousness of the law will be imputed to him by God. God will make him righteous in Christ by faith. The moment a sinner receives Christ as Lord and Saviour (Old Testament saints by looking forward and New Testament saints by looking back to Christ’s atoning sacrifice at Calvary’s cross), he is viewed by God as never having broken any laws but has obeyed all of God's Ten Commandments perfectly! Christ obeyed all the laws of God on man’s behalf perfectly when He lived on earth till the day He died on the cross. That is why God says here that Christ is “the end of the law for righteousness.”

Zeal is essential in every believer’s life. He needs zeal to worship and serve the Lord passionately. But when zeal is not according to God’s truth, it can do great harm. Sinners are deceived. The holy name and cause of Christ are maligned, like what the Jews did to Christ and Christians in the Book of Acts. Be discerning in these last days. Be not deceived; zeal without knowledge is a sin anyone can commit when led astray by deception, i.e. without God’s truth.

Zeal must be in love, truth and righteousness to bring blessings to the one who possesses it and others who are impacted by it to God’s glory.