Zeal and Knowledge

"I bear them witness that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (Rom. 10:2, ESV).

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines zeal: eager and ardent interest in the pursuit of something. In other words, it is to chase after something with intense passion. Paul states that the Israelites ardently pursued God, but not knowledge. In the end their pursuit failed to find God, because they were ignorant of where to look. They thought that they could find God by doing acts of righteousness. Yet, they needed God's righteousness, which can only be found through faith in Christ, in order to find God.

In this verse, and its immediate context, Paul reveals an important principle. The principle, simply stated, is that it is dangerous to possess zeal without knowledge. It is a marvelous thing to pursue the right thing with all one's passion, but it is a foolish thing thing to put all of one's passion into the wrong thing. In the context of this passage, Paul stresses the fact that these individuals assumed that relationship with God rested in their ability to be righteous. Paul explains that their logic is flawed, because the only true righteousness that God excepts is Christ's righteousness, which he give to believers.

All of their energy was spent on doing the right things and saying the right things, instead of believing the right things. All of their labor was rooted in a misunderstanding in the fundamental character of God. They were pursuing a God they could control, a God whose holiness they could match by their human effort. But they God they pursued was a no-god. He didn't exist.

It is easy for us to judge the people Paul wrote about, but we must be careful not to do so. In actuality, they are not so different from us. If we are not careful, we might find ourselves crafting a God that we can impress (and potentially manipulate by our good deeds). If we are not diligent to search the Scriptures, through faith in Christ, we to may misunderstand God and find ourselves zealous, but ignorant.

Ignorance should never be the norm for believers. Because the Lord had revealed his mind to us through Scripture, and given us the Holy Spirit as an ever-present guide and teacher, we must continually adjust our thinking as we come to understand more and more of the Bible. We must zeal, but it must be accompanied with knowledge. We must be certain that what we pursue with all our passion is indeed the one true and living God. Where ignorant zeal brings death and destruction, informed zeal brings life and liberation.

Ask yourself: "Am I zealous?" and "Is my zeal according to knowledge?". The truth of the gospel compels us to be consumed with zeal for the glory of the Lord. Too high a price was paid for our redemption to allow our passion to be diverted from his righteous glory and gracious mercy. We should be zealous, and that zeal should be informed (and fueled) by the gospel. The crucified Servant is the resurrected King. He has made life possible for us, if we will only believe. And that is something to ardently pursue.