Zeal Without Knowledge

Introduction

Chapter 10 transitions from focusing on why God is working the way he does, to human responsibility. Israel’s failure to be included in the people of God is their own fault because even though they were passionate about getting in, they had zeal without knowledge.

We have all met people who are really passionate about things. Its all they like to talk about. But often time zeal and knowledge do not go hand in hand. The lowder they are the less they often times know. Its kinda like

Examples of Zeal without knowledge

1. It’s like a Father whose son was scheduled to play soccer with a local team. It really is just one thing to add to his already busy schedule; but he is enthusiastic about it. He buys the kid cleats, shinguards, soccer socks and picks up the Jersey. The coach sent out an email saying that the practices would start exactly at 3 pm every Tuesday when they first started. That first Tuesday, he shows up with his son ready for practice, but no one else is there. They kick the ball around a little hoping someone will show up. No one does. Well the Father is starting to get a little annoyed, but he determines he is going to be on time next week as well. Next week rolls around and they are ready to go, but still no one is there. Now he is angry. “Where is everyone?” he vents.

Frustrated he turns to his son and tells him, “Please tell your coach that we keep coming to practice, but no one is ever here.”

The son hedges a little but finally says, “He’ll just say the same thing he did last time.”

“What was that?”

“Practices were rescheduled to Wednesday’s instead of Tuesdays.”

The Father was passionate about getting his son there, being on time, making sure they were prepared; but unfortunately, he didn’t have the right information.

2. A biblical example of zeal without knowledge can be found in Peter when he cut off Malchus’ ear. Peter passionately wanted to protect Jesus. The disciples were convinced Jesus was going to establish His literal Kingdom in Israel right then and there. So Peter took up a sword to fight for Jesus, but Jesus rebukes him. In John 18:11 “Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” Peter did not understand that what lay ahead for Jesus was the cup God had ordained that Jesus partake of.

3. Another common example of zeal without knowledge is Bible College students. They have been given a taste of knowledge. They are learning what all the issues of theology and church practice are and they heard a teacher mention something against them; so they in their zeal try to convince everyone else of that position. The problem is they have never actually studied the issues out in depth. They are relying on what they heard. Maybe its even something they read somewhere but they haven’t fully researched the topic. This past week, I read a post by one such young man who made a claim, but in doing so; he misquoted the verse. If he had actually quoted the verse correctly, it would have proven the exact opposite of what he was claiming in the post. It is easy to get excited when you are young and learning, but more often than not, we rush ahead before we know all the facts.

Israel was passionate about following the law of Moses. Honestly, in all of Israel’s history, there had never been a time when Israel was more faithful to God than the time period from the rebuilding of the temple to about 100 AD. The Pharisees had led a revival in Israel of staunch faithfulness to God. And this period of time was one of the first where they didn’t struggle with idolatry for any length of time. Paul who had been a Pharisee describes his own life in Philippians 3:5–6 “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” He knew what it was to have such passion. But he also knew that before he got saved, something was missing.

He begins the chapter by restating his heart for the Jewish people.

Romans 10:1 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.”

Paul honestly wants them to find this blessedness that comes from being the people of God. Paul desires them to be saved.

The Jews had passion but lacked knowledge.

Romans 10:2 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.”

For I bear them record- Paul was honest in how he looked at the Jews. They were very sincere and passionate about their religion. The Pharisees were so obsessed with the law that they would tithe even their herbs and seasoning. Could you imagine taking out your cumin and counting out the grains to get 10 %? Paul was a witness to this passion. We have already quoted Phil 3, but Paul gives a similiar testimony about his life as a Pharisaical Jew in:

Galatians 1:13–14 “For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.”

conversation= lifestyle

Paul was so passionate about the Jewish religion that he beyond measure persecuted the church. Not every Jew actively sought to arrest and kill Christians, but Paul did. This word wasted means to pillage or seek to destroy completely. He wanted to wipe Christianity off the face of the map. He tells us why: more exceedingly zealous- Paul uses superlative terms to describe his zeal.

Paul is not putting down their zeal. In fact, Paul speaks of zeal as a good thing in the right contexts. In 2 Corinthians 9:2 “For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.” the churches zeal had encouraged others to follow Corinths example of giving. But zeal becomes a problem when it lacks knowledge.

Proverbs 19:2 “Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; And he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.”

hasteth = passionately rushing into something

The Jews were passionate but they were missing something they needed to know. Sincerity is not enough because you can be sincerely wrong. Many in our world today are sincere in their religious practices. They keep the sacraments, or they get baptized or they live a good life sincerely hoping that will get them to heaven, but they have not listened to what God has already said in his word.

The Jews were passionate about the wrong things.

Romans 10:3 “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.”

Not only were the Jews passionate without knowledge, but they were passionate about the wrong things.

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness- Ignorance here does not mean merely lack of knowledge because would God truly judge them for what they didn’t know. The word here carries an element of willfulness. It can be translated as disregard or ignore and is an active participle. The Jews had refused to listen and because of that they didn’t understand God’s righteousness. The phrase God’s righteousness does not mean the righteous character of God; rather it is a Genitive of source meaning the righteousness that comes from God.

Going about to establish their own righteousness- Their passion was directed towards the wrong goals. They used that passion to pursue and try to establish their own sense of righteousness. They thought they were something because they kept the law and more so faithfully. At least that’s what they wanted everyone else to think.

Pursuing the wrong goal- I used to work with people at CFA who had a lot of passion. There was this one girl who you know would spend hours making sure her makeup was all correct. She had her fake eyelashes in place, her penciled in eyebrows and perfectly manicured fingernails; but when it came to working, she was very blaw. She had no passion, no energy to make something of herself; but she made sure she looked good in the process. Her passion was for the wrong things.

In doing so, it wasn’t as if they just missed the right thing because they were pursuing the wrong things. They had rejected the right thing. I already mentioned that ignorance in this passage carries the idea of human responsibility. But this final clause makes that even more clear. They would not submit to God’s righteousness. Submission is the idea of putting yourself under someone else’s authority. Their rejection of salvation stems from their refusal to accept God’s right to tell them the conditions. They wanted it to be about what they can do; rather than receiving the gift of grace by Jesus Christ and receiving His righteousness by faith.

The Jews were misguided in their passion.

Romans 10:4 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

At the root of all of our actions is a wrong belief, desire, thought somewhere. There stubborn insistence on keeping the law to gain God’s favor came from a wrong belief about the law. In counseling, we always go back to the heart because out of it are the issues of life. So Paul gets to the heart. The heart problem the Jews had was a failure to understand the laws purpose and goal. In vs 4, Paul gives us the missing knowledge that the Jews lacked and refused.

Christ is the end of the law-

I have made some statements lately about the law and the Christian that I don’t think many of us understand. But this passage is one of the key texts proving this point. I believe and teach that the Christian is not under in any way the law of Moses. The law is good and perfect as it is a representation of the character and mind of God; but the Christian is not under obligations to the law.

Paul has already taught in Romans 7:4 “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”

Galatians 3:24–25 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”

Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

1 Corinthians 9:21 “To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.”

It isn’t that the Christian is lawless, as Paul points out in 1 Cor 9, but we are under a different law: the law of Christ. It is like two separate nations. Let’s use India and America as an example. In many parts of India it is illegal to kill a cow because they are sacred. That is a law unique to India. India has its own legal code while America has its own legal code. If I am a citizen of America living in America, I am not bound to the laws of India. Even though there may be some overlap in the rules both these nations have like not murdering and stealing; I am not under the obligations of India’s legal system. So it is with the law of Moses and the law of Christ. Each law is a law of a different nation. There are some similarities because the aspects of the law of Moses that are derived from God’s character in principle show up in both legal codes.

So is this what this passage means when it says that Christ is the end of the law-

possible meanings of the word end:

goal- meaning that the law always pointed forward to Christ. Basically, Paul would be saying that Jesus was what the law was all about. There is a sense in which this is true and many Christians hold this view especially if they believe parts of the law are still in place today. This is the meaning in 1 Timothy 1:5 “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:”

termination- in 1 Corinthians 1:8 “Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Corinthians 15:24 “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.” In these passages, the word speaks of the termination of time or the period that closes out the current age.

My conclusion is that both answers are correct. Think of the finish line in a race. That strip of tape is both the goal of the race. It is what you are striving to reach as you run, but it is also the termination of the race. Once you cross the line, you stop running. Both concepts are biblically true.

For those who believe, we are not under the constraints of the law of Moses. We have died to it so we could be married to another. The Jews didn’t understand the purpose of the law or its end goal; so even when Christ came and fulfilled the law on their behalf, they still went about trying to earn righteousness to be good enough.

Conclusion

As many of my messages in Romans do, there are two applications this morning. Have you been trying to be good enough for God to accept you? To earn your way into heaven? We can’t ever be good enough because we are all tainted by sin. I applaud your sincerity and devotion to trying so hard, but it has all been for nothing. Like the Jews, you have a choice this morning: will you stop trying to earn God’s love favor and salvation and instead submit to what he has said is the only way to be saved: by faith. When the piano plays in a moment, I would ask you to come forward and we will partner you with a counselor so you can get your salvation settled before God.

Christian, you may have come to faith in Jesus, but how often are we passionate about things we don’t really know anything about. We get stuck on some theological position because something someone said made sense to us, but we have never really studied it out for ourselves. I would challenge you to be passionate for the truth. But that means, you must know the truth, study the truth and believe the truth. More often than not we get something set in our minds and no one can convince us otherwise from God’s word. Be a berean. Study it out, also be teachable. Let us be zealous with knowledge.