|
Zeal or Faith?
In verse 1 of Romans 10, we see Paul’s response to Israel’s stumbling
over the ‘stumbling block’ of Messiah (Rom. 9:30-33). Since Paul
prayed fervently and consistently for his people to come to faith in
Yeshua, we can understand that any New Covenant congregation or church
that is not praying for Israel’s salvation is not yet yielded to the
heart of the King of the Jews. He who “wept over Jerusalem” still
seeks to save “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Luke 19:41;
Matt. 10:5).
For many of these lost sheep zeal is a way of life. It is a genuine zeal,
a deep desire for God. As I travel I often hear Christians tell me in
regards to their Orthodox Jewish friends, “They’re more ‘on fire’
for God than I am!” Many times this zeal for God makes people think that
such people are saved already, and don’t need Yeshua as their Savior.
But personal zeal for God cannot
save anyone; only personal faith in Messiah brings Jews (or Gentiles) into
a saving relationship with God. Like a man furiously driving in the wrong
direction, their zeal without the truth only gets them further from God,
faster! Why? Because despite a Jewish person’s sincere zeal for the God
of Israel, there’s a disastrous flaw: their zeal is “not according to
knowledge.” Zeal can be misplaced, as the apostle Paul knew only too
well. His own testimony before knowing Messiah was “as to zeal, a
persecutor of the church” (Phip. 3:6). Over the centuries much harm has
been done to the reputation of God by many religions’ misplaced zeal for
‘God.’ The current struggle the world is having with Islamic terrorism
is due to a similar misunderstanding regarding zeal without knowledge.
Men, and women, blow themselves up in order to kill ‘infidels’
(particularly we Jews), thinking that they are pleasing their god.
Atheists, Hindus, and even so called ‘Christians’ have all been guilty
of bloody persecution. Zeal without knowledge is a dangerous thing. But,
zeal in accordance with knowledge is excellent.
Zeal with
Knowledge
Knowledge? But the Jews have the Scriptures. True, but even Hosea
declared “O sons of Israel, there is no faithfulness or kindness or
knowledge of God in the land…My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge”(4:1,6), as did Isaiah, “Who is blind but My servant, or so
deaf as My messenger whom I send…You have seen many things, but you do
not observe them; your ears are open, but none hears!”(42:19,20). This
same problem the Old Covenant prophets spoke of, Paul addresses in Romans
10:2 by using the Greek word for knowledge (epinosis), which doesn’t
mean just having the facts, but having the insight of those facts. My
people know about God, but do not know God. For instance, a lot of people
may say they know you, but do they really? Do they understand your heart,
burden and concerns? Knowing about God is religion; knowing Him is a
relationship! Do you know Him?
Our
Righteousness, or God's?
What traditional Jews do not understand is God’s righteousness
(see v. 3). This is the righteousness that Messianic Jews and many
Gentiles have attained by faith (Rom. 9:30), and this righteousness is
found in Messiah (2 Cor. 5:21). But what is the righteousness of God?
It’s not a list of dos and don’ts, the standard of loving thy
neighbor, or keeping the Golden Rule. Nor is it man comparing himself to
others. On his best day a natural man’s righteousness is based in his
own fallen nature’s pride and rebellion, as Isaiah says, “all our
righteous deeds are as filthy rags” (64:6). God’s righteousness
isn’t something He does, it’s what He is: His very nature and
character. Because of His righteous nature, God never does anything
unkind, unloving or unwise, but always treats us in a manner reflecting
His character. This is demonstrated as His righteousness is imparted to us
as a gift of His saving grace to confer forgiveness upon all who believe.
So, Who Makes
the Rules?
What does it mean to “establish their own righteousness”?
Imagine a cancer ward. Here some patients are somewhat healthier and
stronger than others in that ward, but all have cancer. They may be well
enough to talk with or share a joke with the doctors and nurses , or even
assist them, but they’re still quite sick. Nor can they determine their
well being by their attitude or activities: they may perform as well as a
healthy person, but no matter what deeds they can do, they still have
cancer. Now imagine if all the patients got together and decided among
themselves that whoever can help or be kind to the others, do the most
good, is now declared by them to be healthy! “Forget disease,” they
say, “our works determine our health,” and they may even insist that
the doctor must now accept their own evaluation and allow them to leave
the hospital! Silly? Outrageous? Yes. But in the realm of religion, many
actually think they are not only better than others, but spiritually well
themselves. Similarly, even if they are active in synagogue or church,
busy with prayer, giving or serving God zealously, their spiritual health
condition is none-the-less terminal: all are spiritually sick unto death,
and is evidenced in that “...all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God.”
Truth, with Zeal, Please
Knowledge without zeal is dead: a phenomenon found in many churches.
|
|
When
we believe, He gives us right standing as children of God through His
atonement. Yeshua is the only way God can make sinful men righteous.
Yeshua is the righteousness of God! Thus Romans 10:3 can be read: “They
being ignorant of Yeshua, and going about to establish some other way to
get right with God, have not submitted themselves to Yeshua, the Lord
our righteousness.
Torah's Goal:
Messiah!
Messiah is the end goal of Torah.. All that Torah pointed to and spoke of
was Yeshua; He is the completion of Torah for believers, but a stumbling
block to those who wish to establish their own righteousness. It’s as
though when Messiah came on the scene, the Torah responded, “Now
that’s what I’m talking about!” Is the Torah now irrelevant? To use
a sports analogy, just as a former head coach becomes an assistant coach
under a new head coach, so the Torah now assists our growth under the
authority of Messiah’s New Covenant (1 Tim. 1:11; 2 Tim. 3:16,17)!
May
God give you knowledge through His Word, and zeal according to that
knowledge, to live for His glory each and every day!
Y
|
