Romans 10:1-4 – Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
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This text is Paul’s description of the nation of Israel’s rejection of Christ. These people, who had a “zeal” for God, did not receive the one truth, the Truth, who could actually bring them into a true relationship with God. These people did everything they could to be right with God, but they did not actually come to him humbly through Christ.
If you talk with people very much, you will usually hear a good Christian person talk about one of their lost friends as though they might be saved. They will describe their friend or family member as having a heart for God, even though they do not go to church or have not expressed a true faith in Jesus. The problem with this is exactly what Paul addresses in the above verses. Though it may seem that the lost person has a heart that is seeking God, or perhaps even that they may have their own form of religion that seems good, they only have a zeal that is not according to truth. Such a zeal will not save you, but will simply condemn you.
Satan is a great deceiver. His first attack on humanity included a trick, a twisting of God’s actual command. Today, he still tries to trick us. He tries to convince us that our lost family members are OK, even though they do not know Jesus like we do. He tries to tell us that they “might” have faith, and that we just haven’t seen it. But we do not want to rest with such a false sense of security. It is time that we check our zeal and that of our family and friends. We want to have a zeal that is according to knowledge, not one that is full of the enemy’s deception.
Today, check your own faith. Have you truly placed your faith in Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul? Have you believed in Jesus, and let that trust be your true hope of heaven? If you are trusting in your good works or your religious activity, you are missing the point just like the people in the above verses. Do not fall prey to such a deception. Come to Jesus by faith, and receive salvation. Then, challenge your friends and family members to come to Jesus the same way.
Dear Lord, I do not want to have a zeal that is not according to knowledge. I want to know you for real and trust you for real. I acknowledge that my only hope is in Christ. I have no righteousness to bring to the table. I can perform no good deed that would make you want me. I simply cry out for your grace, and I receive the gift of salvation in Christ. Help me to live according to that truth. Help me to bring others to know you in the same way. Never let me forget the centrality of this saving faith.
Pastor Travis Peterson 