“Not slothful in business; fervent in Spirit; serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11

Question 1, “What is it to be zealous?”

When this is applied to the Christian life, it means to have a great desire in the heart to serve God and to do His will. The early Church exhibited not only faith but zeal for the Lord. It is recorded for us that the disciples being full of zeal for the cause of the gospel, were persecuted and suffered the loss of their precious lives. Zeal marked and set the Lord Jesus Christ apart from others; John 4:34, “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”

Question no 2, “What is true zeal?”

Cults are people full of enthusiasm and zeal in spreading their false teachings without realizing that their zeal is at best an ignorant zeal. True zeal comes from the true God of heaven. And true zeal is based on the true knowledge of God. Paul in his defense of the Gospel, testified before the unbelieving Jews that he did the evil that he did out of ignorance and unbelief; his zeal was not based on the truth when he persecuted the Church. True zeal comes from the right motives and gives no place for selfishness and pride for self-glorification. True zeal helps one to grow in holiness and to more and more Christ-like.

Question no 3, “Why should we be zealous?

The Lord wants us to be zealous for Him. A Christian who is zealous is filled with joy and peace at all times. Those who enjoy Christ to the maximum are those who will serve Him with maximum zeal. A zealous Christian looks to Christ as his example, who in turn is an example to others for having zeal in the Lord’s work. Zeal can have one to reach another with the Gospel but zeal can also offend others if not tempered with love and humility. And for those who have little zeal, never let it be said that the Christian life at the beginning of the conversion experience was better than what they have today. There are not many Christians who are doing too much because they have taken the easy way out and are not prepared to live the Christian life that Christ wants them to live.

Pastor Douglas Ho