The Grace of Zeal (2 Cor. 7:11)

(Slightly edited transcript of Bible study lesson taught at Landmark Baptist Church, Locust Grove, GA, on 4 May 2014.)

In this study, I would like to survey the biblical references to zeal in its three forms (zeal, zealous, and zealously). One of my previous lessons dealt with the grace of gentleness, which we saw was associated with spiritual strength. Even though zeal is quite different than gentleness, it’s also an aspect of holiness, associated with spiritual strength, and something that needs development in our spiritual lives.


INTRODUCTION
By way of introduction, let’s take a quick look at the statistics concerning usage of this word and its forms in the scriptures and establish a definition of zeal.

• Usage. This word and its forms occurs 26 times in the scriptures, 12 in .the old testament (OT) and 14 in the new testament (NT). So it’s more prevalent in the NT, comparatively. It’s also noteworthy that 11 of the 14 NT references are connected with Paul, which I don’t think is a coincidence. Paul is a great example of zeal before and after his conversion, and he also taught that zeal should characterize the life of every Christian, as we’ll see later.

• Definition. Before we proceed, though, let’s track down the definition of zeal in the English text. In 2 Cor. 7:11, Paul mentions zeal in the context of “vehement desire,” connecting it with desire. But what about vehement? What does that signify? So in order to define zeal, we must also define vehement, and so when we’re done, we’ll know the definitions to two unfamiliar words. Vehemence is connected with fire, wind, and water: (1) fire: Song 8:6, “strong…a most vehement flame”; (2) wind: Jonah 4:8, “vehement east wind…beat upon”; and (3) Luke 6:48, “the stream beat vehemently upon…” So vehemence is connected with strength, and if zeal is a vehement desire, then it’s a strong desire. But that’s not all…

• Lust is also a strong desire, isn’t it? So what’s the difference between the two? Well, I think when you consider all of the references to zeal in scripture, you’ll find that it’s a strong desire to do what one perceives to be right. I emphasize perceives, since there are examples of people in the Bible who were zealous, but they weren’t right.

• How about the two Sauls? In 2 Sam. 21:1-2, we learn that King Saul, during his reign, “sought to slay [the Gibeonites] in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah,” but he was wrong to do so, since Joshua had sworn to protect the Gibeonites for ever. Saul of Tarsus said, “Concerning zeal, persecuting the church;” (Phil. 3:6). He was doing what he perceived to be right. He told the council in Acts 23:1, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day…” and Agrippa “I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 26:9).

• Also, the Jews who rejected Paul’s gospel were said to “have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2; cf. Acts 22:3). I believe that, in context, these are Christ-rejecting Jews, since Paul says in Rom. 10:3 that they ignore and refuse to submit to God’s righteousness, which wouldn’t apply to believing kingdom saints in Israel (cf. Acts 21:20).

• So zeal is more than just a strong desire. It’s a strong desire to do what someone perceives to be right; sometimes the zeal is on target, as we’ll see, and sometimes it’s not, as we’ve already seen.

ATTRIBUTE OF GOD
So with these statistics and definition in hand, the first thing to note about zeal is that, like gentleness, it is an attribute of God. Most people, even those who don’t know God, would agree that zeal is a virtue and desirable. Any desirable human behavioral trait (kindness, fidelity, patience, etc.) can be traced back to the ultimate good, which is God. Small wonder, then, that, along with references to human zeal in the scriptures, we find references to divine zeal.

Zeal is ascribed to each member of the Godhead, though it’s clearer for the Father and Son than for the Spirit.

• Father. Zeal is ascribed to the Father in several places. One that’s probably familiar to most of my readers is Isaiah 9:7, “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” The LORD with capitals is the English form of Jehovah, which refers to the Father. In Ps. 110:1, we read, “The LORD (the Father, speaking) said unto my Lord (the Son), Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” So the Father is zealous; in context, to put his Son on the throne of the universe for ever. Amen!

• Son. Zeal is ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ in John 2:13-17, when he purges the temple for the first time, showing that Ps. 69:9 is a Messianic reference.

• Spirit. It’s more difficult to find a reference to the Spirit’s zeal, but I think that Rev. 3:19-22 reveals it. Note in Rev. 3:19 that the Laodiceans in the tribulation are told to “be zealous therefore and repent,” and according to v. 22, it’s the Spirit that says this to them and the other churches. In my thought, the Spirit wouldn’t tell them to be zealous if he wasn’t zealous himself.

So zeal is found to be another aspect of the nature of God, with clear reference to its presence in each member of the Godhead. Zeal is one aspect of the glory and holiness of God: glorious in him, but also latent and desirable in us, because of his indwelling.

KINGDOM GRACE
The grace of zeal is evident throughout the kingdom/prophetic scriptures. Three men, in particular, exemplify it, besides the Lord (as we saw in John 2), under the kingdom program:

1. Phinehas (Num. 25:6-15). The first mention of “zealous” (not “zeal”) in scripture refers to Phinehas, Aaron’s grandson, and his execution of Zimri, prince of the Simeonites, and Cozbi, his Midianite wife. Seeing Zimri strut this sinful union before the tabernacle, where the penitent Jews were weeping over the plague in their midst, Phinehas is filled with righteous anger and a strong desire to rectify the situation, which he did…with a javelin! Since the weapons of spiritual warfare could be carnal in those days, God commends Phinehas’ zeal and promises him eternal rewards for it. Application: Holy zeal in this life can bring you eternal rewards. The Jews who stood by careless or unwilling to act did not gain the rewards that Phinehas did. Do you see the application here? The rewards go to the zealous, folks, not the lazy, careless, or indecisive.

2. Jehu (2 Kings 3:1-2; 10:16, 28-32). By a strange dispensation of grace, Jehu shows a strong desire to rid his kingdom from all Baal-worship. Jehoram, Ahab’s son “put[s] away the image of Baal that his father had made,” (2 Kings 3:1-2), but he does not rid the land of Baal worshippers, which Jehu assays to do and ultimately succeeds (2 Kings 10:28). Jehoram and Jehu both fall short, however, of full reformation, since they refuse to renounce idolatry altogether for the worship of God, cleaving to the calves of Jeroboam (2 Kings 3:3; 10:31). I see Jehu’s failure as the beginning of the end for Israel, since 10:32 says, “In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel…” If Jehu had cleaved to the LORD instead of the calves, things might have gone quite differently for Israel, but he was content with executing judgment on the house of Ahab and the Baalites, rather than “walk[ing] in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart…” (10:31a).

3. David (Ps. 69:9). In Psalm 69, David mentions his zeal for God’s house. By comparison with Ps. 119:139, which also mentions zeal, we see that “consumed” is defined as “eaten up.” There are multiple applications here. Historically, zeal for God’s house could be David’s zeal for his people, the house of God in the OT; and for the temple itself. Prophetically, this applies to Christ and his zeal for Israel and the temple (John 2:19) and the same for a saint in the great tribulation (note other Jews in 69:8).

MYSTERY GRACE
If the Godhead is living its life out through members of the body of Christ, as Paul affirms it is in various scriptures (Rom. 8:10; Gal. 2:20; and Phil. 2:13), of course zeal should characterize our walk and ministry.

1. Walk. Titus 2:14 tells us that our overall manner of life should be zealous, since Christ was so zealous to save us! Rom. 12:1 confirms this: we should present our bodies to God since Christ did the same for us. Paul commends the Corinthians believers for being “zealous of spiritual gifts” in 1 Cor. 14:12, but he encourages them to aim higher by seeking to “excel to the edifying of the church.” Since the miraculous spiritual gifts are no longer operative, our zeal today should be directed toward edifying the church with the means of grace at our disposal: scripture, music, prayer, and giving. Paul mentions zeal in connection with giving in 2 Cor. 9:2, encouraging the Corinthians that their “zeal [in giving] hath provoked very many.” But there’s one other zeal that should characterize our walk under grace, found in 2 Cor. 7:11: the zeal to make things right after conviction and repentance of sin. That’s the sense of “revenge” at the end of v. 11: not hurting someone, but setting things right about their own sin. Are these types of zeal manifest in your life? If they are, you’ll probably here about it from other people eventually. If a man love God, the same is known of him (1 Cor. 8:3). If a man is zealous, the same is known of him as well.

2. Ministry. Col. 4:12-13. Since ministry is the product of our daily fellowship with God, it follows that a zealous Christian life will produce a zealous ministry. Epaphras, the Colossian evangelist, is a fine example of this. Possibly a convert of Paul, Epaphras evangelizes his own people (Col. 1:6-8), but his ministry doesn’t stop there. He apparently leaves Colossae to see Paul in Rome (Col. 4:12) and was imprisoned at some point (Phile. 23), but it looks like he returns to Colossae, since Paul salutes him through the letter to Philemon, a Colossian. In any case, Paul witnesses his zeal for the Colossians and their neighbors in Laodicea and Hierapolis, especially through Epaphras’ intercession for these saints’ perfection. Here is something to note about Christian life and ministry: all saints should be zealous about prayer for other saints (Eph. 6:18), as well as for the lost (1 Tim. 2:1-2); and zeal in Christian ministry will include continued, fervent prayer for saints’ maturity. E.M. Bounds pounds on this in Power Through Prayer, asserting that a minister’s ministry is not complete without fervent prayer. In Col. 4:17, toward the close of this passage, Paul exhorts Archippus to fulfill his ministry, the general sense being to complete it, but on a practical note, his ministry would not be complete without the type of intercession exemplified by Epaphras.

CONCLUSION
Zeal, then, is an attribute of the Godhead and is manifest in the lives of saints in both the kingdom and mystery programs. The scriptures show Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all to be zealous by nature, and Phinehas, David, Christ, Paul, and Epaphras were zealous. Good role models, amen? Phinehas is given “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood” for his holy zeal (Num. 25:10-13) in the OT. To follow Christ and Paul in the NT is to be zealous (John 2:17; Gal. 4:18-19).

It’s noteworthy that zeal is the only noun in scripture beginning with the letter “Z.” To me, that’s not a coincidence. When all is said and done, we should be zealous, and that until the end of our lives. People talk of “youthful zeal,” and it’s true that zeal normally characterizes youth, but shouldn’t it characterize old age as well?

I’d like to close this lesson with a favorite passage on old age found in Ps. 92:12-15. I share this passage with elder brethren in Christ quite often, and although it doesn’t mention zeal specifically, I think that it’s implied. Doctrinally, it applies to the millennial kingdom, when longevity will be greatly increased, but I think that it can be spiritually applied to the body of Christ. Note esp. v. 14, “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.” Not just some fruit, but much fruit. And much fruit comes from much zeal, normally. What’s the secret to this fruitfulness and flourishing? I think it’s found in v. 13: they are planted in the house of the LORD. They are grounded in Christ, including the church, which is the LORD’s house in this age. I think that you’ll find the most fruitful elderly folks in church, in spirit if not in body, not off by themselves. You’ll find them zealously serving others the best that they can, until they can serve no more.

Let’s be followers of our Lord, our apostle, and other great saints from both testaments by being zealous, strongly desiring to do what’s right, no matter the cost, knowing that lasting rewards await us.