Zealous Faith vs. Right Faith

More Than Zeal: Doing It Right

Anyone who sets a goal puts in effort. An athlete aiming for a gold medal trains from the break of dawn. A student preparing for college devotes every spare moment to study. Someone determined to lose weight resists the lure of late-night fried chicken and carefully manages diet and exercise. Their passion is sustained by the clarity of their goal.

Working hard toward a goal is important, but knowing and following the right way is even more crucial. Zeal alone is not enough. A student may stay up all night, but if the material is not on the exam, the effort is wasted. A marathon runner may give his all, but if he runs in the wrong direction, his labor is in vain. No matter how much zeal one shows, without the right way the result is only failure.

For believers in God, the ultimate goal is salvation. To reach this goal, Christians devote themselves to their faith. They rise before dawn for early morning prayer, attend services during the week, and some even carry a heavy Bible in their bag every day, reading it whenever they find a spare moment.
Zealous faith is good. But just like in other pursuits, in order to truly reach the goal of salvation, we must first know the right way to salvation and then live our faith accordingly.

Zealous Faith vs. Right Faith

Who knows the way of salvation best? Not even the most renowned pastor, priest, or theologian knows it better than God Himself. To be saved, we must know God’s will correctly and then practice our faith with zeal.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ”

(Matthew 7:21ￚ23)

Jesus taught plainly that it is those who do the will of God who will enter the kingdom of heaven. Many will say they prophesied in His name, cast out demons, and performed mighty works, believing their zeal was enough. Yet God will turn them away, calling them strangers to Him. Why? Because instead of doing His will, they chose to practice lawlessness.

In the same way, zeal alone does not guarantee heaven. Unless our faith aligns with God’s will, even the most devoted efforts will lead only to emptiness, not salvation.

God revealed His will through the Bible so that we may gain wisdom for salvation. Salvation is possible only when we follow the Scriptures.

And how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

(2 Timothy 3:15ￚ16)

The Bible is the manual of salvation. Within it, God shows us what we must rightly know and do in order to be saved.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read.

(Luke 4:16)

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer . . . This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

(Luke 22:14ￚ20)

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place . . . All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

(Acts 2:1ￚ4)

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

(John 7:37ￚ38)

God’s festivals—the Sabbath, the Passover, Pentecost, and the Festival of Tabernacles—are clearly shown in the Bible as commands His people must keep. If we replace them with man-made traditions and celebrate on days not appointed by God, then no matter how devoutly we worship, our worship has nothing to do with Him.

The Bible also records God’s will in every aspect of faith: the Trinity, baptism, women’s veil, the changing name of the Savior through the ages, Christian unity, and love.

Zeal is essential, but the real question is this: “Is my zeal within God’s will?”

In the life of faith, if a question arises, “Is this really God’s will as written in the Bible?” we must seek the answer in the Scriptures. And only those who can confidently say, “Yes,” will be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven.

Zeal alone cannot open heaven’s gates. Only when our faith is practiced in accordance with God’s word, will we be saved.