2001.11.11. Washingtonians(23) - Rev Young Jin Cho

Zeal without knowledge

Romans 10:1-21

I apologize for Romans series being discontinuous. But, I am thankful because you have been hearing more precious sermons when I was absent. I am planning to continue this Romans series without interruption. I need your prayers.

Disciple Paul wrote Romans to Christians in Rome, and to us who are living in Washington today. From chapter 9 through 11, Paul expressed his anguished heart for his people who, even though, were chosen as God's people but not accepting the Good News of Christ. We can see Paul's anguished heart for the Israelites who were chosen because of the unconditional Grace of God, but turning their face away from the Good News of Salvation.

This anguish of Paul continues in chapter 10. Let's read chapter 10:1. Disciple Paul wrote: "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved." He expressed his pain of worry and anguish for his people in chapter 9, verse 1. He starts chapter 10 with his hope and prayer for his people.

I

Dear everyone, what is frustrating Disciple Paul? In the reality of Israelites turning their faces away from the Good News, what is giving Paul his heartache? Let's read chapter 10, verse 2: "For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge." What does this mean? They are zealous but they do not have knowledge. They don't know anything but they only have the zeal. They don't know the real meaning of God's will and God's work and they are just zealous.

Let's think about this in more detail. In the scriptures of my sermon on October 21, from chapter 9 verses 30 to today's scripture, we can categorize the problems of Israelites in 3 ways.

(1) First, they tried to be righteous by obeying God's laws but they do not want to be righteous by believing in Jesus Christ. They were very eager to obey the Laws. But they were turning their faces away from the real will of God. As it was written in 9:32, they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They were zealous but they did not have the knowledge.

(2) As it was written in 10:3, they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own. Everyone, seeking righteousness by obeying the laws means they want to go to God on their own wills and works. There is no room for God's Grace and His Love. Righteousness is just a reward for their obeying the laws. It's not the unconditional Grace of God for them. It's not his gift. They obeyed the Laws very eagerly. But they only sought their own righteousness. They didn't have the knowledge of God's Grace of Salvation.

(3) Israelites knew God of past, but didn't know God of present. They knew God's work through Moses. They tried hard to memorize and remember. But they did not know the work of God of present through Jesus Christ. They were ignorant about the work of God in Jesus Christ and the way to Salvation that was being spread through Lord's Disciples. They only knew God of past, but not of present. As it was written in 10:4, Jesus Christ is the end of the law, but his people didn't know that. They had the zeal but they were wrapped up with that zeal without knowledge. Disciple Paul was frustrated and worried for them. He worried about his people's zeal without knowledge, without knowing God's will.

II

Disciple Paul, worrying about his people who are wrapped up with zeal without knowledge, introduces the God's work in Jesus Christ and the knowledge of Salvation through Christ in today's scripture. He witnesses the word of faith that he proclaims. Everyone, let's read 10:9-10 together: "That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." What is the way to salvation? How can we be saved? In the scriptures we read together, we can find three important principles.

(1) First is admitting that Jesus Christ is our Lord. According to Biblicists, the word "Lord (kurios)" has 4 meanings. The first, it is like the word "sir", it shows respect. The second, it referred the Roman emperor. The third, it was used to call Greek Gods. The fourth, it was used to call the holy name of God Jehovah in the old testaments. Anyway, it was used to confess that Jesus is the Lord and he is greater than the Roman emperor and that he is the owner of our lives and history. Admitting that he is the Lord is the first step to salvation.

(2) Second, we need to believe in his resurrection. As it was written in today's scripture, if we believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead, we will be saved. Everyone, why is it so important to believe Jesus Christ's resurrection? Why does Paul say, without the resurrection of Christ, our faith is obsolete? What does it mean to believe in the resurrection?

Faith of resurrection means that we believe that He, who lived in a corner of Israel 2000 years ago, is still alive today. We do not believe in the Jesus from the past, but we believe in the Christ who lives today. We believe that he truly lived in the history and also that he is living transcendence to the history. If there is no resurrection, we stop at the memory of Jesus who lived 2000 years ago. Without resurrection, he can only be our role model and our teacher, and never our savior. He cannot appeal to us as the one who shows us the way to salvation, who saves us today, and who gives us new life. That is why the resurrection is important. That's why we need to believe in the resurrection. That's why Disciple Paul proclaimed resurrection, risking his life. He proclaimed the wonderful work of God who raised Jesus from the dead, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

(3) Thirdly, today's scripture 10:10 says: "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

In conclusion, we are saved through faith, not through our doings. We are justified by God, by believing in Jesus Christ. But faith is not complete by believing in heart only. We need to confess with our mouths. Heart and mouth both have to be in that confession. Many of us think that as long as we believe in our hearts, we don't need to confess with our mouths. But today's scripture clearly tells us that we need to believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths.

Everyone, confessing with our mouths doesn't mean monologue. It means to confess in front of others. It means a confession in our community. Faith should not be practiced in oneself only. Of course, individual faith is important. But life of believing in Jesus Christ is sharing the faith in the community. It means sharing and confessing my faith with others. It is lonely if you are alone in believing. And also, it can lead you to heresy. We are saved by believing in our hearts and by confessing with our mouths.

In this Good News, there is no discrimination whether you are Israelites or Greek. Grace of God is abundant. There is no distinction of the poverty, wealth, noble and the mean. It doesn't matter how knowledgeable we are. It doesn't mater whether we are young or old. It doesn't matter what color our skin is. Whoever it is, if they call Jesus' name, they will not be disgraced. If they call and believe in Jesus' name, they will be saved. If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is the Lord and that he has risen again, you will be saved. This knowledge gives us life. This knowledge in Jesus Christ will lead us to salvation.

III

In spite of all this, Israelites are still ignoring this great knowledge and wonderful grace. They are wrapped up with zeal without knowledge. They are still seeking righteousness through obeying the laws. The old testaments prophet Hosea said: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." This lamentation and sigh continued to the time of Paul. Without the true knowledge, zeal to obey laws took over peoples' heart.

This Good News was not far away. Israelites didn't need to ascend to heaven or didn't need to descend to the hell; the Good News of salvation was very near. As it was written in 10:8, "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart." There were people who were proclaiming this Good News. If they opened their heart and listened, the word of faith were being proclaimed very near to them.

But, Israelites were still not listening. They closed their hearts to the New Covenant being fettered to the Old Covenants. As they listen to the Good News that was being proclaimed, they still didn't believe it. You can feel the frustration Paul was feeling. We can understand his anguish.

Dear everyone, now, let's put the focus on us. How are we different? Are we opening our hearts to the Good News of Salvation? Are we confessing that Jesus Christ is the Lord with our mouths, believing his resurrection with our hearts? Do we have the zeal with the knowledge? Are we repeating Israelites' mistakes? Aren't we being zealous without the knowledge? There are requirements for us to have zeal with the knowledge.

(1) First, we need to awaken from the ignorance of seeking salvation with our own will by obeying the laws. We need to awaken from ignoring the Good New of salvation through the Grace of God. We need to awaken from the misunderstanding. It's very naive to think that we will be saved if we are righteous and good. But we have to remember that on the other side of that thought, there is my own will and my own goodness, which lead to unfaithfulness, rather than God's love and God's grace. As it says in Hymn 188, we simply need to cling to His cross with empty hands. Naked come to Thee for dress, Helpless look to Thee for grace. And we just go to the fountain of life.

(2) Also, we always need to examine what we know. If we are bound to our knowledge, it can be the hindrance for God's work of Grace. God is above our knowledge. God is not limited to be locked in our brain. What was Israelites' problem? It was that they knew. Because they thought they knew, they ignored the knowledge that leads to salvation. According to Gospel, people who saw Jesus growing up in Nazareth could not believe Jesus. Their knowledge was the stumbling block for them. We always have to check on what we know and its limitations. We have to be open-minded about God's will and his teachings. If we close ourselves to that channel, we will also be zealous without knowledge.

(3) Thirdly, to be able to do that, we need to read and be close to the words. Bible teaches us of God's works through Jesus Christ, in the history of Israelites in the past. Everyone, if we do not know the history of God's work in the past, we cannot know God of today. Talking about God's will without reading God's words is very ignorant and dangerous.

Another reason why God's words are important is because they not only witness God's work in the past but also through his words, God talks to us today. To us who are living in this era, through his words, God gives us the knowledge of life. Without being close to God's words, we will be in the same pitfall Israelites put themselves in. We will walk the road to failure of having zeal without knowledge of life words give us. We will repeat the mistake of being zealous without knowledge.

Foolish people only learn with direct experiences. Even more foolish people still don't learn even though they experience. But wise people learn through history. They learn from other peoples' experiences. Israelites were taken by zeal without knowledge and ignored the way to salvation. Knowing this history, which direction should we face? Shouldn't we tell ourselves not to be zealous without knowledge? Shouldn't we be free from the knowledge that blocks the true knowledge? We should open our hearts and mouths to the Good News of Jesus Christ. Shouldn't we understand, believe and live by the true knowledge?

It is such a nice way of life to believe in Jesus Christ. We can experience true happiness and true abundance in Him. It lets us live our lives in a meaningful way. Our Lord is the Lord of all and He blesses with the abundant grace to everyone who calls his name. This word of faith is being witnessed around us today. It is still being proclaimed to us. The Good News of salvation is promising all of us; "That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. And believe in your heart that God raised him form the dear, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved(Romans 10:9-10)." Amen.