Welcome to the Believers Bible Assembly the teaching ministry of Doctor Mike Jackson And now with today's Bible

teaching here's Doctor Open up your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter 10 verses 1 and 2 The apostle

Paul wrote to the church at Rome Brothers and sisters my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites

is that they may be saved for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for

God but not according to knowledge They have a zeal a passion and enthusiasm for God but not

according to knowledge In this passage of scripture the apostle Paul is speaking about a people Israel and

these people were deeply religious They followed the law the Torah they were deeply religious and

they had a passion about God and they were committed to their spiritual activities and rituals

and ceremonies However they missed salvation because their zeal their passion their enthusiasm was not rooted in God's revealed

truth the word They did all these religious things these outward things ceremonial things and they

were committed to it and they were passionate about it However they missed salvation thinking that they could replace God's

ways with their religious spiritual activity So although they had a zeal a passion and enthusiasm for

the things of God it was not According to God's revealed truth that's found in His

word Likewise many people today they claim they know God they claim they have a relationship with God because

they have a zeal for God a passion enthusiasm for God They think because of this and their

religious activities that they do on Sunday morning they think their passion and enthusiasm and their religious activities

their rituals and their ceremonies and their traditions are enough They too are being misled

because their passion and enthusiasm like Israel is not rooted in the word So the purpose

of our teaching today is to examine whether or not our passion for God is aligned with His

truth that's found in his word or is it driven by ritual tradition ceremonies We have to

examine these things Why do we do what we do Why do we have a passion

and a zeal for God And is that passion and zeal rooted and grounded in

his word or is it all wrapped up in religious tradition So let's talk about it today Let's get

into the word The first thing I want to address is a zeal for God is not enough Paul said

that zeal passion and being enthusiastic being sincere does not equal salvation It never has it never

will Paul specifically talked about Israel's passion and zeal and enthusiasm but it was not

enough to be saved because passion alone cannot bring us into a right saving relationship with God

Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12 says there is a way that seems right to a man

but it's in is the way of death both literally and spiritually There is a way

that seems right to a man In their minds their religious activities their passion and enthusiasm that they display on

Sunday morning in the church is enough It seems right This is what we've always done This is how it's

always been and this is the way it's always going to be But the Bible says that its

end is the way of death both literally and spiritually Now let's define that word

death That word death means alienation separation from God who is the giver of all life

We're trying to please God through these self-human efforts and religious traditions Thinking is the right thing to

do but in essence what we're doing we're not drawing near to God we're separating ourselves from God

who is the giver of all life Why Because our spiritual activity is not in alignment with God

and His word Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 Paul wrote and you are dead in your trespasses

and sins in which you used to walk when you conform to the ways of

this world and of the ruler Of the power of the air the spirit who is now at work in

the sons of disobedience Paul said Listen you were doing dead things when you are

in your trespasses and sins which you used past tense to walk And here's the reason why when you

conform to the ways of this world Listen in our faith walk with the Lord we're

either conforming to the ways of the word or we're conforming to the ways of the

world There is no middle ground As believers we should always desire have a passion to conform to

the ways of the word But if you don't know the word how can you conform to

the ways of the word And if you're not conforming to the ways of the word you're conforming to the

ways of this world And the ways of the world are influenced by the ruler of the

power of the air the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience

Talking about Satan So we're either doing things in accordance with God's will or we're

doing things according to the ways of this world And if you're doing things according to the

ways of this world it's going to lead to spiritual death Because Romans chapter 6 verse 23 says

for the wages of sin is death the payment of sin is death but the gift

of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord So you see passion alone zeal alone cannot bring

us into a saving right relationship with God Jesus taught about this in Matthew 7:21 to 23 And

he said that in the last days many are going to come to him and claim that their spiritual

activity their passion their enthusiasm is sufficient for salvation Lord didn't you see how we danced in church how the

preacher preached See all these things we did Lord They're going to come to him claiming that their

spiritual activity is sufficient their passion their enthusiasm was sufficient for salvation But Jesus will say to

them that he never knew them And here's the reason why because they never had

a true relationship with him according to the word What they were doing their activities were based on tradition

religion and they thought that their activities were sufficient for salvation But Jesus said they never knew

him because what they were doing was not in accordance with the word They had a zeal they

had a passion for God but it did not lead to a spiritual relationship which led to salvation that

is based on the word You can be passionate you can be religious and still not be in the

will of God God only honors passion zeal when it flows from the truth that's found in God's word

God wants you to be passionate God wants you to be enthusiastic but according to

his word The second thing I want to share with you this morning is that knowledge must

be based on God's revelation True knowledge comes from God's word not human tradition or religion A lot of things

we believe or used to believe came from human tradition and religion We're just taught certain things to be true

We just saw certain things when we went to church on Sunday We just accepted them as

being true without knowing whether or not they were based on the word or not And then when we

grew in our knowledge of the scripture we come to find out that some of those things

that we believe were not even in the Bible Some of those things that we thought were truthful

is nowhere to be found in the Bible or some of the things we were taught were

partial truth but not the whole truth Knowledge must be based on God's revelation True knowledge comes from God's word

Now the problem that Israel had and the problem that we have today wasn't an

ignorance of religion They had that down pat What is religion Man-made culture man-made traditions man-made philosophies

That's a definition of religion And Israel had that down and a lot of churches today have

that down but they are ignorant of God's word They're ignorant of God's righteousness that is only revealed

through Christ in the word Paul said that his prayer for Israel is that they be saved

They had a passion for God but not according to knowledge Because their passion was based

on human tradition religion culture therefore they were ignorant uninformed about God's righteousness God's right way of

doing things that he revealed to the world through Christ Romans chapter 10 verse 3 because

they were ignorant of God's righteousness which is based on faith and sought to establish their own

righteousness You see this in the scripture They were ignorant of God's righteousness and sought to establish their

own righteousness A righteousness that was based on works and because of this they did not submit to God's

righteousness meaning they were unwilling to accept God's provision for salvation that came through Christ They were

ignorant of the true knowledge God's will plans and purposes for life because they wanted to establish their own

righteousness and because of that you cannot submit to God's righteousness You're either going to follow your ways or you're

going to follow God's ways You're either going to establish your own righteousness based on your

worldview or you're going to submit to God's righteousness based on the word Let's go back and look

at Hosea chapter 4 verse 6 God said that my people Israel are destroyed for a lack of

knowledge What kind of knowledge Knowledge of God's righteousness God's right way of doing things My

people Israel are destroyed for a lack of knowledge and so are many people today They think that they know

the truth They know what's right but it's not based on the word It's based on their own

interpretation of what righteousness is And we cannot have our own interpretation of what righteousness

is Our interpretation of what righteousness is is what God says is right and the people were unwilling to accept

God's ways and establish their own ways their own righteousness Hosea had to deal with this issue and he

says the people of Israel were destroyed for a lack of knowledge It wasn't that knowledge wasn't

available they just didn't like the knowledge that came from the word and they want to replace God's righteousness

with their own righteousness and that's what's going on today Jesus said something very profound in John

chapter 17 verse 17 He was praying to the Father and he said sanctify them talking about his

followers Set them apart in the truth Your word is truth God's word is truth

not your own righteousness And as a believer we have to submit to God's righteousness

that comes from the word which is truth These people tried to establish their own righteousness

that was based on tradition customs and religion As a believer we have been sanctified

We have been set apart from the thinking and the behavior of this world and we've been set

apart to believe the truth that comes from the word Bible knowledge is not just information it's revelation

When we read and study our word we're not just reading and studying our words to

gain information facts statistics Bible trivia to be able to quote a verse No no no

God wants to reveal something to us through His word God wants us to know something that comes from

the word there's truth that's in His word that God wants us to know and

understand Stand and he has revealed the past tense it to us So our motivations our zeal

our passion our enthusiasm must be grounded in the word and without it being grounded in the

word it's going to mislead us It's gonna lead us away from God and His truth instead

of drawing us Towards God and His truth That's why knowledge of the scripture is so important so we can

understand God's right way of doing things Now our passion that we have for God can be

directed in the right path that's going to lead us to God that's going to lead us to

a deeper relationship with the Son Jesus Christ not draw us away from this God and His truth The third

thing I want to share with you this morning is that zeal passion enthusiasm without

knowledge leads to self-righteousness When you don't understand God's righteousness we create our own self-righteousness In the text Israel pursued

righteousness through the law instead of faith in Christ and they did this because they were not obedient to the

scripture Therefore they established a lifestyle of self-righteousness And the Bible talks about self-righteousness and how self-righteousness is opposed

to the will plans and purposes of God God does not honor anything that has

self in front of it to include self-righteousness He doesn't honor that God's righteousness is what will stand

Let's go to Isaiah chapter 64 verse 6 He says all of us have become

like one who is unclean and all of our righteous acts how many of them All of our unrighteous

acts are like a filthy rag That's what God thinks about self-righteousness It's like filthy rags because they're

unclean Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 2 verse 16 justification comes through faith in Christ not works of the law

Now we study that word justification It means being placed in right standing with God That's what happens

when we are born again That's what happens when we're saved We've been justified just

as though we've never sinned justified and placed in a right standing with God that comes through

faith in Christ not works of the law Our righteousness is not based on anything that we

have done Our righteousness comes from Jesus Christ 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 says

God made him Christ who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that in Him we might

become the righteousness of God So as believers our righteousness does not come from self We

are placed in right standing with God because of what Christ has done and our righteousness comes through

our faith in Christ not by our works not by the law Titus chapter 3

verse 5 says this He Christ saved us not by righteous deeds we have done But according

to His mercy through the washing of the new birth salvation and renewal by the Holy

Spirit That's how we gain our righteousness It didn't come through nothing we did but through

what Christ did on the cross and we're in Christ and Christ is in us that makes

us righteous according to the scripture not self-righteous based on a righteousness that we created of

our own Passion zeal that is detached from grace is going to result in pride and arrogance

and performance mass and spiritual activity that people think God is going to accept rather than humility

faith and the expression of our freedom that comes from Christ Zeal must be based on knowledge that leads

to God righteousness not self-righteousness Our righteousness comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ and

that leads me to my fourth point True passion and enthusiasm and zeal is grounded

in Christ Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of what true zeal passion and enthusiasm is all

about Romans chapter 10 verse 4 for Christ is the end of the law to bring righteousness to everyone who

believes Two things here Christ is the end of the law so that kills the thinking that salvation

comes through works that comes through the law because Christ is the end of the law and he's the

end of the law to bring righteousness to everyone who believes Paul wrote in Colossians chapter 2 verses

love I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan which

is Christ Himself In Him Christ lies hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge When we understand Christ we

understand the mysteries of Christ because it's revealed in the word but if you don't understand the word it

will always be a mystery God had a plan from the foundation of the world that all of this

would happen but it was a mystery God kept it hidden until the appropriate time Now

they're not a mystery anymore Now they're not hidden anymore They have been revealed and

what has been revealed all of the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God

that comes through Christ This is what our passion our enthusiasm our zeal should be based on what

God has done through Christ I'm passionate about this I can receive salvation I can be born again I can

have a new life in Christ Christ has promised me not only abundant life but

he has promised me eternal life Oh I'm getting excited about this I'm getting passionate about this

I'm enthusiastic about this and I'm enthusiastic about the fact that Jesus Christ said he's

the only The only way to the Father that Jesus is the only way to the truth He's the only

way to life and he wants us to have life in abundance to the full until it overflows

in the now and eternal life forever That's what I'm excited about That's what I'm

passionate about That's what I'm enthusiastic about And because of this I'm going to tell everybody I

know about the goodness of God in the land of the living True spiritual passion grows as we know

Christ more deeply And listen there's only one way that you can know Christ more deeply is by

getting in His word That's the only way you're gonna know Him Works forget it You're

not gonna learn Christ know Christ through works God does not even acknowledge your works because that's based

out of self-righteousness self-works You're trying to earn your way to heaven And salvation doesn't come through works lest

any man should boast See if it's based on works I could boast I can say look I

did more works than you and I got into heaven You didn't do as many works as me

No there's one standard and that's Jesus Christ Salvation is based on what he did Not what you did but

what he did on the cross So as we grow more deeply in our relationship and understanding of the word

who Christ is and what He's done for us we can trust the Word now The promises

of God becomes real to us now They're more real to us today than it

was yesterday I can understand God's will plan and purpose of my life better and

because of that I'm going to be zealous about the scripture I'm going to have

a passion and I'm gonna have an enthusiasm because it's rooted in Christ and His

word And the last thing I want to share with you this morning is that God desires zeal informed

by truth Paul's passionate prayer for his brothers and sisters is that they be saved because

they have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge not according to the truth of God's word

They did not place their passion in the right thing Romans chapter 12 verse 11 says

do not let your zeal your passion your enthusiasm subside but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord

Paul is right he said don't let your zeal die out but keep your spiritual enthusiasm Keep your

spiritual fervor hot and you do this by serving the Lord You want to know how to keep

your enthusiasm up Start serving the Lord This is how you demonstrate your passion for Christ and

the things of Christ A lot of people got a lot of words but no action And Paul

is saying your zeal your passion for the Lord is demonstrated in your actions that

lines up with the scripture And what are those actions Serving the Lord Serving is an

action Your enthusiasm is not based on dancing shouting running hollering flipping speaking in tongues none

of that Your zeal your passion for God your spiritual fervor is demonstrated in serving the Lord

But watch this now serving the Lord has to be based on the word because a

lot of people think they're serving the Lord but they're not they're serving man instead of

serving the Lord That's why Paul's talking about you got to make sure that your

passion your enthusiasm is directed in the right place We are to serve the Lord with all of our heart

our soul our mind and our strength And serving the Lord means doing what the Lord

says to do The Bible says whatever you do you do unto the Lord not unto

man So we got to make sure our motivations are in align with the scripture

We got to make sure that our zeal is informed by the truth How do you

do this 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 15 To know the truth that's going to

inform our passions we have to rightly divide the word of truth We have to

study and seek out the truth of God's word daily That's how you do it Lord am

I serving you in accordance with your will your word How do I know if I'm

doing that I'm going to get into the word and I'm going to study it to see

if I'm doing it right So we always have to ask that question Lord is

my life pleasing and acceptable in your sight Am I doing the things that you want me to do Or

am I doing them based on what I think I should be doing Or am

I doing them based on what tradition says I should be doing what religion says I should be doing what

culture says I should be doing And a lot of people are being deceived misled thinking That they're in

the will of God thinking that their way is the right way but it's not

according to scripture They got a zeal they have a passion they got an enthusiasm but it's not

according to the scripture The Bible says you should know the truth and the truth shall make you

free The only way you're going to know the truth is by getting in the

word rightly dividing it seeking out the truth Then you will know the truth and that

truth will set you free Colossians chapter 1 verses 9 to 10 teaches us that the knowledge of

God's word will lead to fruitful living John 15 God's desire is for your life to bear fruit

but in order for your life to bear fruit you have to be in Christ and let his words live

and abide in you Then you will demonstrate that you're God's child you're Jesus' disciple because your

life will bear much fruit And the knowledge of the word will lead us to fruitful living Then we'll

know that we know that we know that our life is pleasing and acceptable in sight

and that our passion and our enthusiasm is directed in the right direction Because the

result is going to be spiritual maturity in the faith and fruit that will last That's

how you know that you're living a fruitful life Let me leave you with this

this morning Romans chapter 10 verse 2 a powerful scripture that we all need to adhere to but we need

to ask some questions and do a self-reflection Is my zeal my passion my enthusiasm that

I have for God is it shaped by the scriptures or is it shaped out of religion

tradition rituals Is it shaped out of self-righteousness Is it shaped based on the culture What is my

zeal my passion what is it based on You got to do that deep dive you

got to do that self-examination to know if it's Christ or if it's self As a believer

our faith should be filled with zeal passion and enthusiasm for God because we know

what God's word says and His word is life and His word produces life and

his word produces fruit And I'm excited about that I get to know the truth and the truth

is going to set me free I'm excited about that I know that God is with me and he'll

never leave me or forsake me I'm excited about that And I'm excited about it because I know

that my enthusiasm my passion my zeal is anchored rooted and grounded in the truth that is only found in

the word And that this zeal and this passion and enthusiasm will lead me to a closer

walk in my relationship with Jesus Christ Amen Thank you for listening to today's Bible message For more

information please visit our website at Dr Mike Jackson.com Be blessed