This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.
ZEAL
"It is good to be zealous in a good thing always." Galatians 4:18
Zeal is a subject, like many others in religion, most sadly misunderstood. Many would be ashamed to be thought of as zealous Christians, but notice what the Bible says: "Christ gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14). What does our risen Lord Jesus Himself say? "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent!" (Revelation 3:19). Therefore I want to strike a blow at the lazy, easy, sleepy Christianity of these latter days, which sees no beauty in zeal and uses the word Zealot only as a word of reproach. Remember that Zealot was a name given to one of our Lord's apostles. Let us therefore examine what zeal is, right and wrong expressions of religious zeal, and why real zeal in religion is such a good thing and a true blessing to the world.
1. What real zeal in religion truly is. Real zeal in religion is a burning desire to please God, do His will, and advance His glory in the world in every possible way. It is a desire no one feels by nature, but which the Holy Spirit puts in the heart of every believer when he or she is converted. Some believers come to feel it so much more strongly than others that they alone deserve to be called zealous. This desire is so strong, it impels them to make any sacrifice, go through any trouble, deny themselves any amount, to suffer, work, toil, and even to die if only they can please God and honor Christ.
A zealous man in religion in preeminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, wholehearted, and fervent in spirit. He sees only one thing, cares for one thing, lives for one thing, and that one thing is to please God and advance His glory. We all know the habit of mind that makes men great in this world, men such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, or Robert E. Lee. They threw themselves into one grand pursuit. They counted everything else as second-rate compared to the one thing they put before their eyes. That is true not only of military and political leaders, but also of scientists and businessmen. This single-minded zeal is especially true of God's people.
A. The single-minded zeal of the apostles. Notice what the apostle Paul says when he speaks to the Ephesian elders for the last time: "None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24). He says something similar here: this "one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forward to those things ... ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). All the apostles and prophets were characterized by this true religious zeal and paid for it with their blood. Everyone who reads and believes their sacred writings are direct beneficiaries of their zeal.
B. The single-minded zeal of the early Christians. They are described as those "who have turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6) and were "spoken against everywhere" (Acts 28:22). They often lost everything in the world for their religion's sake. They generally gained nothing but the cross, persecution, shame, and reproach. If they could not convince their adversaries by respectful reasoning from the Scriptures, at any rate they could die and prove that they themselves were in earnest. Consider Ignatius cheerfully traveling to the place where he was to be devoured by lions and saying as he went, "Now do I begin to be a disciple of my Master, Christ." Hear old Polycarp before the Roman governor, saying boldly when called upon to deny Christ, "Eighty-six years I have served Christ and He has never offended me in anything. How then can I revile my King?" That is true zeal.
C. The single-minded zeal of Martin Luther. He boldly defied the most powerful hierarchy the world had ever seen. He unveiled its corruptions with an unflinching hand. He preached the long-neglected truth of justification by faith in Christ alone despite anathemas and excommunications. See him going to the Diet at Worms to plead the Gospel cause before the emperor and papal legate. Hear him saying when men were dissuading him from doing so, "Though there were a devil under every tile on the roofs of Worms, in the name of the Lord I shall go forward." That is true zeal.
D. The single-minded zeal of the English Reformers. You have it in the first English Reformer, the linguist and scholar John Wycliffe, who rose from his sickbed and said to those who wanted him to retract all he said against unbiblical teachings and practices, "I shall not die, but live to declare against these abuses." You have it in Thomas Cranmer, dying at the stake, holding out to be burned first the hand that, in a moment of weakness, signed a retraction, now saying, "This unworthy hand!" You have it in 70-year-old Hugh Latimer, standing boldly on his burning stake and saying to the younger believer tied with him, "Courage, brother Ridley! We shall light such a candle this day as, by God's grace, shall never be put out." That is true zeal.
E. The single-minded zeal of the greatest missionaries. You see it in Dr. Adoniram Judson, William Carey, David Brainerd, and so many others. Henry Martyn reached the highest academic honors Cambridge could bestow. Whatever profession he chose to follow, he had the most dazzling prospects of success. He turned his back upon it all and chose to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known. In that land, as he came to understand the condition of the people, he wrote, "I could bear to be torn in pieces if I could hear sobs of penitence and see eyes of faith directed to the Redeemer!" That is true zeal.
F. The supremely single-minded zeal of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of Him it was written hundreds of years before He came to earth that He would be "clad with zeal as with a cloak" (Isaiah 59:17), and zeal for God's house would consume Him (Psalm 69:9). He said of Himself, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (John 4:34). Where shall we begin and end if we try to give examples of His zeal? Surely if there ever one who was all zeal, it was our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Since these things are so, we should beware not only of running down zeal, but also allowing it to be run down in our presence. Like fire, it is one of the best of servants, but also the worst of masters. Zeal may be badly directed and then it becomes a curse, but it may be turned to the highest and best ends, becoming a mighty blessing.
2. Right and wrong expressions of religious zeal. It is one of Satan's devices to place distorted copies of believers' virtues before others to bring the true virtues into contempt. No virtue has suffered so much in this way as zeal. We must therefore clear the ground of all rubbish on this question.
A. True zeal is according to knowledge. It must not be a blind, ignorant zeal. It must be a calm, reasonable, intelligent principle that can show the warrant of Scripture for every step it takes. Paul or Saul, the former Pharisee and persecutor of the church, said of religious leaders like he once was, "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (Romans 10:2). That is why he told them himself, "I was zealous toward God as you all are today" (Acts 22:3). James and John had zeal when they would have called down fire on a Samaritan village, but our Lord rebuked them, saying, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them" (Luke 9:55-56). Peter had zeal when he cut off the ear of Malchus as Jesus was arrested, but he was quite wrong. The Lord told Peter, "Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?" (John 18:11). We see similar types of misplaced zeal throughout church history and in other religions, but that zeal God does not approve of. Only what is detailed in His Word is zeal "according to knowledge."
B. True zeal is from true motives. Such is the subtlety of the heart that men will often do right things from wrong motives. Amaziah and Joash, kings of Judah, are striking proofs of that. They had zeal about things that were good and right, but not from a desire to please God. Such zeal is worth less than nothing. The Lord Himself tells us in His Word, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
One false motive for zeal is a party spirit. People can be unwearied in promoting the interests of their own religious group or denomination, but have no love for Christ and no grace in their hearts. Such was the zeal of the Pharisees. They traveled land and sea to make one convert, yet that person became "twice as much a son of hell" as themselves, said Jesus (Matthew 23:15). This zeal is not true.
Another false motive for zeal is mere selfishness. There are times when it is in men's interest to be zealous in religion. Power and favor are sometimes given to godly men. Whenever that is the case, there is no lack of false zeal. Such was the zeal of King David's treacherous general Joab.
Yet another false motive for zeal is love of praise. Jehu the avenger boasted, "Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord!" (2 Kings 10:16). He obviously ignored what Solomon the Wise wrote here: "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth" (Proverbs 27:2). Such is the zeal John Bunyan speaks of in Pilgrim's Progress about those who journey toward Mount Zion merely "for praise." Some people feed on the praise of their fellow creatures. They would rather have it from Christians than have none at all.
C. True zeal reflects God's mind and is sanctioned by plain examples from His Word.
(1) Zeal for growth in personal holiness. Such zeal will make a believer feel that sin is the mightiest of all evils and conformity to Christ the greatest of all blessings. Borrowing from our Lord's proverbial illustrations in His Sermon on the Mount, it will lead that believer to cut off his right hand or pluck out his right eye—make the necessary sacrifices to grow in godliness. That is what we see in Paul's life as he writes, "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.... I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do: forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forward to those things ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (1 Corinthians 9:27; Philippians 3:13-14).
(2) Zeal for the salvation of souls. Such a zeal will make a man and woman burn with desire to bring light to the darkness engulfing the souls of multitudes, seeing men, women, and children come to a joyful saving knowledge of the Gospel. Can we not see that most prominently in our Lord Jesus Christ? He and His apostles ministered faithfully with so many coming and going, they sometimes "did not even have time to eat" (Mark 6:31). When Jesus led a Samaritan woman at a well to saving faith Himself while His disciples went to buy food, she went into town to tell everyone about Jesus. When His disciples returned, they urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But He said to them, "I have food to eat you do not know of!" Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work" (John 4:31-34). Jesus was too excited to eat! He was zealous to reap the harvest of souls that would soon happen.
(3) Zeal against evil practices. Such zeal will make a man hate everything God hates, such as all forms of substance abuse, slavery, and infanticide, and long to sweep them from the face of the earth. We see this kind of righteous zeal in Phinehas, son of the high priest Eleazar, and in Kings Hezekiah and Josiah.
(4) Zeal for maintaining Gospel truth. Such a zeal will make a person hate unscriptural teaching and religious error, doing all he or she can to set the record straight. This is what we see in Paul at the church in Antioch when he opposed Peter to the face for misrepresenting the Gospel by his actions (Galatians 2:11-14). These are the kinds of things true zeal is concerned with and are honorable before God.
D. True zeal is always tempered by love. It will not be bitter and fierce against persons, ready to take up the sword, so to speak. The weapons of true zeal are not material, but instead spiritual. Indeed, they "have divine power to destroy strongholds." How? By persuasion with God's Word, "the sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17), as our foremost weapon. With it "we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). True zeal will hate sin, and yet love the sinner, following the example of Jesus.
True zeal will warn others, as Paul did the Galatians, yet feel tenderly toward them, like a nursing mother toward her own children (1 Thessalonians 2:1-13). It will expose false teachers, as Jesus did the scribes and Pharisees, yet weep over the spiritual state of Jerusalem (Matthew 23). True zeal will be resolute, like a surgeon dealing with a diseased limb, yet as gentle as one dressing the wounds of a child. True zeal will speak the truth boldly, like Athanasius did against the world, yet speak "the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15).
3. The benefits and blessings of real zeal in religion.
A. Zeal is good for a Christian's own soul. What exercise does for our bodies, zeal will do for our souls. None have so much enjoyment of Christ as those who are ever zealous for His glory, careful over their own walk, tender over their own conscience, full of concern over the souls of others, doing all they can to extend the knowledge of Jesus Christ upon earth. Such people live in the full light of the sun, so their hearts are always warm.
B. Zeal is good for the church. Zealous Christians are like salt and light. None but this kind can revive churches when ready to die or encourage them to greater deeds. "Your zeal has stirred up the majority," wrote Paul with gratitude (2 Corinthians 9). There is little danger of too much zeal for the glory of God. It is far easier to catch a chill than impart a glow. The church seldom needs a bridle, but often needs a spur: it seldom needs to be checked, but often needs to be urged on.
C. Zeal is good for the world. The world little knows what a debt it owes to Christian zeal. How many souls it has saved, how much crime it has checked, how much obedience to law and love of order and good deeds it has promoted!
As a concluding application, I warn you against misplaced zeal for earthly concerns: family, pleasure, and daily pursuits. What can be more worthy of zeal than eternal things: God, heaven, your own soul and the souls of others? Read the New Testament straight through. Do you find nothing there to make you zealous and earnest about your soul? Go and look at the cross of Christ and never rest until you feel some zeal for the glory of God and the extension of the Gospel throughout the world. The risen Christ says in the last Book of the New Testament, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent!" (Revelation 3:19). Try to live so as to be missed. There is far more to be done in 12 hours than most of us have ever yet done on any day in our lives. Life is short. Resolve that for the time to come you will spend and be spent for Christ!
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