What Does Real Faith Look Like?

The Apostle Paul begins this chapter by expressing his heart's desire and prayer that Israel would be saved. He attests that they are zealous for God, but they have no real knowledge of Him. I found that very interesting. How can someone have a zeal for God but no knowledge of Him? Why would you be zealous for someone you knew nothing about? Could their zeal be based on the fact that they were called God's chosen people? Was their enthusiasm more of national pride, like Americans are zealous for their flag, or Canadians are passionate about hockey? Was their zeal more of a "status" thing than an intimate knowledge of God?

Paul says in Romans 10:3 that the Israelites were ignorant of God's righteousness. How is that possible? They received the Ten Commandments from Moses. They had whole books in the Torah dedicated to God's requirements for righteous living. They had a huge Temple smack dab in the middle of Jerusalem, where they believed God resided in the Holy of Holies. How then were they ignorant of Him? Is it possible they had forsaken the commandment written only for them, that they MUST read their Torah and obey it (Leviticus 18:4-5; Deuteronomy 11:19)? Today, like many Christians, did they simply stop investing time in reading God's Word?

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