Godly Jealousy

Jealousy is an unsettling emotion that can dwell in our hearts for a long time and eat us up. When Saul and David returned from defeating their enemies, the women welcomed them and sang of Saul’s thousands and David’s tens of thousands. This resulted in many nights of insomnia for Saul, who could not accept the fact that he was a king but received a much lesser praise than David, who was only a child.

This incident was such a small matter, but it was enough to plant the seed of jealousy in Saul’s heart, and it gave a foothold for the evil spirit to enter into him. From that day on, Saul looked for every opportunity to be rid of David. Most people are familiar with this kind of jealousy, which is the result of the absence of love, and something we ought to strive to avoid.

But there is a second kind of jealousy, which is of God and is the result of the fullness of His love for us. It is the complete opposite of the jealousy that destroyed Saul’s life and crushed his spirit.

            For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (2 Cor 11:2)

Paul had the heart of God, and when he saw the conditions of the CorinthianChurch, he was filled with godly jealousy within him. So Paul says that there are many who want to be teachers, but there aren’t many who are willing to be fathers. For the Corinthians were born out of the gospel, and towards them Paul had much of God’s love and expectations and treated them as such.

Betrothed as a Chaste Virgin

Marriage is instituted by God, and so if we are building such an institution, we have to use God’s words as the measure. We have been betrothed to one husband and presented to Christ as a chaste virgin, so our relationship with God is like that of a marital relationship.

And we know that jealousy is always present in a marriage, because a husband and wife share in oneness and intimacy with one another, and anything or anyone that poses a threat to that relationship will drive our spouse mad.

If one day you got married and your husband comes home without a word to you, but he has lots of conversations with female coworkers, will you give thanks to God? You will be jealous, for this is a marriage and there is no room for a third party.

For the same reason, Paul accused the Corinthians because their marital relationship with God was infiltrated with other parties, and he was filled with godly jealousy towards their unfaithfulness.

Before marriage, the most precious thing is a person’s chastity and virginity. That means that no consummation can occur prior to marriage. We often feel the church is too conservative, but the church only wants to help us avert from getting into temptation. If you ask where in the Bible it says that you can’t go on a date, or you can’t hold hands, or you can’t indulge in kissing before marriage, you probably can’t find it.

We are discouraged from doing these things so that we can avoid falling into temptations that we are powerless to overcome. If in our behavior we try to preserve our chastity, our lives will be much improved. And we must not overlook the smallest gesture of purity.

In the same way, when we are already given in marriage to the Lord, we must make sure to separate ourselves from all forms of infidelity great or small that will jeopardize our devotion to our God. We must protect our marriage.

The Bible says that we are betrothed to a husband, Jesus Christ, and this betrothal takes place at the time of our baptism. But how do we know we are given to Jesus?

His Spirit Claimed Us for His Own

When a man and a woman get married, they exchange rings as a symbol of devotion. Likewise, Christ gave us the Holy Spirit as a sign and covenant from the Father that He has accepted us. And with His spirit in us, we profess that we will love Jesus and nobody else.

But this was not the case with the believers in Corinth, who were on the road to corruption. The Scriptures say that they were corrupted by the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Cor 11:3-4); after the Corinthians received the gospel from Paul, someone else came to preach to them a different message.

If we accept another gospel, it will be as though we have received another Christ and a different spirit, and Christ our bridegroom will not tolerate or accept such a betrayal. We must make our choice because we cannot have both.

But which one is Jesus and what is a different kind of spirit? 1 and 2 John gives us a few criteria.

1.       Jesus Christ is the Word that became flesh. He is God Himself and He came in the likeness of a man to live in our midst and is full of the Holy Spirit. We know the spirit of God only if the spirit confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh from God. If the spirit doesn’t confess that Jesus is of God, then it’s not the same.

2.       Other religions cannot believe that Jesus is God having flesh. So they give the experiences of another spirit, and they also have different kinds of power for people to experience. But their recognition of Jesus is different, which means the spirit is different.

3.       The Bible tells us that the spirit that comes from above relates to things from above, and any other spirit relates to things of the world and the world hears them. If the manifestation that you have of the spirit is entirely of the world, then this is a different kind of spirit, even if people like to listen to it.

4.       If the spirit is willing to accept the criteria for salvation, then it must be coming from God, for God’s spirit and His teachings are two sides of one face. So if it is from God, then the spirit’s teachings will be congruent with the Scriptures.

We are of God and those who are of God hear the teachings that we impart. Hearing means how the gospel is manifested in us and how it is manifested in salvation. Therefore, we need to be alert, as the teachings of another spirit might change our recognition of God. God is an all-knowing and all-powerful God; otherwise, He is not the same God as written in the Bible.

Paul rebukes the Corinthians, who had already lost the heart of chastity because they decided to receive a different Christ, gospel, and spirit. By choosing and following another Jesus and another spirit, we commit spiritual adultery and incur God’s jealousy.

Just like the serpent deceived Eve with its craftiness, if we have lost our clarity in God it is the work of the devil. And if we do recognize our adulterous ways and we do not repent, then this marriage will fall apart. So in our relationship with God we must be faithful and simple, and we must receive and accept the everlasting teachings.

Do Not Love the World

The Bible tells us that friendship with the world is enmity with God, and the Spirit will yearn jealously (Jas 4:4-5). Here, the elder James talks about adultery but he doesn’t refer only to fleshly adultery. It also has to do with enmity with God and spiritual unfaithfulness.

And what causes us to be in enmity with God?

Lust of the Flesh

When a person grows up and wants to get married, this is perfectly normal and is from God. But for a man to be married to another man, this is beyond the teachings of the Bible, and such unions are lustful actions of the flesh. And it is the same for a woman who wants to marry another woman. If you want to be with someone who is already married, or if you sleep with someone before marriage—these are also borne out of lust.

All these are examples of what is of the world, from the devil, and things that will incur God’s intense anger. We must not succumb to the lust of the flesh and give ourselves over to things from which God has set clear boundaries for us to keep away from.

Lust of the Eyes

Our God is a creative God, and if we are creative this is a gift from God. If, for example, we buy and enjoy beautiful clothing, this is a good thing that God has given us. But what is the lust of the eyes? It is when this enjoyment goes beyond what is in His teachings and becomes more important that God. Soon, we find ourselves working over time just to make money to afford material things.

Another example would be going to the cinemas. If you take out violence and sex from movies, what else is there to movies? How much money have you spent to subscribe to premium cable? Aren’t you luring Satan with money and inviting him to come right in to your own home to tempt you? Satan is there waiting for you. If you see what you should not see, you will invoke God’s wrath. If you keep watching, God will depart.

Pride of Life

In this world, we are obsessed with trying to outdo our peers and show ourselves better than others. This is the pride of life. If we want to build a building we have to build the tallest. We don’t just want any tower; we want the tower of Babel. If our structure come short by two floors, that’s just not good enough. We are mere humans but we want to be like God and to be respected the way people might respect God. Of course God will become jealous.

We are no bigger than a speck of dust, but we want to stand like the Almighty. How pitiful we are in the sight of Him! He created us and bought us with His precious blood. If God wants to go against us, it is just too easy.

But when we behave miserably, God’s contempt does not come in the form of our destruction the way people destroy each other. His contempt comes in the form of jealousy and rebuke that is borne out of His great love—hoping that we will reawaken, turn back and live no longer in the ways of the wicked.

If we become enemies of God, then there will be no division between us and Satan’s dominion. If our hearts chases after the world, then we are divided—standing on the opposite side from where God stands. But what is so agonizing about this situation is that we are already betrothed to Christ!

I have died for you. I used my precious blood to purchase you. I have given you the Holy Spirit to keep awakening and reminding you. But why in your life have you walked to the other side? Why do you make yourself my enemy?

What are Our False Gods?

Ezekiel 43 talks about how we incur God’s jealousy when we bring idols into our hearts, because the presence of idols can sever our relationship with God. Ezekiel kept on reminding the people until the glory of God departed from the temple. For the heart of every person in Jerusalem was full of idols.

When we read about this incident, perhaps we think the Israelites deserved their just punishment. But we should first look into our own lives and think of what are the things that have become more important than God. When we can identify that object or person, then we have identified our false god. Let’s look carefully at ourselves and assess whether God takes first place in our hearts.

Examine our perspective about money. If we realize that our wealth comes from God, then we would offer tithes with a glad heart, because tithes manifest our love and thanks towards Him. But if we aren’t willing to give tithes, then we make ourselves our gods since we spend it all on us.

If we recognize that God is the true God, then we would put our money on Him. For our heart is where our money is. If our heart is on material things, then most likely our money will be spent on clothes, computers and gadgets, or other possessions. But if our heart is on God, then our money would be spend on things for the church or on things that is beneficial for our faith.

Power, opportunity, life, and all such things come from God. Without any of these we cannot accomplish much. If you are married and you buy everything for yourself and eat for yourself but you are unwilling to give the same to your spouse, how can that be considered love?

If you have money but you don’t give to the Lord what He gave you, won’t you incur His wrath? God allows for all the things we have but we are unwilling to repay His grace. Of course God would be jealous!

This is the same with our perspective on time. If you love your wife, but because of your worldly pursuits you don’t have time for her, then why did you get married? You might as well marry the world. Despite how busy we are in life, time sustains our life line and it is the most precious. And if you cannot take that time to say I love you, then it is useless. If a father professes to love his child but has no time for that child, this is not love.

We profess to love God and we even know that time is from God, yet we have no time for Him. How ironic is this unfortunate truth. Similarly, the Sabbath is from God and made for us, and it is the day He wants us to enjoy and to be close to Him. But in order to earn a few extra dollars we would rather work than go to Sabbath, then money is actually the one we worship.

It’s not that we cannot be successful. Daniel, for example, was very successful but he prayed three times a day. His success came as a result of finding and holding onto and choosing God first. His success was a by-product of his solid relationship with God.

But if for worthless false gods we compromise our faith and spirituality—or worse, we lose God completely—then this is sheer foolishness on our part.

In a marriage, we always strive to make our spouse happy and we avoid doing anything that would aggravate that relationship or cause jealousy in our spouse because he/she is the dearest person to us. In the same way, this is how we should create a blissful marriage with God—we give to our Betrothed the love, devotion, and faithfulness we promised at the altar.