Damnable Jealousy

Jealousy is not necessarily a sin, but when it is one, it's a perniciously damnable one!  This is why Paul strongly associates it with the works of corrupted sinful flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). But it can’t always be sinful, because the bible tells us that God is a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24, Joshua 24:19-23). If God, who is the highest moral good, has righteous jealousy as part of his character, then we as lesser human beings should strive to possess righteous jealousy as part of our character. But what is righteous jealousy?  It is a zeal or energy to protect, defend, care for, love, possess, or be in an exclusive rightful relationship with someone or something. A woman justly expects exclusive intimacy with her husband. A husband rightfully expects exclusive intimacy with his wife. Jealousy is the appropriate emotion when that expectation is violated by a spouse.  Marriage necessitates an entitlement to exclusive intimacy.

But when our sense of entitlement is misplaced, the pernicious and damnable side of jealousy arises, which results in strife, evil, and potential loss of life! This concept is vividly demonstrated in Acts 13:44-52. When Paul and Barnabas are preaching the word of God at Antioch of Pisidia, they draw large crowds.  This causes the religious leaders of that area to be jealous and to oppose their work (Acts 13:45)! That word “jealous” in Greek is a word for zeal (Strongs G2205).  So what were those religious leaders zealous for? Well, it wasn’t for the Word of God that Paul was preaching.  If it had been, then they would have celebrated his skillful presentation of it. They would have assisted him in his evangelism and teaching. They would have lifted up the truth of that word with Paul and then joined him in his work.  Instead, they were zealous for his popularity.  They had placed their zeal not in the truth of God’s word, but in their own power and status. Ironically, they excluded the God with whom they were supposed to have an exclusive relationship, with their zeal for exclusive popularity!  As teachers and scholars of the scriptures, they should have known that the Word of God was for both Gentiles and Jews (Isaiah 42:1, 42:6, 49:6). But they were blinded by a misplaced sense of entitlement and a zeal for power and popularity.  

Paul argued that in their zeal for popularity, they threw away the truth of the scriptures, and in doing so, demonstrated that they were unworthy of eternal life (Acts 13:46)! It isn’t that they were throwing away the opportunity to live forever.  Every human will live forever! They were throwing away the opportunity to live with Christ in that very moment – and possibly damning themselves forever from his love!  

Jealousy is a pernicious and damnable evil when it arises from a zealous and misplaced sense of entitlement. So, always seek to walk in the spirit, and not in the flesh (Galatians 5:16-24).