Useful Bible Studies > Romans Commentary > chapter 10

Is it ever right to be jealous?

Romans 10:19

I have known many people who became Christians in a truly extraordinary manner. Before they became Christians, they may have lived in an evil and wicked manner. They knew very little about God then; perhaps they even hated him.

Now they love God much (Luke 7:47); they are very grateful to him. They are sure that they did nothing to deserve God’s kindness to them. They insist that God’s goodness is the only explanation of the wonderful change in their lives.

Other people may find it difficult to accept what God has done for those people (compare Luke 15:21-30). In their opinion, God should only work in the lives of the best people. They cannot see why God would help an evil person (Mark 2:15-17).

So their reaction, as Moses says in Deuteronomy 32:21, is to be jealous and angry. In that passage, God tells Israel’s people that he will work in the lives of people from other nations. Many of Israel’s people did not expect that, because God has a special relationship with their nation. However, when they were not obeying God, God chose to make them jealous by his kindness to people from other nations.

Usually, it is wrong to have jealous attitudes (Deuteronomy 5:21). However, it is right and good to desire God’s kindness in our lives. Cain’s jealous attitudes caused him to be proud and angry (Genesis 4:1-9); but Jacob’s jealous attitudes caused him humbly to desire God’s help and kindness (Genesis 25:24-34 and 28:10-22). So God makes Israel’s people jealous of his work among the other nations. In other words, they will want him to show them the same kindness that he has shown to those other people. Then they will humbly ask him to help them, and they will invite him into their lives (11:11-16; 11:25-27).

Next part: By the gospel, God helps people in an extraordinary manner (Romans 10:20)

Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 1000+ page course book.