Here is no half -hearted acquiescence; this people are peculiar indeed,

they are even `zealous' of good works.  `Zeal' in English comes from the

Greek root zeo `to boil' even as the word `yeast', and can be good or bad

according to the motives that prompt it.  The `zeal' of God's house prompted

the Saviour to cleanse the temple (John 2:17); the `zeal' of Pharisaic pride

prompted Saul of Tarsus to persecute the church (Phil. 3:6); zelos is also

translated `envy' and `jealousy', `emulation' and `indignation', so, whether

it be prompted by good or bad motives, it is never Laodicean in character, it

is always `boiling'.  Zelotes, the actual word used in Titus 2:14, occurs

five times in the New Testament and in three of these occurrences zeal for

`the law' (Acts 21:20); zeal as a Pharisee `toward God' (Acts 22:3) and zeal

for the `tradition' of the fathers (Gal. 1:14) is its manifestation.  In 1

Corinthians 14:12 zeal for the spiritual gifts is to be modified by the

desire to edify, leaving the last reference for zeal for good works in Titus

`Simon Zelotes' (Luke 6:15), is elsewhere called `Simon the Canaanite',

one who was fiercely patriotic, whose battle cry would be `Palestine for the

Jews, and down with the Roman oppressors'.  Some think that the title is

derived from the Hebrew word Kannah `jealous' (Exod. 20:5) rather than the

name of the land of Canaan, but Dr. Young puts the title under the Old

Testament name Canaanite in his concordance.  Whatever the truth of this may

be, the fact remains that the apostle expected the believer redeemed and

purified, to have a burning zeal for good works, not to be merely `good' or

negatively `not bad' or just `neither hot nor cold'.  How many of us feel

very happy about ourselves in the face of such a standard?

Reverting to Titus 3:8, Weymouth translates `I would have you insist

strenuously'.  The word translated `maintain' in this same verse, is

translated `rule' in 1 Timothy 3:4,5,12; 5:17 and Macknight translates the

passage `take care to promote good works', that is to practise them

ourselves, and by our example and exhortation to encourage others to practise

them and to defend them (for so the word is used in the classics) against any

who from a zeal without knowledge would so emphasize that salvation was `Not

of works' that they would deny or belittle the other side of the doctrine,

namely that it was `unto good works'.  Two extreme schools of thought derive

their doctrines from unbalanced emphasis upon one or other of the teachings

of Paul regarding the place of Grace and Law in salvation.  As Professor

Drummond put it, `The entrance fee is nothing; the annual subscription --

Antinomianism.  This term appears to have been first employed by

Luther, himself an ardent advocate of Justification by Faith, against

Johannes Agricola, to express the doctrine that Christians being saved by

faith alone are bound by no obligation to keep the law of God, an exaggerated

and one -sided view of Paul's teaching in Romans and Galatians, and a

reaction from Judaism.  The argument that since a man is saved by his

acceptance of the Atonement of Christ, it is irrelevant what is done by the

body is vicious in its effects.  When the fight was on in the early stages of

Paul's ministry, it was necessary that the glorious doctrine of Justification

by faith without the deeds of the law should be maintained, and no stronger

words can have been used to enforce this than are found in Galatians 5, but

even so, in that very chapter the apostle warns his readers against confusing

liberty with licence (Gal. 5:13) and shows that even while the believer is

not `under the law' he will never be led of the Spirit to break the law,

which law is fulfilled in love to God and neighbour.