Bible Verses About Religious Zeal

When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” when I really mean “No, no”?

But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.”

Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.

Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and a door stood open for me in the Lord,

I had no peace in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?

For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.

And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.

Therefore, since God in His mercy has given us this ministry, we do not lose heart.

Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

For we who are alive are always consigned to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal body.

So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

And in keeping with what is written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,” we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak,

knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is extending to more and more people may overflow in thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.

For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.