Zeal and Righteousness

Not knowing God's secret counsel with respect to eternal election and reprobation, we are to relate to all people with love and concern for their eternal well-being. Paul shows that zeal, when not instructed by God's revelation is destructive. He also closes the door to the idea that our justification is anything but definitive the moment a person believes in Christ. This is because every one of our works, when compared to the standard required for attaining justification, that is attaining to the standard of God's righteousness, are nothing but excretement.