If a Christian is really intent on following God, knowing God, and they’re fired up and want to be passionate about God, don’t make the mistake of thinking that doctrine and head knowledge is the opposite of passionate heart knowledge. The real heart affection that’s going to burn bright and is going to last must be connected to that knowledge, that deep doctrine, that precision or carefulness with what we believe. And Jesus taught us that we’re sanctified by the truth.

Zeal Without Knowledge

On one hand, it’s certainly true that there have been lots of wonderful, godly examples of Christian faithfulness who have probably not had the opportunity to be well-taught in doctrine. So we wouldn’t want to say that only the most brilliant theologians can really follow God, or, vice versa, that if you have all of the knowledge in your head, then by default you’ll be a godly Christian. We know that doesn’t happen.

And yet we don’t want zeal or passion without knowledge. The most lasting passion—the fire that’s going to burn hot for a lifetime—has to be rooted in doctrine and theology and in knowing true things about God. It’s an imperfect analogy, but think about if you fall in love with your spouse or when you meet the person you’re going to marry. You may have an experience and even a love at first sight.

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