THE HOLY SPIRIT’S JEALOUS LOVE
James 4:5 (AMPC) Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, the Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love?
The Word of God is full of scriptures that tell us that God is a jealous God. Exodus 20:4-5 tells us we should not bow to any created image and worship it because God is a jealous God. It tells us nearly the same thing in Exodus 34:14. This sentiment is repeated in Deuteronomy 4:23-24, which says our God is a consuming fire. We like that part, but this is true because He is a jealous God. It says the same thing in Deuteronomy 6:14-15, Deuteronomy 32:16, 1 Kings 14:22, and Psalm 78:58. That is a lot of scriptural references to take lightly because He is saying that He doesn’t want anything in front of Him in our relationship with Him, and this is not just about having a statue of something at our house. It is about our hearts and who and what we put first place and worship in our lives.
We see this carried over into the New Testament writings as well. Besides our verse, we find this addressed by Paul to the Corinthian church. In 1 Corinthians 10:20-22, it tells us very plainly that you can’t have it both ways. The believers there were still trying to do what the majority of the city was doing in worship, so they were joining the pagans in their worship. Maybe it was because they were used to worshipping pagan Gods, or maybe it was just easier to go with the flow because everyone else was doing it, or maybe they didn’t really know how God felt about it. Whatever the reason, the Lord addressed it with them and is also addressing it with us. In 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 (NIV), it gets real plain on this subject, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
James wanted us all to be clear on the subject as He addressed what the Father expects from us in this two-way relationship. Our part is to understand that He is jealous over us, and He demands to be first place in our hearts and in our lives, the same as it would be between a husband and a wife, and that is more than reasonable. Then, He talks about the welcoming of His Spirit that lives on the inside of us. In two places in the book of 1 Corinthians, we are told that we are temples of the Holy Ghost. God doesn’t want our temples to be divided; He wants us all to Himself.
God’s jealousy is not destructive like human jealousy. God is perfection and everything that comes from Him is pure and holy. So, what is God’s jealousy? It seems that God’s jealousy is first and foremost protective. God wants to keep us safe, and He knows if we are totally yielded to Him, He can keep us from the effects of this fallen world. I also believe that when someone offers and gives you everything, withholding nothing from you, it is not unreasonable to ask for the same in return. The question is, do we love God as much as He love us?