The Apostle Paul's zeal for following the traditions of his religion led him to relentlessly persecute the church of Jesus Christ. Although as a Jew he was entrusted with the oracles of God, he was so indoctrinated with religious traditions that he tried to destroy Christ's church. He wrote: "I persecuted the church of God ... being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers" (Gal. 1:13-14). The unconverted Paul bore witness to having a zeal for God but not according to knowledge (Rom. 10:2). He had a superior knowledge of his religion, but not a spiritual knowledge of God which God imparts only to those who exchange their religion for a relationship with Christ (1 Cor. 2:14). His religious pride and arrogance had blinded him from the glorious light of the Gospel (Phil. 3:5-6; 2 Cor. 4:4). When God gave him spiritual eyes to see the truth of His Word, he was miraculously transformed (Acts 9:8-22). No longer a merciless persecutor of the church, he was now a passionate evangelist for the church.

Tragically, many Roman Catholics are like the unconverted Paul. They have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. Many have a gratifying and stubborn-hearted knowledge of their religious traditions, but they do not know the all-sufficient Savior as He is gloriously revealed in Scripture. They seek to become righteous before God because they do not know God's righteousness requires perfect righteousness, which they can never achieve. Like the Jews who were "ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness" (Rom. 10:3). Being ignorant of God's righteousness, Catholics believe it is infused over time through the sacraments instead of imputed instantly by faith (Rom. 4:5). As fallen people, they are doing whatever they can to cover up their guilt by participating in the rituals of the Catholic faith to gain a right standing with God.