#1642 Romans 9 Part 5 Tripping Rocks

 

30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, laid hold of righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not attain that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 just as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,

And the one who believes upon Him will not be put to shame.” Romans 9: 30-33 LSB

Romans 9: 30-33

V. 30 Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, laid hold of righteousness - A people separated from the common wealth of Israel, outside of the circumcision, not having the Law or the prophets. They did not pursue righteousness by way of the law which they did not know. These were lost on a whole other level, raised to worship idols and to commit those acts which God had deemed worthy of eternal punishment. 

William Newell (Romans 9) summarizes God's sovereignty in election:

1. Man was lost-he could not save himself.

2. He was guilty-none could pardon him but the God he had sinned against.

3 He was by nature "a child of wrath" not deserving good; nor being able to change his nature. He was allied with God's Enemy; and had a mind at enmity against God: a mind not subject, nor able to be subject to God's law or will.

5. He knew he was doing things "worthy of death"; but not only persisted in them, but was in league-approval with those of like practice; he was "of the world, " not of God.

6. Therefore, if any move be made toward man's salvation, it must come from God, not man.

7. God, being God, knew beforehand that the attitude of every man by nature toward his overtures would be to oppose them.

8. Since any real response to these overtures, therefore, must come from God's grace, He must elect to overcome effectually man's resistance, either: (a) In no case, (b) Or, in every case, (c) Or, in certain cases.

9. To hold God unable to overcome man's resistance in any case is to limit His power.

10. But to hold that God is unwilling to have certain saved is to deny His repeated word-

"Who would have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth";

"As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live."

11. Therefore, it would seem that only in those cases in which it would no longer be consistent with God's glory-that is, consistent with His holiness and righteousness, and His just government of His creatures, would God withhold, or refuse longer to employ. His gracious operations in behalf of any creature.

12. But, when we consider Election, we must remove our thoughts wholly from this world, the first Adam, the sin of man, and his "attitude" toward God. The purpose of God according to Election is "not of works, but of Him that calleth." It is outside human history altogether. - Newell from Precept Austin

Paul has started his letter to the Romans with the indictment, the reality of man's fallen nature. He has shown that salvation is unattainable through merit or human will. Paul's message is that of justification by faith alone, the object of that faith being Christ, His works, not mine, His life in place of mine.  

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.…

…21For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.…

…24Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen. 26For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.…

…27Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,…

…30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. 31They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless. 32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.… Romans 9: 18-32

11Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.… Ephesians 2: 11-13

17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. 19Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.… Ephesians 4: 17-19

V. 30b Even the righteousness which is by faith - It was by grace they were saved, through faith, and that, not of themselves, for it was the gift of God and not of works lest they should boast. Abraham didn't believe of his own, in fact he had to be brought to that faith. He trusted God to leave his country in search of another, but when it came down to the promise of Isaac, Abraham tried to make another way through Ishmael. Sarah laughed at first, but she too was brought to that faith. Abraham believed before he had the sign of circumcision, that sign of separation from the world, of being set apart. God graciously brought him to believe in Him and that was accounted to Abraham as righteousness. Even the Jewish sacrificial system points to faith, to putting your hope in the life and death of another. Those all pointed to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ, and that our works would never be satisfactory. Our works are all tainted by sin, by ingratitude, our inability to see ourselves in our proper place and to hold redemption so high as it warrants. We do not have the capacity in ourselves to view God aright or to love Him as we ought. 

21But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,… Romans 3: 21-23

…9Is this blessing only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before. 11And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.… Romans 4: 9-11

12And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless,… Romans 4: 12-14

1Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. 2 This is why the ancients were commended. 3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.…

4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. 5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “ He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.…

7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. 9By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.…

…10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised. 12And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.… Hebrews 11: 1-12

V. 31 But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness - The law was never intended to save, only to show man that he was hopelessly lost. It was the bar to convict us of our unrighteousness.

V. 32 They did not pursue it by faith - The law should have informed them of their state, which should have led to mourning over their sin, and turning to God for salvation. Instead they elevated the laws which they kept, invented new laws, and ended up with a horizontal religion, reliant upon the respect of their circles. I may fool you, and you may reflect back to me, and say, "Ah, Calvin is a good man, I saw him measuring and paying a tithe of his mint and cumin today." We are so easily deceived by others because we are already self deceived. The thing that all who are saved come to, whether Jew or Greek, is that we can't do it, can't be good enough, can't save ourselves, that we rely upon the righteousness of Christ. We need a Mediator, a Savior.

…27Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” 28Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”… John 6: 27-29

V. 33 A stone of stumbling - For those who trust in their own ability to keep the law, who think that they have lived up to it, a Savior from sin will be a point of contention and confusion. They have chosen another way. The verse goes on to call the Stone, Him, and the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame. This points to Christ, Who they rejected, and Who most of the world still rejects to this day. We are told that His own rejected Him, but many in the world today call Him a crutch, the cults speak of another Christ Who is not God the Son, and many in the so called church today make up a Christ after their own image as well. The real Christ is a stumbling stone for most. 

…13The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded. 14And He will be a sanctuary— but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare. 15Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and captured.”… Isaiah 8: 13-15

…15For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.” 16So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken. 17I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.… Isaiah 28: 15-17