Faith Submits to God’s Righteousness

Transcript

GR 2244
6/28/2020
Faith Submits to God’s Righteousness
Romans 9:31-10:8
Gil Rugh

We’re going to the book of Romans, chapter 10. Originally when the bible was written it didn’t have chapters and verses, but it is a help to us to be able to identify where we were, where we are. I don’t know how we would have done it if there were not chapters and verses. You would have just had to know from content, I guess. As many of you know, when they originally wrote the bible, they didn’t even break the words up. They’d write everything in capital letters and there were no spacing between the words. We’re just blessed to have even the adjustments we have.

We’re in Romans chapter 10. Chapters 9, 10, and 11 are about Israel. There are no more important chapters in the New Testament and the epistles in understanding God’s overall program for Israel than chapters 9, 10, and 11. Paul is talking about the gospel. To understand God’s working with Israel in what we call the “church age” you need to understand Romans 9, 10, and 11. I read you examples from writers who claim to be evangelicals who for some strange reason advocate we change our principles of bible interpretation when we come to Romans 9, 10, and 11. I think we interpret the bible consistently with literal, historical, grammatical principles of interpretation which allow for figures of speech.

But there is no foundation for saying Israel is no longer Israel. Israel is now another name for the Church or we’re going to all the promises God gave to Israel in the Old Testament, and now they are readjusted. I was reading this past week about writers who claim to be evangelical, bible believers, explaining why the physical land is no longer part of Israel’s heritage. That’s all been changed to be a metaphor for spiritual realities. I’m saying if you do that with Israel, where does it stop? So, these are very important chapters. What Paul is doing in these chapters is showing that Israel is under the judgment of God for unbelief. As a nation they have been set aside. Individual Jews experience salvation, but God’s work in the world no longer centers in the nation Israel. It centers in the Church which is made up of all nationalities. But the Jews are not, as a nation, the focus of God’s work. But that does not mean God is done with the Jews. When we get to chapter 11 Paul will even clarify that further.

I did a slide that we could put up on the balance between chapters 9 and 10. You appreciate how the Spirit has directed Paul in writing this. Chapter 9 explains why some Jews are still saved. It’s the sovereign mercy of God. There was always a discerning division made and we saw examples of that in chapter 9. But why are any of the Jews saved? It’s because of God’s mercy. Why will the nations someday be saved? It will be for the same reason, God’s sovereign control. He keeps His word. He’s the God who cannot lie.

And we cannot do interpretive, hermeneutical, and that word hermeneutics is just a word for interpreting. How we interpret the bible. We don’t use these magical adjustments. What God says is what God means. When He promised the land, I was amazed at how one of these writers listed all the references where God promised the land to Israel. And he says, yes, He was promising a physical land to Israel. But now that Christ has come those no longer hold true. Well boy, that really undermines your confidence. I would have never guessed that. If that man was right, God cannot lie, but He can sure fool you. He could say again and again and again, walk on that land. Here’s the measurements of that land. Here’s the boundaries. It will be yours forever, but not really. Serious matter. So why are some Jews saved? It’s mercy all the time.

Chapter 10 explains why some Jews are lost. They don’t believe. That was true in the Old Testament. It is manifestly true. The coming of Christ even clarifies that. It doesn’t change the issue. The issue is and always has been that salvation is by grace through faith. We have seen that earlier back in chapter 3, verse 21 through chapter 4, and into chapter 5. It is by faith. It’s by faith. Abraham believed God and God credited it to Abraham as righteousness. That was 500 years before the Mosaic Law was given. Salvation was always by faith. Habakkuk, the prophet said in chapter 2, verse 4 “…the (just) righteous will live by his faith.” And now with the coming of Christ it becomes clear how settled in unbelief Israel was. That when their Messiah came, they rejected Him because they had moved from God’s plan of believing Him to their own plan of works. And that’s where chapter 9 broke off. Verse 30, “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.”

They did not follow father Abraham who believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. They took the law and the 600 plus commandments God gave and said now we will work at keeping all these commandments. And by our efforts in keeping those commandments God will accept us as righteous. God’s plan on salvation never changed. It is always by faith. Go back to father Abraham. The Jews claimed him, recognized him as their founding father. How did he become righteous? He didn’t have the Law; it wasn’t given for another 500 years. He believed God and thus was declared righteous by God. So, the Jews had moved to a performance standard, works, which all religions, all religious activity outside of biblical Christianity are. It’s performance, it’s doing. Verse 32 of chapter 9, “Why? Because they did not pursue it (righteousness) by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone...”

Their own Old Testament prophets told this, and he quotes from Isaiah. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, the coming of Christ. The Law was just to help prepare them for the coming of Christ. As those, they trusted God for the salvation only He could give, and they ordered the life of the nation around the Mosaic Law and the sacrifices and so on, a manifestation of their faith in obeying God. We’ll see that obeying God is tied to the faith. Christ came. They fell flat on their face. They stumbled over Christ. They weren’t ready. At last! We’ve been trusting God and living a life, as much as possible, of obedience to God, believing He would do what He promised.

And now Isaiah 53, our Messiah is here and the promises of a king who would come. No, we won’t have Him! We’re doing it our way! Just like today. And this is where we’re coming; we’ll see. You go share the gospel with very religious people, who go to church, whether they’re protestant, Catholic, they’re earning their way. I do this because I want to be acceptable to God. You can do nothing to make yourself acceptable to God. You stumble over the stumbling stone. What was Christ doing dying on the cross and you’re still trying to earn your way to heaven? You never could earn your way to heaven. That’s religion versus biblical Christianity.

So, where do we go? Romans 9 was about the sovereignty of God. Well, if He’s totally sovereign He chooses. We went through that pretty clear. But it’s encouraging when you get to chapter 10. Paul begins, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.” We come to human responsibility. Paul you just told us God is sovereign. He’ll make the decision. He does the choosing. Just leave it there. But that’s not all there is. Remember, God is totally sovereign, and we are fully responsible. But Paul, “…my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.” Well, Paul, read chapter 9. God sovereignly has chosen. I not only have read chapter 9, I wrote it, Paul could say. And “…my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.” And that’s consistent with God’s heart’s desire. He does not desire that any should perish, that all should come to the knowledge of the truth.

Remember I said we go as far as we can, and we leave it there. I don’t resolve it by deciding, here. I believe both. I believe in the total sovereignty of God. I don’t believe anyone will ever be saved at any time, past, present, or future apart from the sovereign choice and divine intervention of God. And that in no way changes the responsibility I have, as he’s going to talk, to bring the gospel to everyone. To say that a person is fully responsible and accountable to God for their refusal to believe and bow before Him. How do you resolve that? I don’t! God has to. I just have to do what He told me and believe what He said. Simplifies my life and I have to remind myself of that periodically. I’m not God. He is! That’s true. If somebody says to me, God is sovereign. He has made the decision in eternity past. Why should I pray for the salvation of my loved ones? Jesus said you don’t have, because you don’t ask, so I’m asking. God said He doesn’t desire men and women to be lost. He desires them to come to a knowledge of the truth. Sounds to me like it’s contradictory. Well God Has to work out His own contradictions. I don’t have to work them out for Him. I just have to faithfully represent Him.

“…my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.” Remember back in chapter 9, the opening three verses? “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit...” It is with God Himself, standing here in His presence, this is true. I have great sorrow. I’m weeping, unceasing grief. Paul, God is sovereign, you don’t have to get emotional about it. What? I’d go to hell for them to be saved. Oh, oh. But you read the sovereignty, oh I guess that’s now, Paul after writing that. Now you get to chapter 10 and he’s at the same place, “…my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.” And they have good intentions. Good intentions lead you to hell. As they used to say, “The road to hell was paved with good intentions.” It’s not enough that they have good intentions. Oh, I know they’re so earnest, they go. I’ve shared we had a neighbor lady who is with the Lord now because she did get saved, but she used to get up every morning and go to the church down the street to go through certain religious observances on behalf of her family. But she was lost. Those good intentions couldn’t get her to heaven.

Verse 2, “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.” Israel’s problem was not a lack of zeal. In fact, there are people who are so zealous in their religious convictions that they sometimes put us as true believers to shame. I mean they will go out on the line. They will die for their religious convictions. They will pay great costs, a great price personally. They are not ashamed or embarrassed to go out on the line for their religious convictions. I mean the Jews. I mean they were zealous. Their persecutions, they would die for their convictions. “…I testify…” I’ll give testimony on behalf of the Jews because he was one of them. They have a zeal for God. The problem is it is an ignorant zeal. They really don’t know the truth. Their zeal is not driven by truth.

Come back to Acts chapter 22. It’s a little bit Paul’s own testimony before his conversion, as he is presenting his testimony to the Jews. It opens, “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.” And what he realizes, and you’ll have to read the context, but he’s speaking to them in Hebrew. He’s somebody who really identifies with us. They’ll listen. “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel (one of the great teachers in Israel), strictly according to the law of our fathers...” Note this last line, “…being zealous for God just as you all are today.” He didn’t say they didn’t have a zeal. They were passionate.

Sometimes when you share the gospel with a very religious person you might give them credit. I can appreciate your zeal for God, but let’s talk about what God says because it’s important that our zeal be properly directed. Most people who are zealous in their religious convictions are exclusive in those convictions. That’s what gives them a zeal. Liberal protestants are very zealous about any kind of particularly religious conviction because they think everybody’s going to get there one way or the other. And we’re just glad for whatever your convictions are. We don’t have any of our own kind of thing. Paul says to the Jews, I was zealous just as you were. These are those who want to bring an end to Paul’s ministry. He doesn’t start out by saying you’re just on your way to hell and you deserve it the way you are treating me. No, let me identify with you. I’m a Jew. I can appreciate such zeal. I was educated in Judaism under Gamaliel. Paul shared that same zeal, remember? He was there at the stoning of Stephen, our first martyr in the book of Acts. He was in agreement. He deserves to be stoned. I mean, he was zealous for Judaism. He would give his life for it and he thinks that those who opposed it ought to be put to death too. No lack of zeal in Paul.

Come back to Philippians. I have some other passages, but we’ll leave them out. You’re familiar with Paul’s life. Come back to Philippians chapter 3. And he’s giving and reminding the Philippians, a non-Jewish church that is in the Greek city of Philippi, but who had been impacted by Jews who are trying to get these Gentiles to think that they need to include keeping the Law. Adding that which brought more confusion into the church, not the pure Jews so to speak, who were opposed to the message of Christ. What brought confusion was the Jews that added Christ to the Law. That mixture is always a problem. As you’re aware we call them Judaizers. They want to make Christianity Jewish and observe. Paul’s pretty blunt on that.

In verse 2 he said, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers…” The dogs as you’re aware, weren’t your pets. They were the scavengers of the city in biblical times. It’s a pretty derogatory term. Paul wasn’t always trying to put on a face. He adjusted to the circumstances. When he’s dealing with the Jews and circumcision he could identify. But here when the corruption of the church is taking place you have to understand, and this is where we are in the book of Jude, it can be a very harsh letter. So, Paul here, “beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh...” So, if you could put confidence in the flesh, I have as much reason or more than most do. Why? Verse 5, I was “…circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee…” Pharisees, those were the strict ones observing the Law. “…as to zeal…” here’s our word, “…a persecutor of the church….”

You want to know about going all out in promoting and defending Judaism? I persecuted the church. I viewed it as a threat to Judaism. They weren’t like the pagan Romans. They were claiming that the Jewish Messiah was the Savior. We rejected that Messiah and considered Him false. I was zealous. “…as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.” Not before God, but before man. You couldn’t have done a better job of keeping the Law than Paul did. And he lays that out. You want somebody who did everything the Law could require? I did! And the Law allowed for sin. And Paul was careful to observe all the sacrificial requirements and all the special days and all the events. You know what? It was all worthless as far as acquiring salvation. The righteousness that God required.

And that’s that next verse which is so direct. “But whatever things were gain to me, those things…” that I was working so hard, my efforts, “…I have counted as loss…” And “…I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus My Lord…” And I suffered the loss of all things, but they are but rubbish. They’re worthless. All your best efforts. All that zeal. All those religious passions. All those trying to be so strict and do everything that was required. It went on the dung heap. It’s rubbish, dung. It’s refuse! That’s what’s so hard when you talk to religious people. You’ve shattered my world.
I’m counting everything on this and now you’re telling me it’s nothing. But that’s what sets you free. Paul said I had to do that. All I could do was cast myself on Christ, believing what He had done. Now everything centers in this one person and one work. Another way of saying, my faith centers now in the living God and Him alone and His provision. We’re back to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15, verse 6. Abraham believed God and God credited to Him as righteousness. This is where along the way Israel lost its way. Paul, a zealous Jew, had lost his way. I’m piling up dung, thinking it is righteousness. Now, I had to recognize it for what it was. I let go of it all. Place all, we would say, all my eggs in one basket. All my hopes are centered now in Christ. I’m believing what He did for me. Not what I do for Him, what He did for me. He took my place. Died and paid my penalty.

Now be careful because the adjustments are made, and this is what the Judaizers were trying to do. That’s good. That’s good! That’s important! But it’s not enough. That’s what Paul says, those that teach that are dogs. They’re the lowest. They’re corrupting biblical Christianity. The book of Galatians, those who would add the works of the Law. They are anathema, cursed to hell. You can’t add anything to this. This is the flaw of Roman Catholicism. We have so much in common. We have more in common with Roman Catholicism than we have with liberal Protestantism. Protestantism doesn’t even believe the bible. Doesn’t believe in the inspiration of Scripture. They just use it and abuse it however they want to. At least Roman Catholics say we believe it’s the word of God and all that. But they add to it.

This is what the Jews are having a problem with the Judaizers. But Paul is clarifying. Come back to Jews and Judaism. They were not with the Judaizers at this point, although it helps clarify things. You don’t bring Judaism into Christianity. You don’t bring anything in. Its center is in Christ. Now we’ll build out from that a life that is changed, that manifests the character of God. But that’s not a part of acquiring salvation. Salvation is acquired through faith and now it results in a life that is lived by faith believing what God says. Not what man says, what God says. Not believing what I say as a pastor of a church, but believing what God says. My authority only holds as long as what I am explaining is what God is saying. That’s why it’s important for you to have your bible. I can help clarify this through my study, but I have no right to change it. I have no right to add to it, take away from it. So, they have a zeal for God but it’s not in accordance with knowledge.

Note this in verse 3, “For not knowing about God’s righteousness…” That would be an affront to the Jew. The word righteousness is key in this whole section. At the end of chapter 9, I mentioned to you in verse 30 the word “righteousness” is used three times in chapter 9, verse 30. It’s used again in verse 31, then he talked about “faith” in verse 30, and he talked about “faith” in verse 32. He talked about “believes” at the end of verse 33. The word faith, believes, just the verb form of faith. In Greek they’re the same word with a different ending. They don’t look quite the same, faith and believe, when you bring it into English. In Greek we would carry it over pist which is the basic word. Then you just put a little different ending on it, and you have either the noun “faith” or the verb “to believe.” So, you see righteousness and faith, believing are connecting at the end. Now that’s where we’re going here. So, in verse 3 we pick up with that emphasis on righteousness again. Israel didn’t have it because they didn’t believe in Christ, they stumbled over Him.

Chapter 10, verse 3, “For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” Here’s the problem. People get entangled in a religious system. The Jews had their system, and the six hundred and thirteen commandments of the Mosaic Law. They were not trusting God. They didn’t look to God for righteousness. They looked to the Law. Well, didn’t God give the Law? Yes! He did. He never gave it as a way to attain and acquire righteousness. We were through that earlier. “By the works of the Law no flesh will be declared righteous in His sight.” “By the works of the Law no flesh...” No one in the Old Testament was ever saved, declared righteous by God, by keeping the Law. That was the early part of Romans. That’s where if we forget the first part of what he has done in developing salvation we get into passages and suddenly we started with a foundation and building a building over here. In Jesus’ analogy in the sermon on the mount, you’re building on sand. You should build on the rock. There’s no other foundation which can be established, than that which has been established as Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3. That foundation is Jesus Christ.

Now don’t claim to believe in Jesus Christ then go over here to start to build a building. If we’re not careful we get confused on these things. The Jews, well we got the Mosaic Law. No other nation on earth was given the Law to govern conduct and life like the Jews were. That’s right. But it never was given as a way to become righteous before God because it was always by faith. Go back to Abraham. How many times do we have to do that? We ask the question, was Abraham ever baptized? No. He was declared righteous, remember the argument in the end of Romans chapter 3? There is only one God. There can only be one way of salvation. Let’s find out how God declared anyone in the Old Testament righteous. And we go back to Genesis chapter 15, verse 6. Abraham believed God. God declared him righteous. When did Abraham get baptized? Don’t raise your hand because he never did. You know, we read it. Then how can you say baptism is necessary for salvation? If there’s only one God, otherwise you have two Gods. The God who declared Abraham righteous by faith, and the god who now declares people righteous by baptism. So, you have two competing gods. Well no! We’re monotheistic. I believe there is only one God. So here, don’t say that the Law is a way of righteousness. Abraham didn’t have the Law. It will be given under Moses. There’s about 500 years between Abraham and Moses. This is important. Abraham did not keep the Mosaic Law. He didn’t have it.

Verse 3, “For not knowing about God’s righteousness…” Now ignorance is not an excuse. They are willfully ignorant. That’s where he’s going through chapter 10. We’re not going to get through all of this, but we will. That’s why we have to keep familiar with these pieces. I encourage you to go back and keep reading Romans. Someday if you’re not allowed to have a bible, there’s no better book in the bible to have memorized than the book of Romans; so that it is fixed in your mind so they can’t take it away from you. Bible memory is good. It’s important. There are countries in the world that don’t allow you to have a bible. I was reading in North Korea people write in South Korea and so on, verses of the bible and float them in on balloons. Hopeful that those verses will come down and people will find them. But, if you get found with them, you will be in serious trouble. So, we don’t want to forget.

“For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” The righteousness that can be found only by faith. Now you note here an important word. They did not “subject” themselves. Some of you have studied some Greek. Hupotasso is the Greek word. It’s a compound word, “to be ordered or arranged under”. Hupo is the preposition meaning “under”. You are under the authority, organized under, lined up under the one that you should be subject to. “…they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” You know what that means? They refused to submit to God and His provision.

Well, now we see where good intentions are. They really are expressions of a heart of rebellion. I will do it my way. The song. “I Did It My Way.” That’s what religious activity is. I’m doing it my way. That’s why they are so offended when you try to share the gospel with them. You’re telling them that my way, is not God’s way. But they’ve convinced themselves or been convinced by false teachers, religious teachers that here’s a way. The refusal to subject yourself to the righteousness of God. That’s what I’m talking about. That’s why I said earlier, remember that the subject of authority, submitting to God is key. It’s an inseparable part of faith. When I placed my faith in Christ, I was submitting myself to God’s authority, acknowledging that what He provided was the only thing that could save me. I was submitting to Him. That’s what it says at the end of verse 3. “…they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” Basically saying, I will not do it God’s way. So that’s it. We’re dealing in the realm of rebellion. That’s what we need to deal with. Hearts that are in rebellion. All our hearts were there until by grace through faith we bowed. It can no longer be my way or someone else’s way that I’m following. It’s God’s way.

“…they did not subject themselves…” Here’s what one writer on the Greek text said. “Appropriation by faith of God’s righteousness involves not only the discarding of all the dependence upon self and self-effort for salvation, but also the heart’s submission or capitulation to Jesus as Savior and Lord. This the Jews did not want to do.” That’s God’s righteousness. I yield. God, I no longer want to go my way. I no longer want to fight against You. That’s the spiritual battle going on when you share the gospel, right? There’s a spiritual battle being engaged. The devil doesn’t want to let go. The unregenerate heart doesn’t want to bow. And now you intervene with the light of the gospel. That’s where Paul is going in Romans 10. At this point the Jews are not willing to subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

Verse 4, “For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” The problem was they didn’t see the purpose in all of God’s revelation. They stumbled over Christ. They should have seen if they were walking by faith. There were believers in Israel. The problem was the nation as a nation was in rebellion. The prophet Isaiah obviously was a prophet believing God, as the other prophets, and some in Israel, but they were a small minority. In Isaiah 1, God says the sacrifices that you’re bringing to Me, the observing of the festivals, stop it! It’s an expression of rebellion, and not submission because they didn’t bring them in faith. So, they lost the whole point. They made their activity, their work, what God should accept. They didn’t come with a heart that was submissive to Him, believing Him as the One who provided righteousness when they believed Him, and expressed it by what they did.

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” That’s in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6. What’s he going to do in Hebrews 11? List out all those people who had faith in the Old Testament. That’s why they are evidence of those who had God’s righteousness credited to them. A whole list of people from the Old Testament. Why? Because the writer to the Hebrews is trying to make clear to Jewish readers that you never were saved by your works, by keeping the Law. There’re still people today that when you talk to them say, I try to keep the Ten Commandments. Whoever said you could be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments? When we are in Colorado we sometimes go to a restaurant in a hotel and engraved in stone as you walk through the door of that hotel, a secular hotel, are the Ten Commandments. Can you imagine that in this day? I appreciate that. And they are good, but they are not a way of salvation. They never were. They are just somewhat of a summary of the six hundred and thirteen of the commandments that governed the life of Israel.

But without faith in the God who had given His word it was not a way of righteousness. Verse 4 back in Romans 10, “For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” That doesn’t mean you were saved by righteousness up until the time Christ came. That’s the goal that everything prior to Christ was looking toward. He was the finish line if you will. All those sacrifices, they could never save. The book of Hebrews again, the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. All they could do was when you were believing God and trusting Him to provide righteousness for you, and expressed your faith and obedience to Him by bringing the sacrifice, you were being reminded that the penalty for your sin is death. That animal could never pay your penalty because animals can’t take the place of humans. If they would have been, where we might say we are today, in dealing with the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man, they might not have been clear that someday God will replace this sacrifice with His own Son. All they could have said is, I believe God and I’ve submitted to Him and the righteousness He provides and now I have a life of obedience. The problem is they went on with the sacrifices without trusting God. Just doing this will save me. Christ is the end, the goal, the combination, all that the Law looked forward to.

The book of Hebrews talks about this as well. That’s the goal. That’s the goal of the Law, righteousness. Now we see it clearly. I was believing God and I’m offering this sacrifice. It’s taking my place, being accepted in my place because God said the penalty for my sin is death. I need to trust God, that He’ll accept this in my place. Now I’m trusting God. I’m not trusting the sacrifice. I am offering it because I believe God. Without that it’s nothing. “For Christ is the (goal) end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” For Jews who were prepared, they responded, and trusted Christ. The nation wasn’t ready for that. No, we won’t have Him as our sacrifice. It has to be our way.

You see they begin to use the Law just like some people use the Bible. They don’t believe the Bible and submit to it, but they use it. So they bring confusion, because no matter how much they talk about the bible, how much they know about the bible, if you haven’t subjected yourself by acknowledging that Christ and Christ alone is the way of salvation, then you have no righteousness. Most of the cults can use the bible, whether it’s Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons or apostate Christianity, they’ll quote bible verses. You can watch the news and people will come on and quote bible verses. I’m not saying there are not Christians that don’t get interviewed on the news, but by and large, you get the most pagan people quoting a bible verse. I wonder where they get that.

What Paul is going to do now is take you back through the Old Testament because we have to establish that what he’s saying is, I’m not changing anything. This is consistent with the Old Testament. What he has done previously in the book of Romans, he quotes the Old Testament. You don’t change your hermeneutics, how you interpret the bible. You don’t change, it’s just that now it becomes clearer. Nothing has changed! The sacrifices didn’t save you in the Old Testament. They cannot save you in the New Testament. They could be a constant reminder that the wages of sin is death, the soul that sins will die. It can be that reminder of the seriousness of sin and the necessity of a sacrifice, so it could prepare you for the coming of the additional revelation that would come.

When Christ came to earth, He brought light in a greater way than had ever been given before. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1, verse 4. When the Son of God appeared on the earth, born into the human race, it was never that fullness of revelation given, as was given with the coming of Christ. He didn’t change prior revelation, because it’s the same God revealing Himself. But He gave a fuller revelation which brought fuller light. We now look back and with the completed revelation of our New Testament, we look back and say we understand clearly. What they could only understand was somewhat hazily like the prophets. Peter says, trying to sort out how the Messiah could come and rule and reign in righteousness having destroyed His enemies, and suffer and die and be rejected by His own people. And that was something they couldn’t put together. Both were true. Nothing was changed in the revelation that was given. It just didn’t become clearer until additional revelation was given. Think of how much more we’ll know in a hundred million years. Yes, we’re continuing to grow.

What Paul is going to do is show the consistency of what he is teaching, so that the Jews realize he’s not changing prior revelation. This just clarifies and now you can see the continuity. So, he picks up in verse 5, “For Moses writes…” because this becomes the authority for the Jews who were trusting the Law. It’s the Mosaic Law. It’s the Law that was transmitted by God to Moses at Sinai who then transmitted it to the Jews. “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.” This is taken from Leviticus chapter 18. Why don’t you turn back there? You know, it’s amazing, I keep reminding you of this, Paul is writing to the church at Rome. They did not have a bible so that they could say, turn in your copy of the bible to Leviticus. They didn’t have their own copies. Everybody didn’t have a copy. So amazing, he’ll tell them what Moses writes and they had to know it.

Think of the accountability we have. We have, probably all of you have, more than one bible in your home. We have different translations. Think of how accountable we are! There’s no excuse for these believers not to know. They had to go and have somebody read it to them. And boy, they had to concentrate. What did he read today? I don’t know. My mind was wandering. Well, all of that, did you get to Leviticus 18? We’re coming to verse 5. “So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.” So, you live by Me. These are the statutes he is given, the Mosaic Law. Now what’s foundational to that? I believe God. I submit to Him and trust that when I do what He tells me, it will be acceptable.

When you take that dimension of faith, I’m just going through this ritual, but I don’t believe God, you get to where Isaiah was and have to write saying God is given me a message to you. Quit offering those sacrifices. Quit observing those festivals. Why? The faith element was gone. That’s the subtle thing that religion takes over. It’s a challenge for our young people that grow up in this church. They think, well, I grew up in this church. I have good parents. I go to Sunday School. I go to church. I’ve memorized bible verses. I try to be a good person. And sometimes it’s hard to get through. That won’t get you to heaven. Having the right parents, going to a good church, having Christian friends, that’s not even enough if you go to a Christian school or are homeschooled. You get all these added benefits but those in and of themselves are good things. But they won’t mean that now you’re righteous before God.

It’s sometimes hard for that to get communicated. You know, you keep doing that. That’s where Lord, we’re praying what? What Paul’s praying. Lord open their heart. Open their mind to see the truth that we’re teaching them. That we’re exposing them to that they might believe it. Understand it will have to come to that point. So, there’s what he’s referring to. The Law, yes, but understand in the Law there are what? The penalties for sin. The sacrifices that need to be offered for sin. The sacrifices that will be offered on the day of atonement for the whole nation and those sins. And in the first century you didn’t need even give thought. All this reminds you what? I couldn’t keep it. I broke it. I’m a sinner but I’m trusting God that He’s accepting me because I have submitted to Him and what He says.

The faith, that’s the requirement. But we already saw that back in chapter 2 and the first part of chapter 3, where he showed all the Jews were just as lost as the Gentiles because nobody keeps the Law. So, to be righteous by the Law, you had to keep the Law. That’s the point of verse 5. “For Moses writes that the man who practices righteousness which is based on the law shall live by that righteousness.” The point is nobody does. Back to chapters 2 and 3 of Romans. That’s why I say, you read this and say see. If you keep the law, that’s what Moses said. The whole point in that is you can’t. So here I submit to God. He said even though I didn’t keep the law He’ll accept His sacrifice as my substitute. We begin to redo the law. That’s what the Jews did. They no longer viewed the law as God said. It’s not a way of righteousness. It includes the provision that you’re not going to keep it. I mean, that’s the whole point. So, if you weren’t here or you’ve forgotten, go back and read Romans 2 and 3 this week. The first twenty verses of chapter 3, and there he makes it clear.

He’s showing the Jews don’t keep the Law. They never did. If they were keeping all the commandments of the law, why would they need the sacrifices? One sacrifice covered the sin and I keep the law. The sacrifices are integral part of the law because nobody is keeping it. I keep saying that but don’t get confused with verse 5. “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.” But you can’t. “But the righteousness based on faith…” So, you see the contrast? Verse 5 is a righteousness you think can get by doing the law. Versus righteousness based on faith. And he’s already shown that that’s the only way to get righteousness. We’re back five hundred years before the Law with Abraham in chapter 4 of Romans. Abraham believed God. God credited it to him as righteousness. Now there were sacrifices being done. Moses didn’t say Abraham offered the right sacrifice and God credited it to him as righteousness. The whole point is it’s from the beginning and before the Mosaic Law. So that’s the contrast. So, you read verse 5, you don’t say, well yeah. So, if you try your best to keep the Law, you’ll have righteousness. No, the very point is you need to perfectly keep the Law to be righteous by keeping the Law.

Verse 6 says, “But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows…” and here he ties it to Christ. And we’re going to just read through this. And we’ll pick up with this because it blends to what follows. “But the righteousness based on faith…” We’re still talking about righteousness, and the only righteousness that matters is the righteousness of God that you have to submit yourself to, at the end of verse 3. Not the righteousness you think you acquire by what you do. “But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: ‘Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).’ But what does it say? ‘The word is near to you, in your mouth and in your heart’ --- that is, the word of faith which we are preaching...” And he goes on to talk about that word of faith. “…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ as Lord, and believe in your heart…”

It comes down, you believe what God has said and what God has done. You’re not looking for a Savior. The Jews rejected Christ still looking for a Messiah. We rejected Him. He’s not the one we’re looking for. But they still believed that there would be a Messiah come and rescue them. I realize now, modern day Jews don’t believe their own Old Testament, but Paul’s talking about the Jews who still claim to believe the Old Testament. Where the nation was, they had rejected and were still looking for a Messiah to come for us who would have to be the Messiah of Isaiah 53. The One who would leave heaven and come and die and be buried and be raised from the dead to pay the penalty for sin. You rejected that One. That He’s the One that was prophesied. So, the Jews are left wandering, waiting for that One who will be their Savior, rejecting that very One that God has provided.

That’s why Paul will say what he’s talking about in verses 6 and 7, because the Jews are looking around for the Savior who will come to be the sacrifice that is necessary but that’s not where faith is. Faith is believing God. Your eyes are open. I am submitting myself to the righteousness of God. When you create your own way of salvation, you end up with your own God and how He will save. You know, looking around for that Savior. “But what does it (the scripture) say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’---that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord…” We’re back to that issue, you submit to the righteousness of God. What does it mean, He’s Lord? He is God, He’s the One you submit to. “…and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…”
Then he goes on to develop that, and you can see more scripture brought out here. You can trace those down, we’ll be picking up with this, as we pick up our study next time. But I at least wanted you to see where he’s going. It’s all a matter of recognizing by faith, God provides the Savior. God provides the righteousness. I believe Him, just like they had to believe Him in the Old Testament. And then they did what He said, because that’s the beginning of a life of faith. So, naturally I want a life that conforms to what He said. But I don’t become righteous by keeping the law. I don’t become righteous by trying to do acts of obedience. I become righteous by letting go of everything.

And thank God that I yield, I give up, I can’t do it my way, I can’t do this. I want to submit to You. I don’t have to have full understanding of all the details. I believe what You said is true, that Christ Jesus is Your Son, the Savior who died to pay my penalty. And I just want to trust Him. I believe He was raised from the dead because it was done. Jesus said it’s finished. It’s all been provided. It’s by faith. The beauty of the simplicity; hard because at the root of our sin is what? Pride! Oh, I want to acknowledge God, but I will not bow before Him. I will not let go of my life, doing it my way. We need to come to that point, it’s humbling. That’s the challenge, I have to humble myself. I have to say, God, I’m a failure. I’m worse than a failure, I’m a sinner. All my best efforts have just been expressions of rebellion against You, in ignorance. I thought I was zealous for You! How foolish, how stupid, how without excuse I am. But I don’t have to go on with that course of life. I’m letting go. Let’s have a word of prayer. I want to address a couple of things in connection with this, but let’s have a word of prayer and then I’ll address this.


Thank You, Lord, for Your Word. Lord, it is a clear word that we need to have it hammered into our hearts and minds. Even as believers, Lord, at times we get a little loose with Your word. We may become careless and then indifferent and then Lord, we find ourselves in trouble. Thank You for the simplicity and clarity of Your word. Lord, we can’t explain it all. We can only claim grace, faith, that You will do as You promised. That when we let go of everything and claim Christ as the only Savior, the only One we trust, that You do cleanse us. That we are declared righteous by You, and it’s the beginning of a new life, lived in submission to You. Lord, we accept that gift of salvation by faith and want to live in accordance with it. We thank You. In Christ’s name, Amen.

This is a good time. This morning I talked about some things in Jude. And these things go together. Because what Jude is addressing, is what we’re dealing with in the book of Romans. He hasn’t necessarily connected it to the Judaizers because he doesn’t tell us where this error is coming from, particularly, but all this error ends up having connections that we bring man into the picture. And where we get confused as believers, is what Jude is talking about. Remember when he talked about men who creep in unnoticed? And they are accepted. Well, there has to be veneer. This is the danger of the Judaizers. Paul wasn’t as much a danger to the church, in his unsaved condition, because he was all out opposed to Jesus Christ, and the message of the gospel.

Then Paul gets saved, and he abandons the law and so on. The Judaizers come in with subtlety, and under pressure and the trials of the day. I gave you the list of the Roman Emperors this morning, it’s nice to have somebody you agree with. And now we’ve got these Jews who come, and they’re a recognized entity. And they are Jews, they claim to believe in Jesus Christ, and He is the Messiah. And He died and He rose from the dead. And that’s wonderful. But they are also telling us, and they have a certain weight, because they know the Old Testament better than we do, going back to that day. These are Gentiles saved out of paganism. They don’t know the Old Testament, maybe with the thoroughness yet. They come and say, that’s great, we’re with you. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Savior. But believing in Him is not enough, you also have to be circumcised and keep the law.

Now you are complete, and you have God’s complete salvation. You can see how that could be confusing. Because we tend to want to focus on what we agree with. This is how error gets into the church, we look for a point of agreement. We say though, it’s what you disagree with. You can put poison in good food, now you have poisonous food. You don’t have good food with a little bit of poison. And that’s what happens with the error. That’s what happens today. We say, well, we don’t have the same problem with the Jews, but that’s the difference between us and maybe liberal protestants, and there’s degrees in that.

This is where I mentioned Catholicism, and they are much like us. Mentioned them this morning. They agree the bible is the word of God. They believe that Jesus was virgin born. They believe that Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. They believe that He was raised from the dead. We say, well boy, we have so much in common. I try to get, when I criticize these different groups, what they believe, from what they write. I go to the Roman Catholic catechism, their encyclopedia, because I think they ought to tell me what they believe. It shouldn’t be someone like me, telling you what they believe. And when I’ve dealt with Catholicism, I try to read to you from their catechism, because I don’t want to put words in their mouth. They ought to tell me what they believe. So, that’s where I go. Our differences are what make the radical difference. Nothing has changed since the protestant reformation. There are adjustments on the part of Catholicism, but you cannot be Roman Catholic if you don’t believe the foundational principles that make you Roman Catholic. And that’s where we are distinguished as evangelical protestants from Roman Catholics.

They believe the bible is the inspired word of God. It is not the final authority. I was reading, just in the last few days, the Roman Catholic catechism. That’s why some of these things are on my mind. They are clear, the final authority for the Roman Catholic is the magisterium of the church, headed by the Pope who under him are the Bishops. They alone have the authority to establish the doctrine of the church. They alone are the authoritative interpreters of the scripture for the church. That’s why, for many centuries Roman Catholics were opposed to having the bible translated into the language of the people. The people don’t need it. Shouldn’t have it. They will just get confused. We will tell them. That has not changed. Now, they do have the bible in English. In fact, one of the Roman Catholic writings was using a regular English translation of the bible, not even one necessarily Roman Catholic. And you can tell the Roman Catholic, they have the imprimatur and the nihil obstat that are the authoritative stamp that these writings are without error. Because it’s the magisterium of the church, and I go to this, because this overrules all the other.

So, they believe the bible is the inspired word of God, but you cannot interpret it for yourself. The only authoritative interpreter is the Roman Catholic Church. And there’s another step in this, the authority of the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church is not limited to the bible. For example, Pope Pius the 9th, don’t hold me, I believe around 1864, declared the immaculate inception of Mary, that she was born without sin. I think that was the doctrine. He can do that. That is just as binding a doctrine for Roman Catholics as what’s found. They don’t have to prove that from scripture or support it from scripture. This is a direct revelation through the successor of Peter, that is church dogma. The sinlessness of Mary, the assumption of Mary to heaven, these things. So, you understand, sometimes it gets confusing because Roman Catholics do use the bible. I was reading in their writing here in the last few days as well, and they are quoting from the Council of Trent and showing that that doctrine holds. Council of Trent holds that anyone who says salvation is by faith alone, is anathema, cursed to hell. But be careful, Roman Catholics believe salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. They do not believe it is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. So, you have to be baptized for salvation. You have to partake of the mass. You have to partake of the sacraments which are means of grace. You do these things. If you don’t, your salvation is conditioned.

So as a Roman Catholic it’s serious because you can lose your salvation, but you get it by your works. They are primarily geared to teaching the word of God. Now the Roman Catholicism, I’ll have to end here, along the way here, I’ll do again what I’ve done from time to time, and we’ve had classes on it. Where we take the Roman Catholic writings, their own, and I’ll list some of the things, major areas where we would disagree, and I think they disagree with Scripture. You understand, they have an authority over the Scripture. That’s what holds this amazing organization together. Roman Catholicism, when you think about it around the world, and all the organisms and organizations and churches and hospitals and social programs and everything around the world, that they are all under the final authority of one old man like me, one old man in Rome. And it is a masterful structure because all the rest of the authority, the bishops, the cardinals, the priests, have their authority under the authority of the pope. That’s what holds it all together. You think why don’t they go off on their own? Well, they go off on their own, they’ve lost it. Now I realize they’ve had rival popes and so on in history, but that’s what solidifies this and keeps it together. And they allow a diversity because as long as you have recognized the magisterium they will adjust and accept other things as acceptable. So you go to South America, you might get a different kind of Christianity then you get in the United States for example, because they will adjust to where they are because it’s being part of the system that saves you. And we’ll leave it with that.

Alright, one more word of prayer and we’ll go. Thank You Lord, for your word and we want to be honest with Your word. We want to be careful with Your word. Lord, we want to sift the teaching that comes at us from different directions through Your word. It’s not right because we say it. It is right because You say it. We want to understand it correctly and submit ourselves to that. So, bless the week before us. The challenges that are there, Lord, like the physical difficulties that some of our family are facing. Personal trials, financial stresses, personal difficulties, all these things are in Your hands. We belong to You. Lord, we will draw upon Your grace and You will give the grace needed day by day. And Lord, we would uphold one another in prayer and in personal contacts whether by letter, by phone, or when we have opportunity to visit together. We pray You will use us in whatever we do, wherever we are. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.