In Romans chapters 9 to 11, Paul is dealing with the fact that most Jews have rejected Jesus as the Christ. It is a problem! Why has Israel overwhelmingly rejected her own Messiah? They were waiting for him, expecting him, but they rejected him. And why have the Gentiles accepted Christ? Why are they being saved? [1]
Well, Romans chapter 9:1-29 gives us the answer from one perspective: it is all a matter of God’s sovereign choice. God chooses some and not others, chapter 9 verse 18:
Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
And Paul has also put us on warning that not everyone who is an Israelite is one as far as God is concerned. He says in chapter 9 verse 6:
Not all Israel are Israel.
In fact, God has being saying this for hundreds of years. God said this through the prophet Isaiah, that “only a remnant [of Israelites] would be saved” (Romans 9:27, citing Isaiah 10:22-23).
But there are also human reasons for Israel’s rejection of the Christ. There are human reasons why the gentiles have accepted the gospel. Chapter 9 dealt with the question from God’s perspective, but chapter 10 looks at the problem from the human perspective.[2] And when Paul speaks at the level of human responsibility, he notes and emphasizes an almost comic paradox.
We pick up the argument in chapter 9 verse 30. There, in verse 30, Paul contrasts the Jews and the gentiles. And he makes an almost comic observation, if it were not so tragic. Verses 30 and 31:
…the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith, but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it…
Israel has sought a ‘law of righteousness’ diligently, but not attained it. And the gentiles, not even looking for righteousness, have stumbled over righteousness, a righteousness that is by faith, and they have been saved. The gentiles are like Forrest Gump when it comes to salvation. You know that movie? Forrest Gump is, by his own admission, not a smart man. And from the beginning to the end, he appears to have nothing going for him. But everything he touches, through a comedy of errors, turns to gold. He didn’t go looking for success and glory, but blundered and stumbled his way into inevitable hero status. And that is the Gentiles. That is us. That is you, if you are not a Jew and trust in Christ.
Friends, we are gentiles, in the main. And God seems to have delighted to act to save us. None of us really were looking for God. But he grabbed us by the collar and said, “Here is righteousness, a righteousness that is by faith in Jesus Christ. Here is a benefit unhoped for[3], unlooked for!”
But this story about righteousness is not just a comedy, but also a tragedy. For that is the only word that can describe the situation of Israel. Verse 31:
but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
Israel, as far as righteousness is concerned, is a disaster which only gets worse the longer one looks at it. Look at chapter 10 verses 1 to 2:
Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God…
Israel pursued righteousness. They are zealous for God. But they did not attain the righteousness that they so diligently pursued. They were sincerely wrong, about themselves and Jesus.
Friends, it is possible to be sincerely wrong. With the best of intentions, people can miss salvation. People zealous for God can studiously avoid God, because they misunderstand themselves and Jesus. It is enough to make one weep. It certainly made Paul cry. He describes his own “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” (Romans 9:2).
Do not think, dear friends, that we will be saved by sincere good wishes, or that our hearts being zealous for God alone is enough to save us. Zeal was not enough for Israel. It will not be enough for us.
The Articles of our Church in only one place[4] put a curse on people. That is in Article 18. The anathema is on people who say that ‘zeal’ and ‘sincerity’ is enough for salvation.
They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, that every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that law, and the light of nature. For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.
Given this tragedy, we must ask, How did Israel miss this righteousness that they sought? How could diligent seekers miss the very thing they set out to look for? It is almost as if they wouldn’t have seen it if they tripped over it.
Well, Paul hints at the reason why they missed the righteousness of God in Christ in chapter 9 verse 31.
He does so when he describes Israel as pursuing “a law of righteousness”. And then he directly sets about answering this question in chapter 9 verse 32:
Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone”.
Again, we read the reason in Chapter 10 verse 3:
Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
The root of Israel’s tragedy is found in themselves. They possessed a tragic flaw. It was an independent streak. They wanted to do righteousness ‘their way’. And they sought to establish their own righteousness.[5] They pursued a law of righteousness. They pursued it as if it were by works. In sum, righteousness for them meant ‘law’, ‘works’, something they themselves did.
But in so doing they failed to recognise their Messiah, Christ. Chapter 10 verse 4 links Christ Jesus with this new righteousness.
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
Christ is our righteousness (1 Cor 1:30). In him, we are the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). But in failing to see Christ as the source of righteousness, the nation Israel stumbled over the stumbling block. For Christ, is the stone laid in Zion that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes the fall (Romans 9:33).[6] Israel stumbled over the Christ. His cross scandalized them. And so they missed him.
But while the Israelites stumbled over Christ, and missed him, the gentiles stumbled over Christ and found him. Through Paul and the other apostles taking the gospel of Jesus to them, they tripped over Christ. They weren’t looking, but they found the righteousness that comes by faith.
That is the key phrase: ‘righteousness by faith’. It keeps repeating through our passage. We see it in chapter 9 verse 30: “they have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith”, or chapter 9 verse 33: “and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Chapter 10:4 describes it as “righteousness for everyone who believes”. Chapter 10:6 calls it “the righteousness that is by faith”.
This is not one’s own righteousness, but the righteousness of God (Romans 1:3; cf. Phil 3:9). Nor is it “the law of righteousness”, that is, the law that held out and promised righteousness (Romans 10:30-31). It is not a righteousness from works, but a righteousness from faith (Romans 10:32). And the gentiles have accepted this Christ by faith, and they have been saved.
For sinful people, the law cannot confer righteousness. We never can meet the law’s demands and so secure the righteousness that the law promises us.[7] Israel could not. And neither can we.
Friends, we will only be saved by faith in Christ. “Christ is the end of the law.” That is, Christ brings about an end to that time when God deals with his people through the law of Moses. Christ is the purpose of the law of Moses. The law of Moses exists to point to him.[8] The law created an expectation. And in Christ that expectation is fulfilled.[9]
And because Christ is the end of the law, “there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4). That is, whoever believes, sinners that we are, might find righteousness in Christ.
Friends, let me call on you now. Whether you have done so before or not, believe in Jesus Christ. Put your faith in him, because “there is righteousness for everyone who believes”. Trust him now, not yourself. Forget about yourself and your own achievements, so you can put your faith in him.
It would be grievous beyond words, an utter waste of time, if after we read this verse, chapter 10 verse 4, and you heard me speaking about this, that you thought that your righteousness was a matter of your obedience to the law, and your good works, and your own righteousness.
Friends, my fear before God is that some of you deep down trust in yourselves, not Christ. It is a grave danger for competent, self-sufficient people, morally upright people, successful people, people who have achieved many things over a long life, but who really don’t trust Christ. These good people trust themselves and their own righteousness. Please don’t let that be you.
Here Paul is making a pretty clear contrast. There are two ways of righteousness. There is law based righteousness, and faith righteousness.
First, Paul speaks of law based righteousness. Verse 5:
Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: “The man who does these things will live by them”
This is a quote from Leviticus 18:5 (cf. Gal 3:12). If you obey the law—in other words, do what it says—you will live. That is the way the law worked. Blessing depends on obedience. Living depends on doing. And the one who does the law, not breaking it at any point—for if you’ve broken one part you’ve broken it all (James 2:11)—this one will live by his obedience.
But the words “Do this and live” are ominous. They contain a promise. But they also contain a threat. For they imply “Don’t do this, and you will die!”
When I say, “eat your vegetables and you will get desert”, there is a promise, isn’t there? But what happens if I find the peas in the pockets and the broccoli mashed into the carpet? The outcome is not just no desert!
The wages of sin is death. And such a promise, “do this and you will live”, reminds us that we all offend in many things (Jas 3:2). And that “there is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins” (Eccles 7:20). And “no one living is righteous before you” (Psalm 143:2). And that “there is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10).
And we recognise that, because of who we are and what we’ve done, “do this and live” hangs as a deflated, limp, impotent promise. Because of our sins and sinfulness, the law is weak, and it cannot give us eternal life.[10]
But there is another way of righteousness. For Paul speaks of two types of righteousness.
The second type of righteousness Paul speaks of is “faith-righteousness”. Paul describes this faith-righteousness in verses 6 to 13. In doing so, he uses some scriptures from Deuteronomy.[11] Romans 10:6 to 8:
But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith we are proclaiming:
This passage is very complex. But I can say this to you, that Paul understands Moses’ words in Deuteronomy to be a prediction, a prophecy, of the Christ.
What Moses’ refers to as “this commandment”, which need not be sent for, because it is close, Paul now identifies as “Christ”, and the word about him, which has drawn near.
Christ is the one who has come down from heaven. So we don’t need to send a space shuttle up for him. Christ has risen from the dead, so we don’t need to exhume him, indeed, we cannot, because he is not there.[12]
In these two events, the incarnation and the resurrection, God has drawn near to us in the person of Jesus Christ. And Christ fulfills the expectation of the law. Christ is the end of the law, so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
And so Paul spells out the response that faith righteousness requires. Verse 9:
That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
That is the response the gospel requires: to confess Christ Lord, to publicly declare allegiance to Jesus as your benign dictator and despot and Lord and Master, and therefore to believe him risen and ruling.
And this response has a consequence: you will be saved.
That is Paul’s gospel. It is simple. It is found in the Old Testament. As the quote from Joel says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord (Jesus) will be saved” (Joel 2:32 in Romans 10:13).
Have you personally, individually, confessed Jesus as Lord? Is he your Lord, so that you confess him? For if you haven’t confessed him, he is probably not your Lord? Have you declared your allegiance to him?
And do you believe that God raised him from the dead, that he is alive, and seated at the right hand of God? Because this is the way of salvation.
Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
This word of faith, about the Lord Jesus risen and reigning, is the only way of salvation.
Now, if this is true, there are some huge consequences. Paul relentlessly pushes himself to the logical conclusion of this belief in verses 14 to 15.
People can only call on one they believe in. So they have to hear about Jesus. But they can only hear about Jesus if someone cares enough to take the message about Jesus to them. And these we call preachers. And they need to be sent, and that by God.
Here is human responsibility. Paul in chapter 9 says that it depends on election and God’s mercy. And this is true. But in chapter 10, there is the responsibility to preach Christ. It is the only way. As Paul says in chapter 10 verse 17:
Consequently faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
If we do not preach Christ, we should not expect to see faith in Christ. Faith comes through hearing. If they don’t hear the gospel, they won’t be saved.
The gospel, you see, is not demand driven, but supply driven. We must not wait for more people to have faith before we preach Christ. We need to go and preach, and send more labourers to preach, and that is how people believe in Christ. It is only in preaching Christ that faith is born. Do you want to see faith in Christ around you? Then go and preach Christ! Consider yourself sent: yes, you! The person sitting in your seat! We have the great commission (Matthew 28:20). God has sent us in general, and you in particular, if Jesus is Lord. It is not just missionaries that have beautiful feet! Our feet are beautiful, too, or at least, they should be! They should be feet that carry a body that carries a mouth that confesses Jesus as Lord, and in which there is a heart that believes that Jesus rose from the dead. So this word about ‘beautiful feet’ is a word to every Christian, every person who confesses Jesus as Lord and believes God raised him from the dead. For this confession is not a secret auricular confession, whispered in the ear, never to be repeated. No, this confession of Lord Jesus is a truth bellowed from the rooftops.
So friend, speak about Jesus! For those around you will only have faith in Christ if someone confesses Christ to them.
It is necessary to speak of Christ. However, it is not sufficient. Preaching is a must, but it is not enough. Without preaching, there will be no faith. But with preaching, there might be faith.
For Israel had indeed heard about Christ. And though they heard, they have not believed (Romans 10:16, 18-21).
So unless we preach, people will not be saved, at least, not through us. (Someone else might preach to them). But even after we’ve preached Christ clothed in his gospel, those we preach to may not be saved. And so by chapter 11 verse 1, Paul ends up where he started.
“Did God reject his people [Israel]?” (cf. Romans 9:6). We end up with God’s sovereign choice, and election, again, which is what we will speak about next week.
But for now, lets pray.
[1] Moo, Romans, 619
[2] "But in 9:30-10:21, he argues that it is also the result of human response": Moo, Romans, 617.
[3] "O benefit unhoped for, that the wickedness of multitudes should thus be hidden in the One holy, and the holiness of One should sanctify the countless wicked": The Epistle to Diognetus 9, in M Staniforth (tr) and A Louth (rev), Early Christian Writings (Penguin: London, 1987), 148.
[4] W H Griffith Thomas, The Principles of Theology (London: Church Society, 1968 6th ed rev), 259.
[5] Compare Philippians 3:9.
[6] "By means of a composite quotation from Isa 8:14 and 28:16, Paul shows that Israel’s failure is ultimately christological: by failing to believe in him, he has become for Israel the cause of her downfall": Moo, Romans, 620.
[7] Moo, Romans, 627.
[8] Moo, Romans, 641, cf. Moo’s comments at Romans, 642, that this doesn’t mean that we are not bound to God’s law.
[9] O. O’Donovan, The Desire of the Nations: Rediscovering the Roots of Political Theology (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1996) 108-09, quoted by Mark Baddley, Unpublished BD Thesis.
[10] Paul is using this verse, not only to place emphasis on its note of "doing" but also on its promise of “life”. I take the "life" spoken of to extend to the afterlife, the eternal life, and not just temporal life under the covenant.
[11] In verse 6, Paul says: But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart". This is a quote from Deuteronomy 8:17 and also 9:4. In Deuteronomy chapter 8, Moses warns the Israelites that when they go into the promised land, they will forget that the LORD gave them the land (see Deut 8:11-16). And then in Deuteronomy 8:17 warns them what they will say in their heart: And you say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand did for me this wealth’. (Deut 8:17 my translation; compare NASB, RV) We did it. It is a warning that the Israelites not become proud and think they have achieved the land and prosperity themselves. And forget the LORD. For God gave them the land, and power to do wealth, because of his covenant with Abraham (Deut 8:18).
Likewise, Deuteronomy 9:4-6 speaks of the thoughts of the hearts of Israel after they enter the land. That they will think it is because of their righteousness that they have entered the land. Deuteronomy 9:4-6 says: “And you will not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them from before you, saying: ‘Because of my righteousness YHWH brought me to possess this land’, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations [that] YHWH is dispossessing them from before you. It is not because of your righteousness and because of the uprightness of your heart [that] you come to possess their land, because it is because of the wickedness of these nations that YHWH your God is dispossessing them from before you, in order to confirm the word which YHWH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. And know that it is not because of your righteousness [that] YHWH your God is giving to you this good land to possess, for a stiff necked people you [are].” Moses is emphasising the point, isn’t he? It is not because of the people’s righteousness. And then he reminds them of the golden calf incident, 40 years before (Deut 9). So Paul quotes the beginning of passages where Israel are told not to say in their hearts that they are righteous in themselves, and it is because of their righteousness that God has blessed them.
Perhaps the most interesting and surprising is Paul’s use of Deuteronomy 30:11-14, which was our Old Testament lesson this morning. We read chapter 30 verses 1-20. By Deuteronomy chapter 29, Moses makes it very clear that Israel are no different. They are still the stiff-necked people he led out of Egypt. Their hearts have not been changed. Despite that God has shown them amazing signs and wonders, they still do not have eyes to see (Deut 29:3). So Chapter 29 verse 4 says: ‘And YHWH has not given to you a heart to understand and eyes to see and ears to hear, up until this day’ (Deut 29:3 Hebrew). However, chapter 30 verses 1 to 10 speak of a future time. A time after all the curses have come upon Israel (30:1). And Israel has been banished and dispersed amongst the nations (30:1-3). And in their misery, Israel will have a change of heart (30:2). And then God will bring them back to the land (30:4). He will circumcise their hearts (30:6), and then they will obey him and observe his commandments (30:8) As the Israelites hear Moses, they are told of a future time. And at that future time, God will give his people the righteousness that he requires from them.
[12] Paul changes ‘sea’ in Deut 30:11-14 for ‘abyss’ in Romans 10:6-8.