Romans 9:30-33

                                                             Romans 9:30-33

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Salvation is only obtained through righteousness.  Righteousness is only obtained through faith in Christ.  Paul is striving to demonstrate the effectiveness of faith and the futility of striving to keep the law in order to be saved.  The key to salvation is a righteousness that is given to us by Christ through faith in His work and not our own.

 

GENTILES OBTAINED RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH: The doctrine of justification by faith is demonstrated in the way that Gentiles have responded and been saved.  They did not have the revelation of the law, the promises of the patriarchs, or the preaching of the prophets but they still responded to the Gospel in faith.  The Gentiles understood clearly that they had no righteousness of their own and desperately needed the sacrifice of Christ to pay for their sin and the righteousness of Christ in place of their sin.  It was not something that they could deserve but a gift from God that they could simply receive by faith.  

 

ISRAEL FAILED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS BY WORKS: Israel had all the advantages that the Gentiles didn’t have.  They had the law, promises and the prophets.  All of these were to no avail in gaining salvation or producing righteousness because they were not given for that purpose.  The law was given to demonstrate man’s lack of righteousness.  The promises were given to give hope of righteousness in the coming of Messiah.  The prophets warned of the need for and lack of righteousness.  These were gifts of God to point to and facilitate salvation through Christ.  Unfortunately, they produced pride and a hard heartedness.  There are no works of man that are capable of producing righteousness leading to salvation.

 

JESUS IS EITHER THE OBJECT OF FAITH OR OFFENSE: Since salvation is only by faith and Jesus is the only object of faith that leads to salvation, He is our only hope.  Those who fail to recognize Him as the Son of God, the Messiah sent by God to save mankind from sin become offended by Christ.  Only those who see Jesus as the Son of God who became perfect man in order to pay for our sin will believe in Him for salvation. We believe in Him because we recognize our need of Him.  We recognize our own lack of righteousness, see His perfect righteousness and by faith we believe that He, in grace and love, has provided His righteousness to us.  Those who believe they are already good enough or believe that there is some other source of salvation have rejected Christ and are offended by the notion that faith in Jesus is required.    

 

APPLICATION:  Go to Jesus as the only source of righteousness and believe exclusively upon Him to save you from your sin.  Don’t allow pride to convince you that you already have a righteousness of your own.  Don’t be deceived into believing that there is some other source of righteousness in religious beliefs or practices.  Rejoice in the salvation that Jesus has provided through the transferring of His righteousness to you by faith.  Live out His righteousness out of gratitude for His matchless grace.

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