Missing the Good News about Real Righteousness

Just grab our bibles, grab your bibles and turn two. Romans chapter thank

You. Chapter nine is where we'll be. Chapter nine, we're gonna be

in verses thirty through chapter ten, verse twenty one. So the rest of

nine through all of ten. Maybe that's the plan. It's a lot,

and I'll go ahead and share with you. In the first service, we

didn't make it, so just you just never can tell. Romans Chapter nine,

verses thirty through ten twenty one. And if you don't have a Bible,

sorry, if you don't have a Bible, just raise your hand and

keep it up. We're passing those out right now. And if you don't

have a bulletin, that's gonna be helpful too, because there's sermon notes on

the back for tracking along. So just raise your hand, keep it up.

We'll get you a bible, we'll get you a bulletin. I'll ask

our sister to come and read our sermon text for us, and then we'll

dive right in Romans nine thirty through ten twenty one. Romans nine thirty through

ten twenty one. 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. Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer

to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them

witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge,

For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own,

they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the

law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness that

is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live

by them. But the righteousness based on 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 abyss, that is to bring Christ

up from the dead. But what does it say. The Word is near

you in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith

that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,

and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you

will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justice, and

with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says, everyone

who believes in him will not be put to shame, For there is no

distinction between jew and Greek. For the same Lord is lord of all,

bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on

the name of the Lord will be saved. How then, will they call

on him and whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe

in him of him whom they have never heard? And how are they to

hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

As it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach

the good news? But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah

says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us. So

faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. But I ask,

have they not heard? Indeed they have, for their voice has gone

out to all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

But I ask, did Israel not understand? For Moses says, I

will make you jealous of those who are not a nation with a foolish nation.

I will make you angry. Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

I have been found by those who did not seek me. I have

shown myself to those who did not ask for me. But of Israel,

he says, all day long, I have held out my hands to a

disobedient and contrary people. This is God's word. Amen. Today we're talking

about one of the most fundamental differences between those who have a real relationship with

God and those who don't. And the difference might surprise you. It's not

about having a religious upbringing, exposure to the things of God at a young

age. That's a blessing, it's a mixed blessing. It's not about being

the kind of person who tends to obey all the rules. We actually have

plenty of examples of people like that of knowledge and of rigorous behavior in scripture

that did not have real righteousness, did not have a living relationship of trust

in and rescue from God. The apostle Paul describes himself before he came to

Christ as a Hebrew of Hebrews, diligent in study and knowledge, and flawless

in behavior under the law. And he says that's all trash compared to actually

knowing God through faith, which came through Jesus. Maybe you think of Paul

as an extreme example, but his example, he says, points to a

wider issue. And here's the issue. For generations, people have been forfeiting

real righteousness, an actual relationship with God because they have approached it as if

it's based on works, when it's actually based on faith. And from early

on in Scripture we see this root error of work's righteousness bearing bitter fruit,

hypocritical worship, ignoring the poor and needy, a readiness eventually to wander off

from the things of God altogether, because at the heart, so many considered

their relationship with God as based on their works instead of a real relationship of

faith. The fact is, rather than humbling itself in faith, the fallen

human heart prefers a relationship based on works. It leaves an opening for pride,

for control, for protecting the loves of your heart to stay yours and

for the those who know about the God of the Bible. Pursuing real righteousness

as if it's based on works is not a simple mistake, its willful ignorance.

It's a moral error of the heart that says, I want God in

my life, but I want me in my heart. But the righteousness of

faith is what God calls real righteousness, a relationship of trust in Him and

rescue from Him which is profoundly open to us and everyone through the work of

Christ. And that kind of relationship with God bears fruits of genuine worship,

love for others, a steadfastness through trials. Because it's rude as faith not

works. Apostle Paul tackles this issue in several of his letters to non Jewish

churches. Here, in Romans nine and ten, he lays it out for

a church that's made up of both Jews and non Jews, and we'll walk

through it real righteousness with God. How to miss it by relying on works,

how to receive it by relying on faith, and the need to proclaim

this to everyone, and what to expect when we do so. Let's check

it out. Romans nine thirty through ten twenty one. Let's start with this

how to miss real righteousness by relying on works missing it. Paul talks about

about missing real righteousness by relying on works, and he talks about it two

kind of ways. And the first is this language about a stumbling stone.

And we're gonna spend a lot of time on this stumbling stone thing because it's

really important. This is actually a concept that is threaded throughout scripture from the

Old Testament all the way through the New Testament. It's important to understand.

So, starting in verse thirty, says, what do we what shall we

say? Then? The gentiles who did not pursue righteousness right, they were

those who did not have instruction from God to point them towards what righteousness looked

like. They've attained it, that is a righteousness that is by faith.

But Israel, who pursued a law right, they received instructions from God about

how to live. They pursued that law that would lead to righteousness. But

they didn't succeed in reaching it. Why because they did not pursue it by

faith, but as if it were based on works. And then he says

this, He gives this explanation, They've stumbled over the stumbling stone. As

it is written, Behold, I'm laying in Zion a stone of stumbling,

a rock of offense, and whoever believes in him will not be put to

shame. Okay, what's going on? Paul is talking about missing real righteousness,

something Israel did in large part throughout its history, right, because the

majority of the people of Israel had hearts that did not love and did not

trust in God, who he is, what he's said, what he's done.

Although God always preserved a faithful remnant, or you could call them the

faith filled remnant. And now, as Paul shares the Gospel with Jewish people

all over the world, Israel is continuing to do the same thing, in

large part, doing again rejecting who God is and what He's done by not

having hearts that trust and love him. And he says, they've stumbled over

the stumbling stone. They've continued to pursue a righteousness by works rather than faith.

So what's the stumbling stone? How do he stumble over it? One

way to put it is this, the stumbling stone is God himself. You

could put it that way. That would be right. Maybe to be more

precise, the stumbling stone is that God calls anyone who would truly be his

people to actually love and actually trust him from the heart who he is,

what he's done, what he said, not just go through the motions of

doing the right things. In other words, there's no real righteousness apart from

a heart of love and trust in the righteous One. And there never has

been. This has been what God has been saying all along. Right,

this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

And it's Isaiah who starts using this term the stumbling stone for this sinful

tendency of the human heart which he calls out in Israel before the exile,

this tendency to use the things of God, to use what God calls righteous,

the rules of living, the forms of worship, in order to look

righteous to yourself and to others, and maybe even to God if you could

fool him to some way gain the benefits of righteousness, of righteous rules without

a heart that actually loves and trusts God. And Isaiah says, that's not

real righteousness. Real righteousness is when God is truly your rock and you really

live in His ways because your heart is really his as it is. Instead

of your relationship with him being your rock, your lack of relationship with him

is your stumbling stone. And then later in Isaiah, God picks it up

and says, yes, here is the cornerstone, the foundation of real righteousness,

actually loving and trusting in me. Whoever believes in me like that will

never be put to shame. And that's exactly what Israel refuses to do.

So your heart's actual love and trust in God or lack of it, will

either be your cornerstone or it will be your stumbling stone, as it was

for most of Israel. And so Israel was taken into exile, and beautifully,

when a faith filled remnant after years returned to the land, they wrote

a song as they restored the temple. They wrote a song that we call

Psalm one eighteen, and it says you have been our salvation. The stone

the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. In other words, the remnant is

singing, God, you are our hearts, love and trust, and that

relationship of real love and trust that our previous leaders rejected has become the cornerstone

of our lives. It's become the cornerstone of our worship. And of our

nation as it always should have been. They rejected that relationship, but it

will be the cornerstone for us didn't last. Within a few generations. Most

were back to cold hearts, eager to have God in their lives, to

stuff their pockets with God's benefits, to have a God endorsed set of rules

for living and looking down their noses at others, but not eager for God

to really have their hearts, so much so that God shows up in person

and they just argue with him, and then they crucify him. He could

have been their cornerstone, but to the self righteous heart, he's the stumbling

stone. And this is not just about Israel. It's about the human heart.

There is something in the human heart that is eager to avoid God,

eager in some sense to have God, but not to be had by God,

to take on his banner, maybe even take on his rules, but

to keep our heart for ourselves. I've known people who have gone years diligently

checklisting their way through daily quiet times without having a single heartfelt conversation with God

in love and repentance and trust, diligent in missing it. I've known people

who have been meticulous in their observance of moral instruction, because at heart it

might exempt them from actually devoting themselves in love and trust or humbling themselves independent

repentance meticulous in missing it. And so the first way Paul talks about missing

real righteousness is stumbling over the stumbling stone, trying to build a godly life

that isn't fundamentally founded, untrusting God. And the second way he talks about

it is related to that. It has to do with Christ as the fulfillment

of the law. Look at verses one through four. Brothers, my heart's

desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved, for

I bear them witness. They have a zeal for God. They have a

sort of enthusiasm for the things of God, but not according to knowledge,

for being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and the scriptures would suggest that's

a willful ignorance and seeking to establish their own. They did not submit to

God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for everyone

who believes. He's saying, I want them to be rescued, but they

are trying to establish their own righteousness, and in so doing they refuse to

submit to God's righteousness. And God's righteousness has been established. Christ is the

end of the law for righteousness. He has fulfilled it for everyone who believes

He's fulfilled it. So submitting to God's righteousness becomes a play on words.

See Christ has done it, he has fulfilled it. Now the question is

will you submit to him by trusting him, or will you work to avoid

Jesus. You notice how you can avoid Jesus. You notice how you can

refuse to submit to him, not just by running off and living a debauched

life, that's a way, but also by seeking to establish a righteousness of

your own apart from a living relationship with him. It reminds me of a

line from Flannery O'Connor's first novel. The narrator describes this character, and the

narrator says, there was in him already a deep, black, wordless conviction

that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin. It's an insightful sentence

and be an insightful question to ask yourself, and even real Christians can slip

into this mode. Is my interaction with the things of God, doing the

things, singing the songs, having the habits avoiding the sins. Is it

a way for me to establish my own righteousness so I can avoid repentance and

trust so I can avoid Christ. I gotta keep my nose clean, or

I might actually have to talk to him. See, it's possible to miss

the cornerstone, to miss a relationship of real faith and trust in God,

and mumble over it in pursuit of a righteousness of your own. But the

good news is that receiving real righteousness, having the cornerstone as the foundation of

your life, is open and available to you in a very simple way.

Let's look at it, receiving real righteousness. Paul says three basic things about

receiving real righteousness. Here's the first. Full righteousness was accomplished by Christ.

Full righteousness was accomplished by Christ. Look at verses three through seven. For

Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person

who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on 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 abyss,

that is to bring Christ up from the dead. Okay, So more,

what's going on. So, Paul is explaining how Christ has fulfilled all

righteousness by referring to two Old Testament passages. First, he's referring to a

passage in Leviticus where Moses has said, look, if you don't do all

of these things, and you do all of these things, you're gonna die.

And if you do all of these things, you're gonna live. And

so Jewish theologians of Paul's day misreading Moses. We're saying, oh, well,

the rules is the path to life, to real life. If we

do this, we will have real life. Paul saying, no, that's

a misreading of Moses, because Moses says later in Deuteronomy, what you really

need is a new heart. That's where you have real life. And then

you will really obey him and you will really live because real righteousness is available.

That's what Moses is saying, and that's what Paul is saying, real

righteousness is available. And then he goes on from the Deuteronomy passage, don't

say in your heart, who will ascend into heaven. So so what Moses

said to the people was don't say real righteousness is too hard. Don't say

real righteousness is too hard, so somebody's got to go up in heaven and

get it for us. Don't say real righteousness is so hard that somebody's got

to go down in the depths and get it for us. You can trust

me, And Paul saying God already told Israel to not say real righteousness is

too hard. Someone has to go up to heaven. And but even if

it were, that's exactly what Christ did. He brought it down for you.

And Moses has already said, don't say real righteousness is so hard,

somebody's got to go down to the depths and bring it up for you.

But even if it were, Christ has already done that by rising from the

dead. Now the question is the same question has always been, will you

trust him? The fullness of righteousness has been accomplished by Christ. Now the

question to put to your heart is the same question has always been, And

God's love has never been plainer. Will you trust him from the heart because

righteousness has been fully accomplished by Christ? He says this also, righteousness is

yours by faith in Christ. Righteousness is yours by faith in Christ. Look

at eight through ten. But what does it say? The word is near

you in your mouth? And in your heart. That is the word of

faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is

Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved. For with a heart one believes and is justified.

With the mouth, one confesses and is saved. Okay, this isn't about

a magic prayer, right like the sinner's prayer, there's nothing magic about a

collection of words. Although there's nothing wrong with the sinner's prayer, there have

been millions of hearts that genuinely called out in faith and genuinely confessed their sin

and genuine genuinely trusted God with something like this sinner's prayer. For me,

the sinner's prayer was three words, you got me, but it was a

heart that knew I needed grace and that it was available to me. And

Jesus he was right there. And that's what Paul is saying. He's right

there, He's accomplished all of righteousness. He's right there. You can call

out to him right now, and there are no distinctions that are keeping you

from that. This is verses eleven through three thirteen. For the scripture says

everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame. For there's no

distinction between jew and Greek. For the same Lord as Lord of all,

bestowing his riches on all who call on him, for everyone who calls on

the name of the Lord who will be saved. He's saying, because of

Christ. There's no kind of person who can't have a relationship of real righteousness

with God through faith, who can't have a life built on the corner stone

of faith in God. No kind of person, I'm sure there that in

this room this morning. There's a kind of person who've been to church most

of your life. You've been to church most of your life, You've sung

the songs, you've done things. But if you were fully honest, you'd

say that you've always kept God at arm's length, that you've done the things

on the outside, but on the inside you have reserved your heart for yourself.

And what the scriptures would say to you is he's right there. You

can call out to him. He's right there. He is near to you.

There's probably a kind of person in this room who's just been trying to

figure it all out. Maybe you've been trying to figure it out for a

long time. Maybe you've only just started trying to figure it all out.

You don't have to in order to throw yourself on God's mercy. In Christ.

The Gospel is both simple and complex. It is plain to see and

deep to explore, and you will be able to explore the depths of all

of God's work and character. But here's the thing. At every level of

complexity, the response God calls for is the same, a heart that calls

on him in real trust and love. You don't have to have it all

figured out. You won't have it all figured out. You just need to

take what you have figured out to him and tim with it. He's right

there, he is near to you. And then there's probably another kind of

person in this room who has been backsliding. And by backsliding, I mean

you would say at one time my relationship with God was truly based on faith

and love and trust. But somehow over time I have drifted from that,

and now I'm holding him in at arm's length. I haven't stopped doing the

things, I haven't stopped saying the things. I haven't stopped believing that the

things are true. But my life is not really resting on the cornerstone of

a relationship with Him of faith. I'm just holding it together with an edifice

of works. He's right there. You can call out to him right now.

More than Israel, this tells us about the bent of our own hearts,

that those who know a lot about God and do a lot for God

can still be deeply stubborn, foundationally stubborn toward God. It's possible to build

a whole edifice of righteousness while setting aside and stumbling over the rock the foundation

of trust and love for God, that's actually the cornerstone when he has fulfilled

all righteousness and he's right there to call out to I'm going to stop right

there today, and I ask the ushers to come forward with elements for communion.