The Righteousness of God I

 

“The Righteousness of God I”

Romans 10:1-21

SUBJECT: ISRAEL’S PAST

THEME: The Principle for Receiving God’s Righteousness is Faith and not Works; This is why Israel is Presently Set Aside as a Nation—Unbelief.

RELEVANCE: God’s righteousness is received by faith in Jesus Christ. If God is fair in his dealings with Israel, then the rest of humanity can unreservedly entrust their eternal future with him. However, if God was unfair in his dealings with Israel, then how can we as Gentile Christians even begin to rest in him for our own eternal destiny? The truth is we can rest in God’s salvation because it is received by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the ONLY way anyone can receive the righteousness of God! The Nation of Israel missed God’s salvation and blessings because of their lack of faith and not the unfairness or inconsistency of God.

INTRODUCTION:

We discover the ‘righteousness of God’ and Israel’s current rejection in Romans 10. Remember, Romans 9 and 10 should always be read together. Chapter 9 shows why some Jews are saved; and chapter 10 explains why most are lost. Those who are saved believed on Jesus Christ and those who are lost stumbled in unbelief at Jesus Christ (Rom. 9:30-33). Also, Paul moves from discussing God’s sovereign choices to people’s responsibility individually and nationally in chapter 10.

Rom 1:16-17, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17, For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. 

Paul is confident the gospel as the dynamic, saving power of God is available to everyone who believes. Salvation is obtained through faith—not works—revealing God’s righteousness, which is consistent from beginning to end. Yes, the ‘righteousness of God’ is the theme of the book of Romans, and it is discussed in these following verses. 

MESSAGE:

I.  THE DESIRE FOR GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS (Rom. 9:1-3; 10:1-2)

At the beginning of chapters 9 and 10 Paul reveals his great soul agony over Israel's lost condition.

Rom. 10:1-2, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

        A.  THE DESIRE FOR ISRAEL’S NATIONAL SALVATION

Paul was not bitter against his fellow countrymen; he was burdened to see them saved and earnestly prayed for their salvation.

        B.  THE DELUSIONS OF ISRAEL NULLIFY SALVATION

They thought that through their careful observance of the rules, rituals, sacrifices, and ceremonies of Judaism they would be saved. Their intolerance for every contrary doctrine demonstrated their zeal. But they failed to acknowledge the truth about “knowledge,” and we all know that zeal without knowledge is dangerous! Because of their unbelief, they could not receive God’s righteousness.

APPLICATION: Who are you praying for specially to be saved? Do you have anybody that you are earnestly pleading with God to save? A prayer burden for souls is essential to a believer’s or a church’s success in proclaiming the gospel and reaching sinners for Christ. We want to be soul winners who pray specifically for souls to be saved. We need to be serious about introducing people to Christ and that includes praying for lost individuals to come to the Savior!

II.  THE SOURCE OF GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS (Rom. 10:4-5)

Rom. 10:4-5, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

         A.  THE PRINCIPLE OF FAITH UNDER GRACE

Rom 10:4, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

The Lord Jesus is the fulfillment, goal, and culmination of the Old Testament law for every believer. He perfectly met and satisfied the law’s requirements, so righteousness is now acquired by faith in Him rather than by keeping legalistic works.

ILLUSTRATION: We might reword this verse to say that Christ is the end of the Old Testament Law to the believer after the Cross, as George Washington was the end of the British law to the American after the Revolutionary War. (See 2 Cor. 3:6-11; Heb. 7:11-19; Gal. 3:24-26; Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14.)

This principle points us to Jesus Christ as the Source of God’s righteousness! Secondly, when a sinner receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, the law has nothing else to say to him. The believer is viewed by God as being ‘in Christ’! Through the death of our Substitute, we have died to the law’s mandates. We are effectively through with the law and with any futile attempts to achieve righteousness through it.

         B.  THE PRINCIPLE OF WORKS UNDER THE LAW

Rom 10:5, For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

Attaining righteousness through the law (legalism) requires perfect, uninterrupted obedience, which is impossible for fallen people, ultimately indicating our need for salvation by faith in Christ.

              1. The Purpose Behind the Law Was to Show Sinners that They Are Sinners!

The law reveals sin, to convict and condemn the transgressors. It can never impart righteousness.  The penalty for breaking the law is death. In His death Christ paid the penalty of the law which man had broken.

              2.  The Purpose of the Law was to Point Us to Christ Who Fulfilled It.

This principle, like that of Faith, also teach us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because of the impossibility of living up to the requirement of the law.

Gal 3:23-26, But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24, Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25, But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26, For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

              3.  The Ideal Behind the Law Is That Through “Doing” We’ll Have Life, Vs 5.

In other words, if a man can keep the law perfectly and perpetually, he would not be condemned to death. But even if a person could do this from today forward, they still would have to die for the sins that our past. Therefore, any hope of a man obtaining righteousness by doing, adherence, obedience, or legalistically are doomed to failure from the very outset.

Rom 3:21-28, But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22, Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24, Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26, To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27, Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28, Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Salvation is a free gift from God obtained through faith in Jesus Christ, entirely apart from following the law. It establishes that all people have sinned, but are justified freely by grace through the redemption and atonement found in Christ’s blood. This is the heart of the Gospel, how an unrighteous person can be considered righteous before a just God. It clarifies that while the Old Testament law showed our serious inability and sinfulness, it could never save.

God’s Provision for Man’s Sin Problem is afforded by the Lord Jesus alone. In John 3:15, Christ says, “Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Back in Numbers 21:6-9, the perishing Israelites looked upon the lifted-up snake and lived. Similarly, the new birth happens the instance we look up to Jesus, believing He will save us. This is God’s provided way for us to be healed of sin’s deadly bite. Look to Jesus and live is the admonition! The Israelites were spared their lives; the believer in Jesus, who shed His blood suffering to pay for our sins, is spared eternal destruction in Hell and given eternal life. Each person must apply the value of Christ’s death and bloodshed to their own sin and life to be born again. Look to Jesus Christ and live!