The Tragedy of Establishing Your Own Righteousness

Romans 10:1-21

Welcome! Today we continue our series into the rich but challenging book of Romans. We are in the middle of a section about Israel that consists of Chapter 9 through 11. Really, to step back a bit, I believe the point of these three chapters is to answer the question: If salvation really is by faith in Christ, and not by works, then why don’t the Jews, of all people, who should have known God more than any other people, because to them the history happened, to them the Scriptures were given – if this salvation by faith thing is really true, why don’t the Jews believe it? It is a good question, and in Chapter 9, Paul lays the groundwork says in effect that this is not a surprise to God; indeed, it is part of God’s sovereign will. The chapter concludes with the thought that, from a human perspective, the rejection of Christ as savior is because they “stumbled over the stumbling stone” – because they pursued righteousness not by faith but as if it could be attained through works. Paul continues in Chapter 10:

Brothers and sisters, 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, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.  – Romans 10:1-3

Stumbling over the Stone

Romans 9:1-33

Good morning!  Today we are going to turn a corner in our series on the book of Romans.  This book is really a letter.  Obviously, Paul is writing to Romans.  In particular, he is writing to the church in Rome.  In the letter, we see that this church is composed of a mix of Jewish and Gentile believers with the Gentiles in the majority.  (Romans1:13) The theme of this letter is Romans 1:16-17.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed--a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” – Romans 1:16-17

Salvation is for everyone who believes first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  And through the first 8 chapters of Romans, Paul has convinced us about everyone’s need of salvation.  And, he has shown us clearly God’s glorious provision of Jesus Christ His Son as our Savior.

Inseparable

Romans 8:31-39

Welcome! We are at about the halfway point in the book of Romans, and before I get into today’s passage, I want to go back to some of the most encouraging verses we have seen so far in Romans. Now I believe most of you already know these verses – maybe not by chapter and verse, but if I start the verses, I believe you will be able to finish them (or at least come close). So I am going to present you with the first half of the verses, and then encourage you to complete them, one phrase at a time.

Having an Eternal Focus

Romans 8:18-30

By way of review, let’s look at a quick synopsis of Romans.  The first 5 chapters are really about the Gospel.  Chapters 1 through 3:20 show the sinfulness of all man and the need for the Gospel.  From 3:21 until the end of chapter 5, Paul explains the Gospel: salvation through Christ alone.  Then in chapters 6 through 8, he’s been talking about the benefits of that gospel.  Chapters 6 through 7 gave the “negative” benefits.  Not that they are bad, but they are given in a negative light.  We are no longer under the law, slaves to sin, under the curse, dead in trespasses and sin, nor victims of sin.    Chapter 8 shows us the positive benefits of salvation.  We are no longer under condemnation.  We are free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).  We live according to the Spirit (8:5).  We are in the Spirit; we belong to Christ.  Then in verses 15-17, Paul says we are adopted children of God.  If we are the children of God, we are the heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus Christ. 

Be Led by the Spirit

Romans 8:1-17

Welcome! Today we continue with our series on Romans. Last week, Fred, despite a broken leg, taught us powerfully on Romans 7. In this passage, Paul jumps from third to first person (from “he” to “I”), saying that there are two laws at work in him. The first law is God’s law, and in his mind, Paul says he is a slave to this law, and in his inner being he delights in this law. But the second law is the law of sin, and Paul says that in his sinful nature, in his flesh, he is a slave to this law. This second law wages war against the first law, and Paul calls himself a prisoner of this law of sin. He calls himself wretched – in the Greek, a powerful compound word that literally means pierced with affliction, and asks who will rescue him? Of course, everything Paul describes is not just the situation for Paul; it is also reality for all of us. We all struggle with doing the very things we do not want to do – we all battle ourselves in our struggles to avoid sin. Who will rescue him? Who will rescue us? The answer is God, who delivers us through Jesus Christ our Lord – and how rescue really works is explained in today’s wonderful passage from Romans 8. Let’s get right into this passage:

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… - Romans 8:1

Wretched!

Romans 7:14-25

We have been going through the Book of Romans for a number of months now, and we still have a ways to go.  Today we are going to continue in Romans 7:14-25 to get a better understanding of the struggle Paul had between his flesh and his spirit.  The apostle Peter said this about Paul:

Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. –2 Peter 3:15-16

Released from the Law, but the Law is Good

Romans 7:1-13

Do you feel that Romans is a very theological book? It is indeed full of foundational concepts that define what we believe as Christians. It uses some words that are very important for us to understand: sin, law, grace, faith, righteousness, judgment, and so on. These words are like pegs on which we hang the tapestry of the Christian experience. We need to consider them in the context of the entire Bible to understand what they really mean. And that’s important for us to do, because we can see examples throughout history of where misunderstandings or misconceptions of these key words have led people into all kinds of errors. I will tell you today about how the church got a little off track on the concept of grace and what happened then. But I also want to reiterate the importance of something that goes beyond correct doctrine. We can have our theology all tidily laid out, but that’s not what really matters. The bigger question is what difference it is making in our lives – in how we are truly loving God and truly loving other people. That’s where the rubber hits the road in our understanding of Romans.

Then Shall We Sin? No!

Romans 6:15-23

Welcome! Today we continue with our series on Romans. I want to start by backing up a bit to the end of Chapter 5:

The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 5:20-21

What does it mean that the law was brought in so that the trespass might increase? Did the law really make more things sin than were sin before? I would argue “no” – what it means is that the law made explicit things that people who really had loved God and had really loved other people should have known already.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Romans 6:1-14

Welcome back to the book of Romans, the most comprehensive and detailed explanation of the gospel in the New Testament, the good news of salvation through Jesus. What have we learned so far? At the beginning of this book Paul spends a few chapters making the case for the universal need for salvation. Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, as it says in chapter 3. No one can approach God on their own. There is no hope of our good deeds somehow outweighing our bad ones, as the Muslims believe. No one will ever be good enough to satisfy a perfectly holy God. Our only hope is to humbly receive the salvation that he offers us, with Jesus having paid the penalty for our sin through his death on the cross. God’s own righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. This free gift that we don’t deserve is called grace.

The Gift is Not Like the Trespass

Romans 5:12-21

At the beginning of our study in Romans, we looked at Romans 1:16-17: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed…”  One of the main things Paul was doing was explaining the gospel to the Romans.  The message of the gospel isn’t just the death of Jesus, His resurrection, and us receiving the gift He gave on the cross.  The gospel message is simple but it’s multi-faceted, like a diamond.  In Romans, Paul is showing us the many facets.