Salvation is found when striving ends

30 What should we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness from faith. 31 But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved of the law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written, Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame.

1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation. 2 For I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempting to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, 5 since Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them. 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9 That If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses for all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

14 How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without preaching? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. 16 But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message of Christ. 18 But I ask, “Did they not hear?” Yes, they did: Their voice has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world. 19 But I ask, “Did Israel not understand?” First, Moses said, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that lacks understanding. 20 And Isaiah says boldly, I was found by those who were not looking for me; I revealed myself to those who were not asking for me. 21 But to Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.

Romans 9:30-10:21

Last week the air hung thick. Heavy. We stood before the Potter’s wheel. His hands sovereign. His choice unconditional. Vessels moulded for mercy. Vessels hardened for wrath.

And the question formed. In your mind. Perhaps on your lips. If God is so sovereign in salvation… are we just robots? Am I a mindless machine? Programmed for heaven or hell. Is my will an illusion? Is my choice a fantasy? Is this all… fatalism? It’s a honest question. A weighty question. It can keep you up at night.

This morning we will learn that the Potter’s sovereignty doesn’t program robots; it empowers people. You are not a machine. You are a person, made in God’s image, facing the most important choice you will ever make.

Thus the argument. The main point. For you today. Do not try to win God’s approval with your performance. Receive His righteousness by faith in Christ. And we will see this unfold in four acts from our text: a great reversal, a fatal error, a simple message, and an unavoidable question that comes to us all.

Let us see this truth. In God’s Word.

The great reversal

Faith receives what striving cannot earn.

30 What should we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness from faith. 31 But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved of the law.

Last week Australia came from 22 points behind at halftime to beat the Springboks. That was unexpected. This is even more shocking. Gentiles have obtained righteousness from faith. And Israel has failed to achieve righteousness by law keeping. Faith receives what striving can never earn. Righteousness.

The word righteous, or righteousness, appears 11 times in our passage. Righteousness means to be in right standing with God. Israel pursued self-righteousness. They tried to be in right standing with God by maintaining obedience to the Mosaic law. But they failed to get righteousness.

32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written, Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame.

Put yourself in the shoes of Bin-yamin and Ari. Two young Jewish men, with sensitive consciences. Bin-yamin and Ari realise their self-righteousness is no righteousness at all. And they wonder, how can they be holy if their good works can’t save them? A friend of theirs, Philippos, shares the good news of the gospel with them. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for your sins and rose again. Bin-yamin and Ari, by His shed blood, you may be saved.

Instead of believing Bin-yamin gets angry. Really angry! How can you say that Jesus (Yeshua) is Lord, God, Yahweh! He shouts at Philippos. Romans 9:33 cites Isaiah 8:14 here. Bin-yamin, and Israel, fail to stand on Christ the rock. Instead, they trip over Jesus, the stumbling stone. But Ari has a different response to the good news of the gospel. A tear runs down his cheek as he places his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. Romans 9:33 cites Isaiah 28:16 here. Whosoever believes on Jesus Christ will not be put to shame.

Israel strove to achieve righteousness by works. They failed. Gentiles received righteousness by faith. They succeeded. There is a great reversal as faith receives what striving cannot earn.

Israel’s failure was not a cold, theological abstraction for the Apostle Paul. It was a personal agony. A heartbreak. And so his pen moves from describing their failure, to disclosing his anguish.

The fatal error

Confusing human zeal with God’s truth.

1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation.

Paul’s heart bleeds for the lost. And so he laments before God. Praying for Israel’s salvation. Paul didn’t just teach truth. He wept it. I worry that sometimes too much theology, too much headology, dulls heartology. We know so much, but feel so little. Our heart fails to beat to the rhythm of God our Father. Where are the Paul’s who’ll weep for their lost family members? Weep for their lost friends? Weep for our lost city?

2 For I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempting to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.

Israel didn’t have a fervour problem. They were passionate enough. Just not about the right thing. They were ignorant of the only way God has provided for men to be righteous in His sight. And so they went A for away in the wrong direction. Attempting to be self-righteousness. But in doing so they failed to submit themselves to God. Jesus said, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. They ended up disobeying the commands of God. Zeal without truth is deadly. And self-righteousness is no righteousness at all.

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes,

Jesus said He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. But He did fulfil them. Jesus is perfection that the law demanded. Righteous perfection. Jesus is the ultimate goal of law. And He is the end of the law, in that, by keeping it, He has satisfied the righteous requirements of His Father.

When a Jew, or any one for that matter, tries to keep the Mosaic law, they fail. Every time. Over and over. They fail to prove themselves self-righteous. But they do show themselves utterly unrighteous.

But the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the messiah, is on offer to whosoever believes in Him.

Zealous Israel ignorantly attempts to establish salvation, yet all who believe receive. Zealousness must align with truthfulness.

If the law reveals our unrighteousness but cannot create righteousness within us, then where can righteousness be found? The answer is not another list. Not a higher mountain to climb. The answer is a person. And the message of salvation is stunningly simple.

The simple message

Salvation is confessed, not achieved.

5 since Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them.

The law of Moses is the first five books of the Bible. In Hebrew, the Torah. In Greek, the Pentateuch. The law is perfect, and so the righteous standard it demands is perfect. If kept perfectly, blessings. If broken in any part, curses. Now, Romans 10:5 cites Leviticus 18:5. The law doesn’t just demand knowledge of the law. It demands keeping of the law. Perfect keeping. Perpetual keeping. For fallen humanity, an impossible keeping. And so the law brings death. To all. For all have sinned and fallen short of its standard.

6 But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9 That If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

If the law can’t save you, what can? The answer is not hidden in heaven, nor buried in hell. It’s right in front of you. You couldn’t keep God’s law, but Jesus did. And He died for your sins, the righteous for the unrighteous. And God raised him from the dead, for your salvation’s sake. The demand from you is faith. Believe in your heart. And confess with your mouth.

11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses for all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

The righteousness that comes from faith is available to whosoever calls on the name of the Lord. Whosoever. No distinction. Whosoever. No exceptions. Whosoever. No shame. Grace will not just free you from guilt. Grace will free you from striving.

Righteousness from the law comes by works, yet righteousness from faith comes by Jesus. Salvation is confessed, not achieved.
If faith comes by hearing, then what of those who have heard? What of those who have had the message proclaimed clearly to them? This simple message leads us to an unavoidable question.

The unavoidable question

You have heard, but have you believed?

14 How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without preaching? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

Remember the golden chain of sovereignty from Romans 8:28-39? Those he foreknew he also predestined; And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified. In Romans 10:14-15, we see a silver chain of responsibility. The church, is responsible to send, to preach, that there may be hearers, believers, callers. Here’s what’s at stake. No sending, no preaching. No preaching, no hearing. No hearing, no believing. No believing, no calling. This is our beautiful responsibility. This is why more than 12% of our budget goes to missions and external organisations. We reach Benoni with the gospel, and beyond, for His glory.

16 But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message of Christ. 18 But I ask, “Did they not hear?” Yes, they did: Their voice has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world. 19 But I ask, “Did Israel not understand?” First, Moses said, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that lacks understanding. 20 And Isaiah says boldly, I was found by those who were not looking for me; I revealed myself to those who were not asking for me. 21 But to Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.

Not all who hear the gospel obey the gospel. What does it mean to obey the gospel? Respond to the message in belief. When that doesn’t happen does God stop being sovereign? No. Even disbelief is prophesied in His Word. Israel’s rejection of the messiah is part of His plan. Paul quotes Psalm 19:4. The whole world is culpable for their rejection, having had general revelation witness to them. How much more is Israel culpable having had special revelation reveal that Jesus is the messiah? Paul cites Deuteronomy 32:21 to show that Gentile belief was in God’s plan of salvation too. And Paul cites Isaiah 65:2 to show that God’s continues to hold out an invitation to disobedient and defiant people to come to Him.

The message of Christ has gone out to all, yet Israel has not obeyed. They have heard, but have they believed?

Have you believed? What does this text demand from us today?

Connect to the gospel

The gospel is not a hidden mystery. It is not a distant dream. It is a proclaimed message. God raised him from the dead. That is the gospel. Believe that message in your heart. Confess that message with your mouth. This is the demand. This belief results in righteousness. This confession results in salvation. Whosoever believes on him will not be put to shame. Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Your own faulty obedience leads only to death. His obedience leads to life. His death was for your sins. His resurrection was for your justification. He is the end of the law. Not your effort. Not your performance. Not your perfection. Christ alone.

Application for believers

Feel the weight of your striving. Feel the exhaustion of your own effort. That weight is not from God. That exhaustion is not his design. You already have his approval. You are already accepted in the Beloved. This text calls you to repent. Not of sin. But of your striving. Abandon the dead end of self-made righteousness. Stop trying to earn a gift you already possess. Let your obedience flow from a heart of gratitude. Not toward a heart of gratitude. You are free. You are loved. You are his. Now live like it.

Application for unbelievers

You stand at a crossroads. Two paths lie before you. One path is your own righteousness. It is a resume of good works. It is a list of morals. It is a record of failures. It is a dead end. It will cause you to stumble. It will cause you to fall. The other path is God’s righteousness. It is a perfect standing. It is a free gift. It is received through faith in Jesus Christ. Your task today is not to try harder. Your task is to trust completely. Stop trying to climb to heaven. You will never reach it. Stop trying to descend into the depths. You will never find peace there. Call on the name of the Lord Jesus now. Confess with your mouth that He is Lord. Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. Do that today. And you will be saved.

Conclusion

Last week, the Potter’s wheel. Sovereignty. Election. Mercy. Wrath. And the question hung in the air… are we just robots?
This morning, God’s Word answered. The Potter’s sovereignty does not create robots. It confronts responsible souls. With a choice.

We saw the great reversal. Faith receives what striving cannot earn. We diagnosed the fatal error. Confusing human zeal for God’s truth. We proclaimed the simple message. Salvation is confessed, not achieved. And we faced the unavoidable question. You have heard. But have you believed?

The tension is not a problem to be solved. It is a paradox soliciting worship. God’s sovereignty reigns. And man’s responsibility remains. Both are true. The cross is the proof. Where God’s justice and mercy meet. In Christ.

So the argument stands. For you today. Do not try to win God’s approval with your performance. Receive His righteousness by faith in Christ.

Believers. You are free. The striving ends now. Your performance is dead. His performance is your life. Repent of your effort. Rest in His achievement.

Unbelievers. You are at the crossroads. Your resume of good works is a dead end. His gift of righteousness is free. Your task is not to try harder. Your task is to trust completely. Call on the name of the Lord Jesus now. And you will be saved.

Amen.