Romans 9:30-33 - The Faith of the Gentiles

Romans 9:30-33 -30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 just as it is written,
     “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
     And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

Message: Faith versus works.

Time: Romulus founded ancient Rome about 753 BC. By 600 BC it had become a wealthy, flourishing city with a monarch. Around 500 BC, the monarch was overthrown. A republic resulted and after war, Rome became the only great power in the Mediterranean, succeeding the empire of Alexander the Great. Before and after the birth of Christ, Rome's dominion continued to expand to about two thirds the size of the continental US. At the time Paul wrote, Rome had a population of about 1,000,000. Most were slaves. It was a vast empire, but had many religions present. It is unknown how the church started in Rome, but Gentiles and Jews both were involved. Paul was writing to address a problem, but he wanted to be there and perhaps, make Rome his base for his missionary journey's

What the Lord is Saying:

Summary of Chapter 9
As I end my study of Chapter 9, I remember where I have come from in this chapter.

This chapter has been about Paul first expressing his deep love for Israel. I pray that I would always have a deep love for all people. Paul wanted the best for Israel. He wanted them to be of faith. Paul mentions in verse 3 and 4, "3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises." He is right. Adoption as sons belongs to Israel. That is not saying that they are the only ones that should be adopted, but it is saying that adoption belongs to them. They were set apart for a purpose. But, God proceeds to show that God elects and has compassion on who He wants. Being chosen by God is not based upon one's heritage or birth. People have it in their hearts a desire to not please God and turn to their own way. For those, God gives them over to their desires. But, I can also be confident that God will preserve his remnant.

A lot of things are said in this chapter of significance because we don't ever need to think that God has somehow failed.

• Verse 6 - It is not as though the Word of God has failed
• Verse 8 - Children are not children by flesh but by promise
• Verse 14 - There is no injustice with God
• Verse 16 - It depends on God who has Mercy
• Verse 17 - God's power will be demonstrated and His name will be proclaimed - It is always for God's glory. 
• Verse 20 - We are the clay, He is the potter. The potter makes the decisions. The clay doesn't ask "Why?"
• Verse 23 - God is about securing vessels of mercy. God does not create people for hell. 

I believe their are significant truths in Chapter 9. And the overriding truth is I must let God be God. God's name is honored and proclaimed on high in this chapter. God is to be trusted and His ways are always right. But, don't for a minute think that I pray less, like for the souls of others. Chapter 9 doesn't go against other commands. By reading these truths, they don't then diminish other truths. God loves people. He loves all people. But, the reality is not everyone will receive the "Word of Promise." 

Concluding thoughts 

The outline that I have been using:

1. 9:30-33 Pursuit of righteousness
1. 9:30-31 Success by faith. Failure by works.
2. 9:32-33 The stumbling stone

In these concluding thoughts of verses 30-33, I see words that are familiar. Paul is reminding us that those that attain righteousness do it by faith and not by performance. Recently, I took a moment to think about a phrase of what it means to be a new person in Christ. In these verses here is the reminder that we don't pursue God by righteousness. We don't pursue him on our own. We have faith and that is how righteousness is received. Everyone wants to be right in life, but it isn't by our doing, but by Christ's perfect doing. So I voice these thoughts:

When you look at the life of Jesus you see people that followed Him. He taught people truths. He spoke like no other person. And along the way He called out or recognized the faith that people had it in Him. Having faith in Him was significant.

He was tempted, but he did not sin. Yet, he knew he was on a mission, to the cross. He did not deserve death, but He knew He must submit to the Father because He knew it was His purpose. At the end of his time on the cross, Jesus said, "it is finished." What did, "it is finished" mean?

Remember previously, when there was sin, God demanded that a sacrifice must take place. A perfect, clean animal, such as a lamb, had to shed its blood, in order to provide a substitionary death for a person sinning in their life. To sin is to break God's laws. Sin is lawlessness. Yet, a Messiah was always promised to one day come and remove sin once and for all. The prophets always spoke of a future Messiah, such as the prophet Isaiah. This Messiah would once and for all remove the penalty of sin. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy's spoken by the prophets. Jesus is the Messiah.

It is finished meant that the sins of everyone had been paid for on the cross where Jesus died. But Jesus did not stay dead. He rose from the dead, thus conquering death. By placing your faith in Christ, you are stating that you are unable to be or become accepted by God on your own because though you do good things in life, you have sinned and therefore you are not perfect and God requires perfection or a perfect substitution for sin. No amount of obedience to the Laws of God will take away the sin you have in your life. When you place your faith in Christ, your old life or your life up to the point, this life of sin and doing things that are against God's laws and commandments, that old life of you trying to be obedient to the law, thinking that obedience will remove or make up for your sin. That old life is gone. That old life is dead. That old life is no more. Just as Christ had died on the cross and rose again, when He rose from the dead sin had been paid for and taken care of. Now, in Christ, we are, it could be said, born again. We are new. There is no longer a stain of sin on our lives. We no longer have a debt that we must pay because of the sins we have committed. Sin no longer has any reign or control over us. We are new. Glory hallelujah. This doesn't mean that we never sin again. But we have acknowledged our sin, we have confessed our sin before God and He forgives us because of the faith we have in Him. We are brand new.

If I should stand before God (though I wouldn't stand, I would fall on my face and not even be able to stand up and look up before the Almighty God, but hypothetically) and He said to me, "Chris, why should I let you into paradise or heaven?" I would not bring out my resume and point out to Him all of the things that I have done. I would not point out how I have observed His laws and commandments because no matter what I have done, the problem is I have sinned. I have lied. I have not honored God all the days of my life. I have not loved God all the days of my life. I have not respected all of His commandments all of the time. I would not boast in my own works. I would say to Him, "I have not done anything of value to earn your favor. There is nothing special about me. I have simply placed my faith and trust in what Your Son did on the cross for me. I am trusting in what Jesus has done and Him alone."

Those are some words I wrote to a lady in Florida that asked about what it means to be a new creature in Christ, that the old has gone away.  In verse 30, we are reminded that it is not through our observing or obedience that we attain something. It is through God and God alone. We have faith and then He ushers in His righteousness.

Stumbled over the stumbling stone
However, there is one phrase in verse 32 that stands out to its meaning. "They stumbled over the stumbling stone." This is interesting. Paul makes a note that people don't pursue righteousness by faith. I think it could even be said that this isn't natural. Or it doesn't become natural because of the world that we live in. Instead people think it is pursued by works. This is why evangelism is so important, to help people see that it is not by works.

And so in these verses is a great truth. People stumbled. For Paul, his readers stumbled. The obstacle in their life is pursuing God by works. This is really a key verse for so many other faiths, like Mormonism that are so quick to say that they are about faith but then set up all these works in their faith or hoops to jump through. And thus, people, start living life like it is jumping through hoops.

This too was prophesied by Isaiah. Isaiah 8:13-15, " 13 “It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread. 14 “Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 “Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught.” Wow, that is amazing. What a beautiful predictor of what will happen. People will stumble or the stone will strike and be received in our lives.

Psalm 118:22, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone." That's great. I now understand that verse. Some people will look at Jesus and he will be a stumbling stone and even a rock of offense (offensive), but to others Jesus will be, as it says in Isaiah 28:16, "Therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed."

Promise: Take joy in looking at who Christ is and why he came. He came to save sinners.