The Righteousness of God
Romans 7 isn’t the normal Christian life. It’s the frustration of the person trying to serve God out of their own human ability. They could be either non-Christian or born again. But the flesh—our self—is incapable of ever living the victorious life God intended for us.
Romans 8 shows us the Spirit-filled life. It’s describing the person who has understood the power of the Gospel and is letting the Spirit of God live through them.
The entire book of Romans reverberates with the message of God’s grace. Turn from self-reliance, self-salvation, and self-righteousness. Accept God’s free gift of righteousness and salvation by faith in the Gospel. Live by faith in God’s grace!
Paul began Romans 9 lamenting the fact that the Jewish people were trusting in their own righteousness to produce salvation. He spoke of his deep longing for his natural brothers (Paul himself was a Jew) to be saved. Instead of receiving the
163
GRACE, THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
The grace of God is offensive to religious folks!
free gift of God through Jesus, they were trying to earn salvation. They didn’t want to come and be dependent on Christ, the Savior. They were trusting in their own goodness instead.
Then Paul shifted gears by saying, “Well, it’s not a total loss. A true Jew isn’t just a physical, natural-born Jew, but those who are the true children of the promise—who walk with the faith of Abraham.” Again, this brings up some very offensive things to these religious people.
Righteous Heathen?
At the end of Romans 9, Paul made a summary of the things he’d said thus far and transitioned into chapter 10:
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteous-ness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Romans 9:30,31
We just don’t understand how radical this statement was to the people Paul was writing to in his day. He was talking to people who were very zealous in keeping the law. (Rom. 10:2.) Their entire life was built around seeking God. The law
164
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
influenced how they dressed, what they ate, their politics, their work schedule, and their giving, among other things. At certain times of the day, everybody stopped to pray. These were reli-gious people. Their whole life was consumed with seeking God.
Then Paul came along and thoroughly rattled their religious cage by saying that the Gentiles had received by faith what the Jews were working so hard to attain by their actions. A Gentile is a non-Jew, but the term in Paul’s day had become synony-mous with a pagan. They were people who had no relationship with God. Instead of denying themselves, they indulged them-selves. We’d call them heathen today. Yet Paul was saying, “These heathen—who weren’t following after righteousness, who weren’t seeking God, who weren’t trying to live holy— have attained unto righteousness by faith” (v. 30).
If that wasn’t bad enough to the Jews, put it together with verse 31, “But Israel—all you religious people trusting in your performance for salvation—have not attained unto it,” and is it any wonder that Paul upset the religious people wherever he went? He was saying, “These heathen out here that weren’t even trying to live holy are more acceptable to God than you. They have become righteous by faith in the Gospel and you who were living holy are rejected by God.” This incensed many people.
It was probably why Paul suffered the persecution that he did, and it’s the reason why anyone who preaches the true
165
GRACE, THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
They are putting their faith in their actions instead of receiving salvation as a gift.
Gospel of God still suffers persecution even today. (Gal. 5:11; 6:12.) The grace of God is offensive to religious folks!
The Stumblingstone
Wherefore? [Why? Why is this true? How could this be?] Because they [the religious Jews] sought it [righteousness] not by faith, but as
it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone.
Romans 9:32
The reason why the nonreligious have become accepted by God and the religious remain rejected is because the non-reli-gious sought righteousness by faith in God’s grace and the reli-gious sought it by faith in their own holy actions.
When the heathen heard the Gospel—that salvation was a gift and they didn’t have to earn it—they embraced it. To them, it was very beneficial because they hadn’t been living a proper life and they knew it. When someone came along and told them that God would accept them on the basis of grace as a gift, and that all they had to do was believe and receive Jesus as their Savior, they went for it. What a deal!
The religious person rejected Jesus for basically the same reasons—the Gospel told them it wasn’t their goodness that
166
need mercy
justice—we
We don’t need
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
earned them relationship with God. They had to believe on Jesus and receive salvation as a gift. They responded, “That’s not fair! Look how hard I’ve worked. I’ve put a lot of effort into this. Do you mean that all of my self-denial doesn’t make God love me more? Are you saying that all of my holy living doesn’t make me any better than the person who’s been living in gross sin? Do you mean that I need the same degree of salvation as this old reprobate over here?” Religious pride won’t let them receive a free gift like that.
The exact same thing happens all around the world today. Many religious people are trying to do the
right things—and it’s not that what they’re doing is wrong. It’s the fact that they are putting their faith in their actions instead of receiving salvation as a gift. For these
people, it’s offensive to hear the Gospel preached. It’s upsetting to listen to some-
body say that someone could not be living as holy as they are, but receive from God better because they’re putting faith in a Savior instead of earning it. Those are fighting words for a person who’s trusting in themselves.
“It Just Isn’t Fair!”
I’ve seen this happen again and again. Some pillar of the church is there every time the doors are open. They pray and
167
GRACE, THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
lead a Sunday school class. They knit quilts and bake pies. They’re always doing religious deeds. But they’ve been strug-gling for years with some sickness, financial need, or problem in their life that hasn’t been met. Then some drunk comes in off the street with nothing to offer God. Someone tells them the Gospel, saying, “It’s not according to how holy you are. You don’t need a track record of righteousness. Just receive what you need from God as a gift. All you have to do is believe.” This reprobate receives the same miracle that dear old saint so-and-so has been seeking for twenty years. The drunk gets it and the religious person doesn’t. So the religious person swells up with pride and whines, “It just isn’t fair!”
We don’t need justice—we need mercy. I used to work in a photography studio developing pictures. We’d joke about some of the people who came in to look at their proofs. Often, they’d comment, “This picture doesn’t do me justice.” Although we never actually did it, we wanted to say, “Lady, you don’t need justice. You need mercy!” If God gave us what we deserved, even dear old saint so-and-so wouldn’t receive. We can’t approach God based on faith in ourselves. We might think we deserve it more than someone else, but all have sinned and come short of God’s standard. (Rom. 3:23.)
Religious people trusting in their own goodness are the hardest people to reach. They were the ones who gave Paul the biggest problems. They crucified Jesus and persecuted the
168
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
church. It’s still religious people today who come out against the true Gospel.
Good people trusting in their own holiness are the most difficult to reach with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Gospel is preached to someone who isn’t living right-eous, it’s good news. They respond in faith to that positive message of God’s grace. But unless God supernaturally inter-venes with revelation and conviction, a religious person trusting in their efforts will resist the Gospel. They’re proud of what they’ve accomplished and they feel better than somebody else because of their own effort. The Gospel sounds to them like all their great righteousness has been to no avail.
Of course, holiness is still beneficial because it denies Satan access into our lives and helps us in our relationships with other people. But it doesn’t make us more acceptable to God. Neither does our lack of holiness make us less acceptable to God. Our relationship with God must be based entirely upon faith.
Good Works, But Wrong Motive
Romans 9:32 says that these religious people didn’t receive righteousness because they sought it not by faith but by the works of the law. Works of the law refers to doing good things, but with the wrong motive. It’s trusting in what you have done instead of trusting in what God has done.
169
Either you accept the truth and it becomes liberating and life-giving, or you deny it and it becomes damning.
GRACE, THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
The Bible also refers to works of faith. (1 Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:11.) The motive is the difference. A work of the law is when you’re doing something with the mindset that this is going to earn you relationship with God. He owes it to you based on what you did. That’s a work of the law. A work of faith may be the exact same action, but
the mindset behind it is, “I’m not doing this to earn relationship with God, but
because God has already given me relationship with Himself. I love Him and want to serve Him.” Works of faith are motivated by faith and love, not a sense of obligation and debt.
Paul was saying that these Jews had the wrong motivation. They were doing the right things with the wrong motive. So they stumbled over the stumblingstone. (Rom. 9:32.) Then he quoted from Isaiah 8:14 and 28:16 of the Old Testament:
As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him [Jesus Christ] shall not be ashamed.
Romans 9:33
In other words, Jesus Christ is planted right in the path of every single person. God confronts every individual with the truth that they need a Savior because they cannot save them-selves. Some respond properly by faith and receive the Lord
170
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
and His precious gift of salvation. Others try to maintain their own goodness and stumble over the grace of God. The very thing that caused them to trip over Jesus the Savior will make them fall flat on their faces on their way to hell—trusting their own holiness. Either you accept the truth and it becomes liber-ating and life-giving, or you deny it and it becomes damning. It’s your choice.
Misdirected Zeal
In the next chapter, Paul repeated what he said at the begin-ning of Romans 9 about his fellow countrymen—the Jews:
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.
Romans 10:1,2
These Jews were very zealous for God, but not according to knowledge, meaning they were spiritually blind—they were ignorant of their heavenly Father and of His Son.1 In other words, having the right knowledge is more important than having the right actions.
These Jews were doing some great things. They were praying, paying tithes, and doing many of the commands within the law. A Pharisee—a religious Jew—would be accepted into any modern church today. They were prayer
171
GRACE, THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
warriors, faithful attendees, and diligent tithers. Very few churches would ever deny membership to a diligent tither! These Pharisees were very holy people, but their zeal was for the letter and form of the law, and not for God Himself.2 Due to that fact, they weren’t accepted by God. They had misdi-rected zeal and knowledge.
Many people today say that it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe something. They teach that there are many ways to God. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, or Christian, in the end they all come together. Wrong! This mindset is in direct opposition to what Romans 10:2 is saying.
These religious people had a zeal for God—not just zeal, but zeal for God. However, it wasn’t according to knowledge. Therefore, it wasn’t a saving knowledge. They were sincere, but sincerely wrong. They believed the wrong thing.
Two Types of Righteousness
They being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Romans 10:3
172
We don’t become righteous
our actions.
we improve
gradually as
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
There are two different types of righteousness:
God’s righteousness
Self-righteousness
We obtain self-righteousness by trusting in our own actions. We receive God’s righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. (Eph. 2:8-9.) So out of the two ways to righteousness, only one is correct.
The only righteousness that will put us in right standing and relationship with God is the righteousness of God that is given to us as a free, unearned gift. Most people are seeking after a righteousness that comes based on their own works and performance. This is what Paul was saying about these Pharisees in Romans 10:3.
Sad to say, there are still many people today who are igno-rant of God’s righteousness. When you use the word righteous-ness, most people think about their own actions. They think about their own performance. If someone were to stand up in church and declare, “I’m righteous,” they’d be criticized and reminded of things they’d done wrong. Most believers wouldn’t think of their born-again spirit that has had God’s righteousness imputed. They’d be looking on externals.
There are two different kinds of righteousness: the kind that we produce by our own actions and the kind that God gives us
173
GRACE, THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
You can’t be self-dependent and God-dependent simultaneously.
when we’re born again. The only kind of righteousness that we can relate to God on is the one that comes as a free gift. In our born-again spirit, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. (2 Cor. 5:21.)
Compared to the righteousness that comes from God, our self-righteousness is like a filthy, soiled rag. (Is. 64:6.) God’s righteousness is infi-
nitely more and our self-righteousness is infinitely less. The Jews were ignorant of God’s righteousness, and so are most religious people today. They don’t understand that we are made righteous the moment we place our faith in Jesus Christ. We don’t become righteous gradually as we improve our actions. We’re born again righteous—it’s a gift!
