The Pursuit of Righteousness – Pt 3

If God’s people would take their
Bibles and turn back once again actually to Romans chapter nine
as we prepare to reenter chapter 10 where we left off last Lord’s
Day. Paul is dealing with that substantial
section of Scripture Romans chapter nine through 11. Which generally
has the. topic of the sovereignty of God
in mind and Paul will apply that great subject and theme a number
of different ways. One of the devices Paul uses
throughout this section is to do the question and answer and
in so doing he is dealing with a number of objections or insinuations
to what some of his doctrines might logically Conclude Paul
does that in verse 30 of chapter nine. What should we say then
that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness attained
righteousness. He’s not asking a double question
here. He’s making a statement. He’s drawing a summary and for
many that was the great conundrum. He started that dealing with
that conundrum in chapter nine that Israel though they were
by God’s own purpose the chosen people of God they had not placed
their faith not in great measure not in great quantities in the
Lord Jesus Christ. They had not followed they had
not pursued Christ they had not received him. And as a result
there was this conundrum. There was this difficulty. If
they are the chosen people of God then what happened. Did God’s
plan fail. Well Paul has proven that over
and over again and Paul recenters here to talk about essentially
the contrast between the Gentiles and the nation of Israel with
regard to their response to the gospel. That’s where we find
ourselves and what Paul says in verse 32 essentially will
become the overarching theme through the remainder of Chapter
10, that of the pursuit of righteousness. Or maybe if you wanted to break
it down, the right and wrong ways to pursue righteousness.
Paul says that the Jews, the nation of Israel, did not pursue
God’s righteousness by faith. They had their own plan. They
thought that they could live a life that measured up to God. They thought that they could
take matters as it were into their own hands and live a life
that was pleasing enough that God would have to receive them
and accept them. They did not approach God in
faith and that one theme will resound throughout the remainder
of Chapter 10. Just with that little background
if you would pick up in verse 1 of Chapter 10 and we’ll carry
ourselves all the way down Through verse 13 this morning. Where
Paul writes Brethren my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for
them is for their salvation. For I bear them witness that
they have a zeal for God but not in accordance with knowledge.
For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their
own. They did not subject themselves
to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes
that the man who practices the righteousness which is based
on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on
faith speaks thus. Do not say in your heart who
will ascend into heaven that is to bring Christ down. Or who
will descend into the abyss that is to bring Christ up from the
dead. But what does it say. The word
is near you in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word
of faith which we are preaching that if you confess with your
mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead. You should be saved. For with
the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness. And with the
mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the scripture
says, whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. For there is no distinction between
Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of
all. Abounding in riches for all who
call upon him. For whoever will call upon the
name of the Lord will be saved. Now as God would have it I had
the perfect illustration for God’s people this morning the
perfect entrance as it were to the Lord’s table the perfect
set up for laying upon the saints this great concern that so often we read over this
little word. And much like the commentators
did. Who. Spilled words after words
after words upon the most minute detail of this section and said
almost nothing. About the final word in verse
9 saved. And I had the Saints right where
I wanted them. I had God’s people I know that we have this tendency
to just kind of begin to take it for granted. And that was
going to be my… It still is. I have no time to
prepare anything else for the Lord’s table. It still is my
theme as we approach the Lord’s table. But my brother took all
my thunder by focusing upon the great truth of our salvation.
I mean, what else can you come away with? Your blood has washed
away my sin. Jesus, thank you. The Father’s
wrath was completely satisfied. Jesus thank you. Once your enemy
now seated at your table. Jesus thank you. We have a tendency to take that
for granted don’t we. We have a tendency even as we
read this passage even as I said the commentators. We have a tendency
to focus on all the other minor details and forget the big picture
that this is talking about salvation. And every individual ever born,
when they hear that word, and they hear the great means to
possessing that salvation, ought to sit up and take notice. And
every believer who has already been touched by God’s grace,
and already leveled because of his sin, and already drawn near
to Christ, ought to once again pause. not a literal fall on one’s face
in gratitude. There ought to be applause and
a humbling of the heart and an expression of gratitude. Jesus,
thank you. Paul has been talking about the
great concept of righteousness, that which men most need. Sinners
most need the righteousness of God. Or they cannot stand in
God’s presence. That’s what Paul established
in those early chapters of the book of Romans. That we are in
a deficit. And being in a deficit. Being
that we do not possess the righteousness of God. We cannot stand in his
presence. We cannot approach his presence. We cannot even hope to be saved.
We are doomed. Except for God. God has given
his righteousness. And what Paul is contrasting
is that there is God’s righteousness and then there is man’s feeble
attempt to live up to that righteousness. Paul said it this way. Glance
back if you would. Just since we can enjoy what
God has already done. Glance back if you would at Romans
chapter 5. Paul has already declared this
glorious truth. He’s not going to let it go.
He’s going to keep on hammering home this great truth of justification
by faith. Romans chapter five verse one,
therefore, having been justified, it’s done. For anybody who has
placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ sitting here this
morning, you are already perfect in God’s eyes. Not because of
your current level of sanctification because we would all agree we
have a long way to go right. But because of what Christ has
done all of your sin went on to Christ and all of his righteousness
went on to you and we are in a state of having been justified. It happened back then when we
placed our faith in Christ when God drew us to repentance and
granted to us faith. It’s at that point in time that
we were justified and you said well what great means did God
use. Was it my denomination. Was it
my upbringing. Was it my learned approach to
God himself. After all I read many books on
the subject had nothing to do with it. Look at the passage
therefore having been justified by faith. It’s faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ and that alone that saves us. Unless you think it’s
anything other than salvation. Look at the following passage.
Therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. What a great truth. What a truth
that we so often even as we approach a new passage. We read a passage
that talks about all we have to do is confess and believe
and we shall be saved. We’re going to chalk it up as
one of those many verses. One of those many thoughts one
of those many meditations isn’t that great. And it should take
us back. It should take us back as John
said to that moment. When we said you sent your son
to die for me. Paul is meditating once again
on this great theme of salvation. A salvation that no one deserves. A salvation that no one possibly
could earn. And Paul talks about the great
means of that salvation. But unless we pause to consider
the great theme that he’s discussing, all the rest of it means very
little. If we don’t at once think and ponder that he’s talking
about our salvation our rescue from hell our rescue from sin
and its consequences our rescue from sin and the terror of our
conscience that is torn apart by our sinful condition our hopelessness. But it’s not that Paul is referring
to when he says he shall be saved but it’s different now. And it’s
different only because God has moved as we have seen. Paul is
stringing together a number of thoughts. Paul had pointed out that prayer
for his people the nation of Israel was warranted. He had
good cause to pray for them. And I proposed to you last Lord’s
Day that there were really four elements that were prompting
and urging his prayer on their behalf. The first why pray for
the nation of Israel. Why was Paul so wrapped up in
this prayer request this project and it was because of their uneducated
passion. Look at verse 1. Rather in my
heart’s desire my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. Paul knew that they were in peril.
He said it in verse 9 and he is praying for their very salvation. And that means the rescue from
sin and its consequence. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
and the righteousness of God which had so eluded them. They
had an uneducated passion. Look at verse 2. For I bear them
witness. They have a zeal for God. It wasn’t for lack of passion.
It wasn’t for lack of effort. It wasn’t for lack of purposeness
in heart. I was sharing with a brother
this past week a title of a book Puritan work that I hadn’t even
thought about for so many years. The title of the book really
could almost be said of the nation of Israel a life of principled
obedience. That’s what they saw. A life
of principled obedience. They all they basically said
is tell us what the rules are and we’ll set about obeying them.
when God would give them the law. They said yes and give us
more. All this we’ve done. Let us.
We’ll set about and we will honor the Lord. They had an uneducated
passion. They knew very little what they
said. Paul said I bear them witness.
They have a zeal for God. They’re passionate people and
they are pursuing God. But it is not in accordance with
knowledge. And Paul said that there was
a second reason as I remind you why we pray why he was praying
for the nation of Israel. Why do you say Paul that they
lack knowledge. Why are you saying of the people
of God that have so much privilege the glory of God the word of
God the law. Why do you say that they lack
knowledge. Look at verse three for not knowing
about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own.
They did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
They like their plan better. They didn’t know that righteousness
could be bestowed. Righteousness in their heart
and mind was to be achieved. Righteousness was to be lived
up to. Righteousness was a standard
not only to aim, but to seek perfection. They didn’t know. They wouldn’t succumb. They wouldn’t submit themselves
to the idea that righteousness could be a gift of God bestowed
upon whomever he chose. There was a third reason that
we pondered as to why Paul prayed so fervently for the nation of
Israel. Why would he say that they did
not pursue the laws of righteousness? Look at verse 4. For Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. The
Jews were pursuing an obsolete approach. What a sad thing. In this day and age, You think
of people, whether it’s a computer program that you own, or some
gadget that you have, and they seem to just flood the market
more and more every day. And you look down upon somebody,
you know, somebody who’s still got a flip phone, and you pity
them, right? Paul looked at a real serious
situation. He saw the nation of Israel,
he saw their passionate approach, he saw their zeal for God and
for his law, And he realized all the way along this is an
outmoded approach. It won’t get you there. It won’t
get you there. And God has already provided
a new means. Christ is the end of the law.
It’s over. That whole approach that whole
effort based program is over. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone who believes you don’t have to
pursue a perfection in righteousness anymore because God has already
provided it. It was absolutely absurd what
they were doing. There was a fourth element and
we left off here last Lord’s Day. It was a fourth element
that prompted prayer called to pray for the nation of Israel
and that was the historic failure. The historic failure when we
began to see it in verse 5. Why does Paul draw this conclusion.
Because as he looked at the nation of Israel he thought he was aghast. He was utterly stunned when he
saw how badly the nation of Israel had missed it. How close to God
they had come. How near to Israel God had come. and yet how blind they were to
the truth. Look at verse 5. For Moses writes
that the man who practices the righteousness which is based
on law shall live by that righteousness. And we were reminded that every
time the law was given they were all too eager to take it up and
start all over. Start afresh. Press reset. To begin again to pursue this
righteousness. To begin with renewed efforts
in arriving at some kind of man-made perfection. Because Moses had said, if you’re
going to try this, you better not just try. You’ve got to be
perfect. If you’re going to live by this
righteousness, if you’re going to pursue righteousness based
on the law, you better live by every word of that law. But the righteousness based on
faith speaks thus. And Paul quotes this series of
verses from Deuteronomy chapter 30. Do not say in your heart
who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down,
or who will descend into the abyss, that is to bring Christ
up from the dead. And I shared with the saints
that until I really began to delve into this, I just have
always looked at those verses and I don’t know what they mean. deep truths of God. Paul is quoting Moses and as
we saw last Lord’s Day when he refers to this statement of Moses
do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven. It’s
as if the sinner goes knocking on heaven’s door. That’s the
image that I left God’s people with. It’s as if the sinner goes
knocking on God’s door. Um, God, we’re down here and,
uh, this righteousness thing, it’s not working out real well.
The law, you know, you wrote all these hard rules for us and
it’s, you know, it’s really hard and, uh, no, we need some help. That’s really the image that
you get. Don’t say in your heart. who shall ascend into heaven
as if you’re going to go and form God and tell him what you
need and tell him about his plan of redemption which is not working. Don’t think that you’ve got to
go inform God of the need of the Savior. Silly. The second one is even sillier.
Paul says who will descend into the abyss. Now in the original
it says the sea but there was this it was a great distance
it was a great separation and Paul just he basically interprets
Deuteronomy 30 and gives new meaning to it which even the
rabbis didn’t even understand what didn’t mean that who’s going
to cross the ocean in search of a savior. This means who’s
going to go down into hell who’s going to go down to where the
dead live and wake up a savior who’s going to go in search.
in the realm of the dead for a Savior, even one who perhaps
was crucified, and resurrect him, bring life back to him. The whole point is so absurd.
You have to have some levity with it. Paul says to do that
would be, in essence, to try to bring Christ up from the dead.
What man could possibly do that? What committee? What denomination? What group of people? What nation?
Nobody. Nobody has the power to do that. And the foolishness of it all
is God has already done it all. God has already sent a Savior.
God saw our desperate need. God already sent Him and had
Him pay for our sins. And in the course of His plan
of redemption, He was put to death. to pay for our sins. But it didn’t end there. And
the second part of it God has accomplished too. God raised
him up from the dead. God is the one who is doing the
work of redemption. Paul says it’s silly. It’s absolutely
silly to look back on all that God has done for the nation of
Israel and to have them scratch their head as if God hasn’t moved
in their direction. When it was all right there before
them. All right there before them. And Paul says this. Look at verse
8. But what does it say? Paul had
just told them that the word didn’t mean. Paul had just told
them that even to the Israelites, Moses had told them, don’t go
looking for a savior. Don’t think that you’re going
to resurrect the savior. What is the advice that Moses
gave? The word is near you in your
mouth and in your heart. Oh. Well, what does that mean, Moses? They were so close. Paul doesn’t quote the passage
precisely. He gives the general feel and
it comes off. You end up grasping what he means
by this. The point that Moses was making
and the point that Paul seizes upon is that God didn’t give
them an impossible task. It was a high standard but it
was right there for the taking. All they had to do is acknowledge
their own inability. All they had to do was take it
in faith that if God was calling them to a standard, God would
provide the means. God had been repeatedly gracious
to this nation. Promise after promise. Constant
assurances that he was their God and that he would intercede
for them. Constant admonitions to walk
in the way of God. And all God looked for all the
way along was a genuineness of heart and faith. I want to take you back. Let
me take you back to a couple of passages real quick. Turn
back to Isaiah. God wanted a response in faith. God wanted real, genuine faith pursuit of himself. And in the
opening chapter of the book of Isaiah God deals with hypocrisy. God deals with this phoniness
this sham religion that it had become. Look at verse 11. What are your multiplied sacrifices
to me. You know you just saw they’re
always going to church and always. Going through the motions and
burning the sacrifices and they were commanded and all but they
were just going through the motions. There was no heart in it. No
soul. We are multiplied sacrifices
to me says the Lord. I’ve had enough of good offerings
of rams and the fat of fed cattle and I take no pleasure in the
blood of bulls lambs or goats. When you come to appear before
me who requires of you this trampling of my courts. He says just your
arrival here at church is odious to me bothersome. Bring in your
worthless offerings no longer incense is an abomination to
me new moon and Sabbath the calling of assemblies. I cannot endure
iniquity and the solemn assembly. God didn’t have any problem with
church. God didn’t have any problem with the solemn assembly. But
God had a problem with was both. That iniquity was blended with
it. That they didn’t deal with their sin and come to God in
faith and in wholeness of heart. Look at verse 14, I hate your
new moon festivals, your appointed feasts, they become a burden
to me and weary of burying them. So, when you spread out your
hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even you,
your multiplied prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered
with blood. And Paul, rather, Isaiah, gives
them the answer here. God says wash yourselves make
yourselves clean remove the evil of your deeds from my sight cease
to do evil learn to do good seek justice reprove the ruthless
defend the orphan plead for the widow come now and let us reason
together says the Lord though your sins are as scarlet they
will be as white as snow stop your hypocrisy he says come to
me in faith Well, they are red like crimson.
They will be like wool. If you consent and obey, you
will eat the best of the land. But if you refuse and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword. Truly, the mouth of the Lord
has spoken.” God had said it again and again. And He wasn’t
just giving them the standard. He was giving them the means.
And that’s why He says, the Word is near you. Back to Isaiah,
if you would. Back rather to Romans. The Word is near you in your
mouth and in your heart. They knew the standard of God. And this utterance, all of these
covenants, all of these terms that God was laying out, they
weren’t surprises. They weren’t, you know, unknown
to the people of Israel. They quoted them. They had them,
a lot of times, pasted to their bodies by way of phylacteries. They knew exactly what the commands
were. They could quote them. One pastor said, the explicit
account of the Lord’s willingness to bless the soul which casts
upon him. Deuteronomy 30 is full of the
thought that rebels and lawbreakers should be welcomed back when
they come penitent to their God. Without one plea taking him at
his word. See what these words point to
is that there’s an inwardness. There’s a introspection that
was required of Israel that they would not do. They would not
look to themselves. They would not respond to God
with genuineness. They would not come to him in
faith. He goes on to say Deuteronomy
30 14 indicates the essentially gracious character of the law
called them to a standard. in which God stooped down to
reveal His will to Israel. God had drawn near to them in
His word, which could be taken on their lips and received in
their hearts, that all along His nearness to Israel, by means
of the law, pointed forward to the gift of Himself to men, the
Savior Jesus Christ.” You see, Moses saw, and it wasn’t far
off, he saw this righteous standard, It wasn’t locked up in heaven. It wasn’t down below in the abyss.
It was right there. They knew the standard. And they
knew that it wasn’t doable by human means. Great Pastor Chrysostom, a preacher
of the early church, said it this way. If you do not wish
to cross your threshold, You know what he says? If you don’t
even want to leave your house, if you want to open the door
and leave your house, if you do not wish to cross your threshold,
you have it in your power to be saved while sitting at home.
That’s what Moses was saying. That’s what Paul is taking those
words to say. You have it in your power to
be saved while sitting at home. For the means of salvation are
in thy mouth and in thy heart. And the church. Would awaken
to this great truth in the Reformation. Sola Fide right. By faith alone. And yet the church. Almost as
a death wish to continually push aside Sola Fide and add other
things in. As if those things as a faith
alone in Christ alone can’t be enough. People want to glom on
other things, other ideas. But now, in order to have a church,
you’ve really got to know the cultural struggles in which your
people find themselves. You’ve got to have some kind
of a psycho understanding of them and understand their sociological
needs. And all that does is obscure
the gospel. that we’re sinners. We’re in desperate need of a
savior. God has a righteous standard
that no person can live up to. And the only way that we will
ever take hold of it is by faith alone in Christ alone. That’s
the gospel. That’s the gospel. And no ministry
of any kind to any kind of social needs no matter how great. will
ever provide anybody with salvation. Nobody. Several years ago, we
did the way that we do things here, and it was amazing. It has been amazing ever since. First of all, we asked on our
membership application for a little box. Just a little three by five
size box. We ask for people’s testimony
because we began to see is the more words people use and they
take off running and they’ll talk about anything but how God
found them a sinner and brought them to himself through a savior. So we put it in that little box
and some some even comply with our little box. But there’s another question
on there that was equally a blessing to us. On page two you turn and
you open it up and you’re answering a few questions. And some of
them are light and some of them are really meant to put you at
ease. And then there’s this question. What is the gospel? And it is absolutely a blessing
to me to read what God’s people say is the gospel. It’s not obscure. It’s not lost. It’s not even by way of human
instruction. We can stand back and years can
separate these applications. They can come from husband and
wife and vary in various degrees, but ultimately it comes down
to this. God came to me a sinner. God is the one that comes to
sinners and God calls us to faith. In Jesus Christ that’s the gospel.
And saints of God know it. And that’s what grieved Paul
so greatly is. His own people missed it time
and time again it is historical failure. Look back again at verse
8. You think I’m embellishing this.
When you see what Paul says. But what does it say? What does
God’s word say? What were the words of Moses? The word is near you in your
mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith which
we are preaching. Do you see what Paul does here?
It is absolutely astounding. He goes back to Deuteronomy chapter
30 verses 12 through 14 and says that’s what Moses was talking
about. That it’s by faith It is the
word of faith which we now are preaching. The scales have come
off. We have seen no longer as mysteries. Now we see the truth for what
it is. And it’s Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. And faith in Him secures that
righteousness that was so elusive. So elusive to Israel. Paul points out exactly what
this word is that he kind of alludes to cryptically from Deuteronomy
chapter 30. What is this word? The word is
near you. I’ll tell you what the word is,
he says. It’s the word of faith which
we preach. Pardon me, when Paul says, that
is, Paul himself directly applies
it by power of the Holy Spirit. Paul directly applies Deuteronomy
30, 12, and 14 to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
says, but it was always part of God’s plan. It was always
part of the unfolding of God’s plan. And Paul sees in this articulation
of Moses God’s plan being unfolded. and pointing directly and ultimately
to the New Covenant that there would be the means of righteousness. This little phrase, the word
of faith, will close with this. There were various ways of taking
exactly what does the word of faith mean. Is it the word which
is worthy of being believed, in that sense, the word of faith?
Is it the word of faith which ultimately the word that comes
and supports faith that God has to somehow prop us up and with
his word do we our faith. Is it the word which is the subject
of which is faith. All kinds of different. I’ll
tell you what it is. It’s essentially the gospel. It’s the idea that
we can approach God for righteousness through faith. It’s the word
of faith. It’s the good news of faith. It’s the confession that we place
in Christ. That faith alone in Christ alone
brings to us God’s righteousness. You see for Paul, it wasn’t this
list. of commandments. It wasn’t this
endless list of laws, commands, and statutes. This word of faith
ultimately pointed to a message, a clarion call by God
himself that called people to faith, called people to trust
in himself, called people to place their complete trust and
hope in him alone for salvation. And that this entire way of faith
had been hinted at there in Deuteronomy 30 14 and now articulated in
full. And how sad it was for Paul to
look back and see a nation of Israel not only had pursued but
still were in hot and exclusive pursuit of God’s righteousness
on their terms. Now remember we’re talking about
salvation. There is no greater subject.
You can talk about the stock market all you want. You can
talk about health and vitamins. But when you talk about salvation
you’re talking about something eternal. You’re talking about
the very balance between heaven and hell. Not just for a time
for eternity. There is no more solemn topic
than the topic of salvation. And Paul has begun to articulate
here and he’s already given us the great truth that salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ is not a subject to be glanced over.
It’s not a subject to be overviewed as we read the greater truths
of God’s word. There is no greater truth. Salvation
if at all is by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
And only by that does God bestow upon us His righteousness. Let’s
examine our hearts before Him as we go before the Lord’s table.
And let’s rejoice, God’s people, in the salvation that God has
secured. O merciful God, we humble ourselves
in Your presence that what It seemed so obscure to the nation
of Israel at the time in the moment. To us, by Paul’s help,
seems so abundantly clear. That you are calling them to
faith just as you are calling us. And that for Paul, this is
no stretch. This is no abuse of God’s Word.
This is the very Spirit of God directing him and teaching him
and applying God’s Word to his own heart and life situation,
that the word was so near them, even in their mouth, they knew
the truth. They knew that salvation was
ultimately by God. O Lord God, those of us who have
come to know Christ, we bow before you and we humbly thank you that
you drew us to faith. that You drew us to the Lord
Jesus, and You showed to us our sin, and how could we not place
our faith in Him? Jesus, thank You. It’s in Jesus’ name that we come
to the Lord’s table. Amen.