Well, good morning to everyone. Good to be back with you here this morning. I missed you all last week. We were down in Florida. We left Friday morning at 2 o'clock from Isle of Morada, and it was 79 degrees. And we landed about noon in Ironwood, and it was about 10 degrees and snowing and blowing. But I looked out of the plane, and there was a guy flagging the plane in shorts and work boots. And I thought, well, welcome home. It's spring here, regardless of what the temperature is. 

So it's good to be back with you this morning. We continue our study in Romans 9 this morning in our monthly communion service. And Paul has a great desire, a heartbreaking concern for his brethren, his countrymen, according to the flesh. He has a great passion and longing for Israel to believe Jesus and come to him in faith that they might be saved. We saw that at the beginning of chapter 9. We see it again at the beginning of chapter 10. 

And I want you to remember the context here. Paul's in the middle of his great doctrinal epistle to the church in Rome. He spent a great deal of the book in the first eight chapters laying out the truth of the gospel, the condemnation of all men, justification by faith, God's righteousness imputed to the one who believes, the truth of our regeneration, our union with Jesus and his death, burial, and resurrection, the basis of our new life in Christ, and that we are dead to sin, dead to the law, and freed from the bondage of fear to death. 

He has appealed to every man who would hear his words to turn to Jesus in faith alone, to turn from self-righteousness and law-keeping and receive the very righteousness of God by faith alone in Jesus alone. The essence of the gospel message is promise. And Jesus is the promise. He is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abram of a blessing to all nations through his seed. And now in a new way, in a special way, salvation is available to every man. 

And every man who believes comes into a new covenant relationship with God, Jew or Gentile, one man in the body, the church. All of this teaching, this tremendous truth, leaves a lot of questions concerning Israel and the promises that God has made to her. So the point of Paul in these three chapters that we're studying now in 9 to 11 is to show that the gospel and the plan of God, the word of God, is absolutely consistent with the promises of God. 

It is not that the word of God has failed or has taken no effect. We saw last time in chapter 9 that God is sovereign in salvation. He has a sovereign plan. And he is perfectly righteous to save whom he will. He can have mercy on whom he will have mercy. And his plan has not been thwarted or spun out of control. He doesn't have to do things the way I think he should. 

And this was the issue for the Jew. He had a different plan than God. He did not see the suffering Messiah. He did not know about the church age. He could not conceive of Jew and Gentile being one in one body. But all of this was eternally in the plan of God. And his plan has not failed. He is sovereign. He is just. And he is right in everything he does. The Jew needed to submit to that truth and believe and follow the plan of God in Christ. 

This is the point Paul made in the first part of Romans 9. God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. But please notice, as we did last time in chapter 11 at verse 32, that Paul said this. For God has committed them all to disobedience. That means that he's looked down upon mankind. He's examined each and every man. And he's found that they're all sinners, that they're all confined under sin, that they all deserve judgment. He's committed them all to disobedience. 

Listen to this. God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, right? Romans 11.32 says that he might have mercy on all. In God's sovereign plan, God has chosen to give men a will, a choice. And even though all men have sinned and they are all confined under sin, born in Adam, God has chosen in his sovereign will and plan to have mercy on all, to offer salvation to all, if they will only believe Jesus and trust in him alone. 

So having shown that it's not a matter of heritage or physical descendancy from Abraham that makes you part of the promised lineage to the Christ that makes you chosen, that it's not being a Jew that saves you as the Jews of Paul's day thought, Paul goes on to make clear that it was always the plan of God to bring the blessing of Christ to all nations, all men, and the issue is faith. When will Israel be saved? When they believe Jesus, when they receive their Messiah by faith. 

Why hasn't God fulfilled his promises to Israel? Because they have not believed, because they have not sought his righteousness by faith. And that's what we're going to see in our text today. Let's look at Romans 9.30, please. 

"What shall we say then that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith? I think I'm missing a verse here, I'm sorry. But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on him will not be put to shame." 

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Verse three is so amazing, so clarifying for us. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 

I've given you four points on your outline this morning. Why has God not fulfilled his promises to Israel? Second, the law of righteousness. Third, attaining to righteousness. And fourth, Christ, God's righteousness. 

Well, again, I'd like to start by reminding us of the context and intent. Paul is answering the question concerning the gospel. If this is God's message, if this is his promise fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, then why did the fulfillment of the promises to Israel not come with the Messiah? Why has God not fulfilled the promises that he made to Israel? And how does this all fit into the plan of God? 

Well, Paul has answered the side of God's sovereignty in the salvation plan in the previous verses. Now he moves to the human responsibility side of the question. Why is it that God has not fulfilled the promise to Israel? Because they did not submit to the plan of God, to the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. 

This is such a clarifying text before us. It's a message that is replete throughout the whole of the scriptures. Why are men not saved? Because they will not believe Jesus. Turn to John 3 with me, please. 

John 3 at verse 14. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in God." 

Well, this is such a wonderful text, such simplicity, such amazing truth. I'm so thankful for it. You know, we could spend a lot of time in the systems of men in texts such as Romans 9, and we could argue and write and ponder and pontificate until the cows come home. And that's all good and fine. It's God's word. But don't you think the simplicity of John 3 should help us a little bit with those less than clear passages that we can't seem to quite wrap our minds around? Shouldn't we let the clear interpret the ambiguous? 

Jesus tells Nicodemus, I'm going to be lifted up. I'm gonna be lifted up just like Moses lifted that serpent up in the wilderness. And anyone who looks to me, this is a euphemism for faith, for believing, look unto me, God said to Isaiah. Look unto me and be saved. Look at the bronze serpent on the pole and believe and you will be spared. Look at the cross, the savior, his death, burial and resurrection and believe unto salvation. 

Why is it that men are not saved? John gives us a clear definitive answer in verse 18 of chapter three. Why is the man and Adam condemned? "He who believes in him is not condemned. But he who does not believe is condemned already. Why? Because he's not elect, because he's not one of God's chosen, because Christ didn't die for him." It's not what it says. "Because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God." 

Man is not saved because his pride is great, because he loves darkness and his deeds are evil, because he wants to do it on his own, because he seeks righteousness through the law and good works, because he will not believe in the name of the only begotten son of God. Why is it that Israel has not been saved, has not realized her promises? Paul tells us as clearly as John did, Israel pursuing the law of righteousness has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. They would not believe. 

It's a very straightforward, very simple truth, but so important for us to understand. Man has two choices. He's lost in Adam, he's a sinner, he deserves condemnation. What will he do to remedy his situation, to come back into a right relationship with God, to become righteous? There are two ways, the law of righteousness, or righteousness by faith. And this defines all men, every man in our world. 

And the ones who pursue righteousness by works, by religion, by the law, will perish. They will die in their sins, as Jesus told the Pharisees. But the ones who receive the righteousness of God, who submit themselves to the righteousness of God by faith, are saved forever. They attain to the righteousness of faith, Paul says. 

Paul tells us in Romans 1.18 and following that man has suppressed the truth of God. Clear, overwhelming, manifest evidence in his creation. The man holds down that truth and denies it, willfully refusing to glorify God. And then man creates his own gods after his own likeness and the likeness of creatures and the creation. And he invents religion with gods to satisfy his needs, but which also conform to his desires and his corrupt nature. 

Religion was created by man and it bears his image. And religion by definition is a system of works and rites and rituals meant to obtain righteousness, to by our good works, by our religious rituals, make us acceptable to God. Judaism was a paramount example of this in Paul's day. They had corrupted the law, the will of God, and made it into a works-righteous, self-righteous religion. And they believed that through the works of the law, they could become righteous, that they could please God and be made fit for heaven. 

It's no different today. Every religion in the world is created by men. It's man-centered, it's works-righteous, and it's a system meant to earn their way to God. Even those that name the name of Christ have often been corrupted by the systems of men and works added to grace. They preach another gospel, which is not good news, but it is a lie that leads men to hell. If a man adds anything to the work of Christ for salvation, for redemption, for righteousness, then he destroys the gospel. 

Paul experienced this in the churches of Galatia, having to severely correct them for the false gospel that was turning some of them from the simplicity of Christ, salvation by grace through faith. Even Peter, he had to withstand to his face because he was to be blamed. Turn over to Galatians 1.6 with me, please. 

Galatians 1 at verse six. Paul had been through this region, he'd founded these churches on the gospel, they had received the gospel, they were standing fast in it, then he left and some of these legalistic Jews came from Jerusalem and were troubling them. And he says in verse six, "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I still please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." 

Paul says if a man preaches any other gospel than the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel Paul preached and they had received, then let that man or that church be condemned, anathema be upon them. And what was the gospel? People that they were preaching, these legalistic Jews who came to Galatia. We don't have to wonder. Acts 15 explains to us the dispute. Turn over to Acts 15 at verse 1 with me, please. 

You'll notice as I read this text that it says some of the Pharisees who believed, they taught that you must have faith in Jesus, that you must believe, but they added works to faith. Verse 1, "Certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." Circumcision is necessary for salvation. 

Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, you know the Bible under-emphasizes things all the time. Can you imagine what this must have been like, Paul and Barnabas confronting these legalistic Pharisees, had no small dissension and dispute with them. They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria describing the conversion of the Gentiles and they caused great joy to all the brethren. 

And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders and they reported all things that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses." Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter and when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them, "Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God who knows the heart acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they." 

Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. Those who taught that righteousness came through the law believed that circumcision, the religious ritual of Judaism, salvation by surgery and good works, keeping the law of Moses was God's way for a man to become righteous. 

This is the same thing that we see in mainline denominations today and that men like Augustine and Martin Luther so clearly taught. In the Roman Catholic or Lutheran mainline denominations men are saved by religious ritual, what they call sacraments. Luther taught that salvation is by faith alone, sola fide, right? That he taught that that saving faith is imparted through the waters of infant baptism and that the Lord is truly present in the Lord's Supper and that these sacraments are efficacious in salvation. The Roman Catholic doctrine is very clear, men enter the church as through baptism, as through a door. 

And they are kept, they are buoyed up by participating in the seven sacraments. They also say that a man is saved by God's grace, but that he imparts that grace piecemeal through the sacraments. And man adds, I quote, to that which was lacking in Christ's sacrifice by contributing his own sufferings and works to Christ's sacrifice on the cross. In fact, the dogma goes so far as to say that Christ's sacrifice at the cross was insufficient to save, it only opened a door, and that's why the center of their worship is the Mass where Jesus is sacrificed again and again, the sacrifice of the Mass, in order to expiate our sins. 

They literally believe that they eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus and receive God's grace through that sacrament for salvation. It's a kind of progressive justification. So we see that works-righteous religion persists in our world today and sets itself in opposition to the biblical truth of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus alone and what He accomplished and finished at the cross. It's no small difference, my friends. It's only the difference between eternal heaven and the lake of fire. And this is clear in the Scriptures. 

Look again at our text, Romans 9.30. "What shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained a righteousness, even the righteousness of faith. But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone, as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on him will not be put to shame." 

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved, for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 

The reason Israel was not saved is because they rejected Jesus and His righteousness by faith and they sought to establish their own righteousness through the law, through works. We will see that not all Jews rejected; the remnant believed, such as Paul, the Apostles, so many Jews on Pentecost and in the book of Acts. But the nation, the vast majority, chose to seek righteousness through the law. 

Mark's working through the book of Hebrews in Bible study on Thursday, that's what that book's all about, an appeal to those who had come up to the point of faith in Christ, but were in danger of going back to Judaism, who had not gone on to perfection in faith. And many of them did go back. 

Well this is not God's way. It's impossible for men to accomplish, to keep the law, because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, they've missed the mark, they've fallen short, they're all sinners deserving of the wrath of God. James says in chapter 2 at verse 10, if you keep the whole law and offend at one point, you're guilty of all, you deserve the wrath of God, you're a lawbreaker. 

Romans 11.32 again, the glorious truth, God has considered all men, has examined them and found them all to be sinners, and He's chosen to have mercy on all. We need mercy. We need grace. And this is God's plan of salvation. Turn over to Romans 3 at verse 19 with me, please. Another abundantly clear passage on this vital truth. 

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, why? What's the purpose of the law? That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now, the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 

Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, that means a full satisfactory payment. How? Through faith. To demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. There is boasting then. It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 

It's not faith plus works, it's not faith plus sacraments, it's not faith plus religion. He says clearly, a man is justified by faith apart, exclusive from, any work that we do. God's plan was to remain just and holy by punishing every sin of every man of all time in Christ. I want to just comment on that a little bit because I'm completely fascinated with verses 25 and 26, because what does it say? It says that God demonstrated His righteousness at the cross. How? He punished every sin. 

You see, before He had passed over in the Old Testament sins of men, He had not punished those sins. He didn't strike them dead on the spot and send them to hell. So He was not demonstrated or shown to be righteous and holy because there were sins that He had not punished that He had passed over. 

In order for God to be shown to be holy and righteous, He had to punish every sin. These verses demolish the idea of limited atonement. Because if He only died for the elect, then He wasn't shown to be righteous. He was still passing over sins at that time of men who were sinning and not believing and living. Tremendous little side note there, I love that. He was demonstrated in that He punished every sin. He was shown to be righteous, pouring out His wrath on Jesus at the cross. But at the same time, in the amazing, glorious plan and grace of God at the cross, God was able to justify the one who has faith in Jesus because Jesus died in my place. 

Jesus took the full penalty for my sins and He accomplished my salvation. And what does God require for me to receive this righteousness, this very righteousness of God, that I might be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect, as Jesus says in Matthew 5.48? Turn to Romans 4.1. 

"What then shall we say that Abraham our father is found according to the flesh?" The Jews believe that Abraham was a righteous man by his works, right? So Paul brings him up as the example. "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness." 

This is David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. "How much more clear could the Scriptures be? Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin." 

God's means of giving us His righteousness is by imputation through faith in Jesus. It is by faith. Abraham believed God and it was credited, imputed to him, to his account, the righteousness of God. It is not to him who works, the good man, the works-righteous religious man, but it's to the one who knows he's a sinner. The one who smites his breast and bows his head and says, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." It's to him who believes, the one who places his faith wholly in the work of Christ accomplished on the cross. 

To this one, God imputes His righteousness. This is the very truth that we see Paul expound in our text. Israel was not saved when Jesus came, the promises were not fulfilled because they did not believe. They stuck with their religion and works and rites and rituals and rejected Christ. But many of the Gentiles, when they heard the good news, the gospel of salvation by grace through faith, they believed, they received it, and they became children of God. 

What shall we say then? The Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith. This is God's way. This is the only way for a man to become righteous, not by works that He has done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Salvation is the gift of God, the grace of God, and we receive this gift by faith. 

The Jews were zealous. Religious men can be very zealous. Perhaps the most zealous man I can think of is Osama bin Laden. Here's a guy that had all the world could offer in Saudi Arabia, and he left it all and lived in caves and dwelt in the mountains of Pakistan because he believed he was carrying out the will of Allah. That's pretty zealous. 

The Jews were so zealous, they persecuted and killed Jesus, then they killed those who followed Him, but their religious zeal was not according to knowledge, Paul says, not according to truth, and thus tragedy of all tragedies. They missed their long-awaited Messiah. They crucified Him and persisted in their religion, and they died in their sins. Those who do not believe will perish, zealous, religious, or otherwise, and to add works and religion to grace and faith is to deny Jesus and to deny the Father. 

My friends, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for those who believe. You know, when I was a kid, I was religious. It was somewhat forced upon me, but I was religious. I went to mass six days a week from the time I was four years old until I was a teenager. I continued to go to mass, participate in the sacraments, served as an altar boy the whole deal until I went to college. I was religious. I was seeking to establish my own righteousness through the works of the law, through sacraments, through religion, hoping that my good works could outweigh my bad, and I had a lot of bad ones, by the way. 

But I could go into that dark booth with that priest and confess my sins, and he would give me a few Hail Marys in an act of contrition, and boom, I was good to go. But I have to tell you what happened to me. I was a prideful guy, filled up with my own self and my own goodness when I moved up here to South Crab Lake Road to take a caretaking job. And I met a guy named Guy, Guy Folsom, and for the very first time in my life, someone shared with me, preached to me the gospel of Jesus Christ. I had never once heard it in my first 26 years of life. It was a shock to me. I brushed him off as a religious nut, but he persisted and prayed for me. He gave me tapes of sermons from some Krens guy down here at Living Hope Church. 

And later, when I finally understood my sin and my guilt and the condemnation that I deserved, when I understood what the gospel is, what God's Word says in passages like Ephesians 2, I turned to Jesus in faith. I received His grace gift of salvation through faith in Jesus alone. My brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus was the end of the law for righteousness for me when I believed. Never a moment of confusion since. Never once have I been confused about works and grace. Never once have I put my faith, my trust in anything that I have done. 

But I am fully confident in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection and my place for my sins. My salvation accomplished at the cross, the work is finished, it is done. And I believe, and thus I have received His righteousness. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for those who believe. What a glorious truth, what a great salvation, and what a great Savior we have in the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

And it is the cross that we come here this morning to celebrate, to remember, to proclaim until He comes. And that's what we're going to do, my friends. We're going to proclaim it until He comes. We're going to proclaim the good news of salvation of righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ alone. That's why we're here. And there's so many men that need to hear it. 

Let's close in a word of prayer. 

Father, we thank You for the good news. We thank You for the gospel truth that Jesus, Son of God eternally, became a man, took on flesh in order to die in my place for my sins, to take Your wrath and fully accomplish salvation for every man who will believe. Father, we thank You for that gift, that grace, that mercy. And thank You that You save us fully and completely when we turn to Jesus in faith, when we turn from our works and our rituals and our religion and our own self-righteousness and seek to have the righteousness which is through faith in Jesus. Thank You that You save us and give us eternal life and we're secure in Him by faith. And thank You for the mission that You've given us to go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Thank You for that message that is true when we tell a man about Jesus that if he turns to Him in faith, he'll be saved. What a promise. We praise You. We give You thanks. In Jesus' name.