The Human Responsiblity in Salvation

REVIEW QUESTIONS

QUESTION: What does chapter 9 say the reason for the majority of Israel rejecting Jesus?

ANSWER: God never promised all Israel would be saved. Only those chosen will be saved

QUESTION: What does it mean that God loved Jacob but hated Esau?

ANSWER: “to love less”

QUESTION: How does Paul justify God choosing some and passing over others?

ANSWER: he says He is God and He has that right.

QUESTION: What happens when God hardens someone? (v 18 “and He hardens whom He desires”)

It means He locks a rebellious heart in place.

INTRODUCTION

Hopefully chapter 9 is still fresh in your mind. It is the most straight forward and descriptive chapter of predestination in the Bible. We could have titled that chapter the sovereignty of God and could walk away from it and say well it all depends upon God and I have nothing to do with it.

But then we come to chapter 10. And chapter 10 shows us the other side of the coin. Israel’s failure to believe was not just because of God’s sovereignty, but they are also personally responsible.

And as we go through this chapter tonight, Paul will show us exactly how they also bear responsibility for not receiving the gospel, and that same responsibility falls on everyone

1) Israel stumbled over the stumbling Stone

Romans 9:30–33 “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 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.”

This section begins with another question: Why did Israel who pursued righteousness not attain it…while the Gentiles did?

He then answers his own question in next verses 32-33: Because they stumbled overt the fact that righteousness comes by faith and not by works

The difference in the Jews and Gentiles is that the Jews had the Law and so they in trying to attain righteousness did so by trying to obey the Law

The gentiles did not have the Law, but heard the gospel preached (likely by Paul initially) and believed it, and had righteousness credited to them

Therefore Christ became a stumbling block to the jews because the righteousness of Christ required faith

The call for faith in Christ did not fit their ideology and so they rejected Him and pursued righteousness by works

Two points I want to make:

We cannot pursue the Law FOR righteousness. That is what the Jews did. They thought by obeying God’s rules, they would become righteous

Now we know this is not true because obedience cannot take our sin away…no matter how much we obey

We need Someone else’s righteousness and that would be Jesus

This is the human default of many people today

People often fall back to the this same mentality. If they just do these certain religious things that we are supposed to do, then we will find favor with God and become right with God.

This is where people most often begin, thats why they begin with going to church and giving and maybe serving because at its core it is a works based salvation.

If I do these things, then God will accept me

But we have learned that righteousness only comes by faith. And that is hard for us to grasp because it seems too easy and too simple.

2) Israel is ignorant of the God’s righteousness

Romans 10:1–4 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them 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.”

First Notice Paul’s prayer:

He prays for their salvation.

Salvation begins with God. “No one can come to Me unless the Father draws Him”.

The people in our life whom do not follow Jesus, and we want the to follow Jesus, this is where we should begin.

Put them on your prayer list, and pray that God would save them.

They had a zeal for God but not according to knowledge

What is a zeal for God? That means they had an intense interest in God. They were passionate about the Lord, His honor, His Word.

The problem was their knowledge of God. They did not understand God’s righteousness and their own sinfulness.

They thought they could attain what they needed on their own.

Application:

To pursue God in the wrong way is to miss Him all together! No matter how zealous we are!

There are certain people who sing and dance and seem so zealous for God, yet when it comes to the understanding that salvation is based upon faith they miss it.

To try to be right with God in any other way than God tell us is to pursue righteousness on our own and not according to knowledge

What a great reason to want to have sound teaching in the church

Preaching and teaching must be more than enthusiasm and funny stories and entertainment.

Teaching or preaching without sound content is not teaching at all! It is mere entertainment.

And what a reason to have eager listeners in the pews and in the seats.

If if it is taught well and preached well, we have the responsibility to hear and learn and seek to understand what is being taught.

If God’s truth does not enter our minds and make sense, it will have no impact upon our lives.

Knowledge brings understanding

3) The righteousness of God is not too far away or too difficult to attain

Romans 10:5–8 “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 as follows: “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,

Now when it comes to righteousness of God Paul wants them to know that God’s righteousness is not UNATTAINABLE!

It is not so far up into the heavens where no one reach it (who will bring Christ down) and it is not “so far down into the abyss” that we must ask (who will 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”

Now what Paul is saying is that the righteousness of God is so near to us because it is embedded in the gospel message.

When the gospel is preached, God’s righteousness is revealed and whoever responds to that message will be saved

Romans 1:16–17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.””

QUESTION: According to these verses, how do people receive the righteousness of God?

ANSWER: They hear the gospel and believe it

Rom 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

“Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord”

QUESTION: What do you think that this means?

ANSWER: It means to be submitted to the Lord Jesus.

It has to mean more than simply saying that Jesus is Lord.

Matthew 7:21 ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

Matthew 15:8 “‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.”

This would include a public confession.

In those days Caesar was considered lord and anyone who verbally confessed Jesus as Lord was putting themselves in great danger

So if someone truly trusted Jesus they would make it public

“Believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead”

This is the faith aspect. In Scripture faith and belief are often interchangeable terms.

So when Scripture calls us to believe, that is a call to faith and trust

These are not separate things, but a two aspects of one’s faith in Jesus

Sometimes we can get confused and think about this like a sequence of things we must do.

4) How will they hear without a preacher?

Romans 10:14–21 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world.” But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, By a nation without understanding will I anger you.” And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who did not seek Me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.” But as for Israel He says, “All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people”

Paul brings together two things here: The gospel preached to everyone and the responsibility to believe it.

1) This is our mission church. We are all proclaimers of the gospel.

This is how people come to faith in Jesus. God saves people through the proclamation of the gospel. And when God saves someone he turns around and sends them out with the message of the gospel to share with others.

“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ”

2) Israel’s offer and rejection of the gospel

“surely they have never heard have they? Indeed they have”

The point: there is nothing wrong with the gospel message. Its a problem with the hearers