The Message Is Near
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Pastoral Reminder: Head Heart Hands
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Please turn with me to chapter 10 verse 1. We will be continuing this passage as Paul speaks of his heart felt desire that his fellow Jews would be saved.
30 What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith. 31 But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law. 32 Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written, Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame. 1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation. 2 I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.
The greatest need for any man or woman is to be found righteous before God. Because anyone found to be unrighteousness before God’s moral law will find themselves condemned before the final judgement. But those who obtain righteousness will be justified before God and will be saved.
Paul is saying that his fellow Jews have not obtained salvation. They have stumbled over the stone of Jesus. They have zeal for God but in their ignorance they attempted to establish their own righteousness. They have come to the place that many today come. To a false contentment and assurance that I am good enough, that I have earned it, that I don’t have to worry about what happens at the end because it will all work out in the end.
But Paul is telling them that they must understand how one is justified before God. For if one is not justified, they will receive the cup of his just wrath to receive what their sin has earned them. The wages of sin is death. You must understand how one is justified. All of eternity and life depends on understanding this truth.
They have read the scriptures, heard the prophets, followed the traditions, and have missed the way that as person is justified. It is by obtaining righteousness and there is only one way to obtain it. By Faith and belief.
20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law. 21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
They had missed that it all points to Jesus. Especially the law. They sought to attain salvation by their works but they missed that Christ was the end and competition of the law for the believer. So after he confronts them on their works based assurance, he goes to the scriptures to enlighten them further.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, 5 since Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them. 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him.
Christ is the End For Everyone Who Believes
Christ is the End For Everyone Who Believes
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes,
To one who has faith and believes Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness. He is the end of the law in its substance. In the law was the righteousness of God but it was not the end, Christ is. The law pointed to the good things to come the reality that man cannot perfect themselves.
1 Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the reality itself of those things, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year.
In the law was what a man must do in order to found right before God. But they were not the substance but the shadow.
17 These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ.
All of the law was a shadow. Like a picture, or a story points to a real person, but when that person stands before you in their substance you see clearly. Christ is the end of the law in it substance because there is nothing more to reveal.
Jesus is also the end of the law in its fulfillment. In Matthew he said,
17 “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
and Luke wrote,
44 He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Jesus perfectly lived in obedience to the Father’s will without sin. Tempted in all ways of man yet without sin. Jesus is the end of the law in his fulfillment of all of the law’s requirements and as the one and only man who could live in perfect obedience to them.
He fulfilled the law and its requirements so that he could be the guild offering on our behalf. He is also the end of the law for the believer as the one who receives the full punishment for sin on the believer's behalf.
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus is the end of condemnation for those who believe.
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
For the person who believes they are set free from the condemnation of their sin. They may still receive the consequences of their sin but for the one who has recieved the Holy Spirit and been sealed, there is no longer any future fear of condemnation. For by faith they are justified.
24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.
Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness for the one who believes as he is the substance of righteousness, the fulfillment of righteousness, and the righteousness before God’s Judgement.
Paul continues to unpack this by looking at the old testament scriptures.
Righteousness from the Law
Righteousness from the Law
5 since Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them.
Paul points them back to a place of error in their understanding of what Moses taught. Pointing back to Leviticus 18 we find Moses writing to the Israelites about not following in the pagan ways of Egypt. That they are to practice the good works that God has given them. And if they do them they will live.
4 You are to practice my ordinances and you are to keep my statutes by following them; I am the Lord your God. 5 Keep my statutes and ordinances; a person will live if he does them. I am the Lord.
A person will live or be made alive if he does them. This was the promise of the law. That is a person could live every breath of their life under the law without any slip or stray they would be justified before God. But we find that in Adam all have fallen and all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. He would promise even if they turned back to the they would live. But it is not in man’s nature to do so.
10 “ ‘So I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. 11 Then I gave them my statutes and explained my ordinances to them—the person who does them will live by them. 12 I also gave them my Sabbaths to serve as a sign between me and them, so that they would know that I am the Lord who consecrates them.
This would seem like the right thing to do. Right. God has taken this nation out of slavery and oppression. They walked on dry land at the bottom of the Red Sea. They were rescued by almighty God. Wouldn’t one think that they would be totally devoted to God.
13 “ ‘But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my statutes and they rejected my ordinances—the person who does them will live by them. They also completely profaned my Sabbaths. So I considered pouring out my wrath on them in the wilderness to put an end to them.
They rebel against the God who has just saved them by turning back to the pagan rituals and symbols. They choose to go their own way forgetting the promise of life who does them. And when he had punished them by sending them to the wilderness for 40 years, God would speak again to the nation. But this time it would be to the next generation.
18 “ ‘Then I said to their children in the wilderness, “Don’t follow the statutes of your fathers, defile yourselves with their idols, or keep their ordinances. 19 I am the Lord your God. Follow my statutes, keep my ordinances, and practice them. 20 Keep my Sabbaths holy, and they will be a sign between me and you, so you may know that I am the Lord your God.” 21 “ ‘But the children rebelled against me. They did not follow my statutes or carefully keep my ordinances—the person who does them will live by them. They also profaned my Sabbaths. So I considered pouring out my wrath on them and exhausting my anger against them in the wilderness.
For generations the Israelites have herd the words of Moses that one who does these things will live by them. But they took that to mean that if I just try here and there I will be found right with God.
But the history of Israel and the history of our own lives proves that we are unable to follow the laws and attain righteousness for ourselves. Showing the universal nature of stubbornness.
29 You warned them to turn back to your law, but they acted arrogantly and would not obey your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, which a person will live by if he does them. They stubbornly resisted, stiffened their necks, and would not obey.
With their mouths they agree with God but in their lives they do just the opposite.
26 ‘Anyone who does not put the words of this law into practice is cursed.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’
Salvation is not found by works of the law. No matter how hard a person tries. How devoted or pious a person is. No matter how much they clean up their act. Salvation and life cannot be obtained thorough religious observance of man made righteousness.
In contrast, is the righteousness that comes by faith.
Righteousness That Comes By Faith
Righteousness That Comes By Faith
6 But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. …
Paul personifies the righteousness that comes by faith and belief. It speaks to people and says Do not say in your heart. The center of a person the deep parts of a man or woman. They spoke of the heart as the place of life.
23 Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.
Do not say Who will go up to heaven? or Who will go down to the abyss? But what does it say. The message is near you, in your mouth and heart.
He is using a language from Deuteronomy 30
12 It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ 13 And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ 14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.
Moses writes to the nation one last time before he passes the leadership of Israel to Joshua. He writes of the renewed covenant with Israel and God. That if they enter the promised land and obey all that God has commanded that they will be blessed but if they rebel they will be cursed. He warns them that they will turn away and that when they return God will restore them.
1 “When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am commanding you today, 3 then he will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.
The heart is the theme that Paul is pulling from these passages. When Israel comes to their senses and returns to the Lord in obedience with all their heart and soul and doing the all that is commanded. When they do this God will circumcise their hearts.
6 The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live.
As he brings their minds back to this passage he is revealing the thread of faith and belief that is associated with a changed heart.
9 The Lord your God will make you prosper abundantly in all the work of your hands, your offspring, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the Lord will again delight in your prosperity, as he delighted in that of your ancestors, 10 when you obey the Lord your God by keeping his commands and statutes that are written in this book of the law and return to him with all your heart and all your soul.
The obedience to the law is a sign of one who loves the Lord with all of their heart. He is commanding them to love him and that to do so is not in a far off and unattainable place.
11 “This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach.
But where is it
12 It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ 13 And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ 14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.
The message the brings life is not in the heavens where someone must journey to highest places and bring it back and proclaim it. Nor does someone have to traverse the great expanse of the deeps of the sea to retrieve it. But the message is not to difficult or beyond reach. The command and message is
16 For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
Paul is equating the command to love the Lord your God with the righteousness that comes by faith. That those who have faith in God will live in line with the requirements of the law.
6 But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim:
A person does not have to trek to the heavens to find the righteousness that comes from faith. Nor does he have to go down into the deepest depth of the abyss to find the righteousness that comes by faith. For Christ descended of his own accord
5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross. 9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The word came into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. 14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
As Christ descended coming to man. Being a man, living as a man, and being near man. Christ descended taking on the likeness of man. Being obedient to the father even to the point of death on a cross. He became the curse and died so that the wrath of God that was poured out on him. He died and was buried. But no one has to descend to follow him for death could not hold him and on the 3rd day he returned.
3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
Paul is telling them that it was about their hearts and their belief in God. To love God is to follow him. And to follow him is to keep his commandments. But the righteousness of God was never far from them.
The Message is Near
The Message is Near
8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Where do you look and seek? What great expanse do you have to go? How good do you have to be? How much do you have to refrain from? How much effort and work must I put in to be found right before God. This was the mindset of the Jews. Say the right things, do the right things, obtain from the right things, have the right ancestry, be part of the covenant, follow the traditions and the rituals. Always pursuing righteousness on their terms and under their man made righteous standard.
But Paul says that is not what God has said. The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. It is not too difficult or our of your reach.
14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it. 15 See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
Where is the message found? It is found in your mouth and your heart. It is found inside as mind and the heart heart the message of God and believe. It is by faith that the righteousness of God is given to man. That faith is found in our mouth and our heart when we believe.
Paul is revealing to the Jews that is was conformance to the law that God has required but love for God. To believe in him and to trust and obey him. To be faithful to him. To put your faith in the saving work of God and not in your own understanding a work.
The message was never far away even though they treated it that way. By making it about works and not faith they could never achieve the righteousness they sought after.
Conclusions
Conclusions
The Jews had built up many obstacles to their faith. With the focus on their own works they laid many burdens on the backs of themselves and the people. They made other things the end of the law instead of Christ himself. They looked to their own understanding and standing to be confident in their salvation, but that was a false confidence.
In many ways today we do the same thing. We put many things in the way of simply knowing Christ. There are many burdens that people add that they must do or achieve before they can go to God or be saved. They look out and say who will bring me what I need to hear so that I can do this but what we see here is that what is needed is to look inside our hearts and to hear the message that is there.
Christ came to save sinners. And I am one of them. The he is all that will ever be revealed to us so I must seek to know him fully. It is his righteousness that has been given to me so that I may be found not guilty. It is his sacrifice that I may not be condemned. It is by his Spirit that I live like him.
It is by faith that we confess Jesus is Lord and it is by belief in our hearts that God raised him fro the dead that we are saved.
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Blessing/Benediction
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
