Scripture
If anyone could ever have achieved salvation by his own effort, it was Martin Luther. In 1505, when he was twenty-one years old, Luther abandoned a promising career in law and entered the monastery of the Augustinian hermits at Erfurt. As he later said, this was not to study academic theology but to save his soul.
In those days the monastic orders prescribed ways by which the seeking soul could find God, and Luther, with the determination and strength that characterized his entire life, gave himself rigorously to these tasks. He fasted and prayed. He devoted himself to menial work. Above all, he practiced penance, confessing his sins, even the most trivial, for hours on end until his superiors wearied of his exercise and ordered him to stop until he had committed some sin worth confessing. Luther’s piety gained him a reputation for being the most exemplary of monks.
Later he wrote to the Duke of Saxony, “I was indeed a pious monk and followed the rules of my order more strictly than I can express. If ever a monk could obtain heaven by his monkery, I should certainly have been entitled to it. Of this all the friars who have known me can testify. If I had continued much longer, I should have killed myself because of my watchings, prayers, reading and other labors.”
Yet Luther found no peace through these exercises.
The religious wisdom of the day instructed him to satisfy God’s demand for righteousness by doing good works. “But what works?” thought Luther. “What works can come from a heart like mine? How can I stand before the holiness of my Judge with works polluted in their very source?”
It was not until Johann Staupitz, the Vicar-General of the Congregation and Luther’s wise spiritual father, set him to studying the Bible that Luther realized what the difficulty was. He was trying to earn salvation by works of human righteousness, when the righteousness he needed was not human righteousness at all. It was divine righteousness, and this could become his only if God gave it to him, which he did in the gospel.
Luther had been seeking righteousness by means of human works, when what he needed was to accept God’s righteousness by simple faith and therefore stop trying to work for it.
And this is what we see in today’s text, Romans 9:30-33:
30What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33as it is written,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 8:30-33)
Introduction
Why would anyone reject salvation? Have you ever thought about that? Why would anyone reject salvation?
That’s the question that Paul is talking about in these verses, except it’s even more pointed than that. Paul is asking, in effect, “Why would a religious person reject salvation? Why would God’s covenant people, schooled in God’s law, and taught by God’s prophets, reject salvation? Why would anyone, whose focus in life was to be in fellowship with God, reject salvation?”
That’s a hard question. It’s a hard question, not only because it is perplexing to the mind (why would anyone reject salvation?), but also because it is a reality.
You see, for the people of God who had been given the Scriptures of the Old Testament and the predictions of the Messiah had, by and large, closed their ears to the gospel that the apostles were preaching. They had rejected Jesus as the Messiah. They had rejected the gospel that Jesus Christ was the only way of salvation.
Lesson
And Paul was broken-hearted over it, as we saw in Romans 9:1-5. So he raises this issue for us again at the end of the chapter and he asks us, “Why would anyone reject salvation?”
I. Unbelieving Israel Has Not Found Right Standing with God, but the Believing Gentiles Have (9:30-31)
First, Paul teaches that unbelieving Israel has not found right standing with God, but the believing Gentiles have found right standing with God. He says in verses 30-31: “What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.”
What has in fact come about, Paul says, is not what we would have expected. We would have expected all Israel to embrace Jesus as the Messiah. We would have expected the Gentiles to be resistant to him. But what we found, in fact, was that the Gentiles are flocking to him, but the complacent people of God are turning their ears against him. They are turning their hearts against him.
What are we to make of this fascinating situation? The Gentiles have come to receive righteousness, which is by faith and yet Israel has not attained the righteousness of the law. Unbelieving Israel has not found right standing with God, but believing Gentiles have found right standing with God. What are we to make of this situation?
Now, Paul has already started answering that question for us in Romans 9:6-29. He said that you first have to look at God’s sovereignty. God has a purpose even in the rejection of Jesus by Israel, and that purpose is to reveal his mercy.
And the second part of the answer is found in man’s responsibility. That’s Paul’s focus in Romans 9:30-10:21. He’s going to emphasize human responsibility and the centrality of faith. If you want to understand why Israel rejected salvation, then you have to understand something about faith.
And so here in Romans 9:30-31 Paul is restating his concern that pagans, who cared nothing about righteousness, have obtained right standing with God, whereas the people of God have not. They’ve missed it.
And he’s raising this very difficult question. But even in raising the question in verses 30-31, Paul is reminding us that God’s sovereignty is compatible with man’s responsibility; it is not contradictory to it. You see, Paul is not saying, “Okay now, some of you can believe Romans 9:6-29, and others of you can believe Romans 9:30-10:21. You can believe either way, God is either sovereign or man is responsible.”
Paul doesn’t ever pause to see any kind of contradiction here. And as far as Paul is concerned both of these things are perfectly compatible and both are absolutely true. God is sovereign. God’s grace is God’s choice. But man is responsible too. And we must believe.
It is precisely in the failure of Israel to believe, and in the believing of the Gentiles, that we see this tremendous distinction. God is sovereign and man is responsible, and God’s mercy is not exhausted even in the saving of the Gentiles.
It’s so surprising, you never would have thought it, but that’s precisely how God chose to reveal his mercy.
And so he next asks the question “Why?” in verse 32. And that’s the second thing I’d like you to see.
II. This Is because Israel Sought Right Standing with God in the Wrong Way (9:32)
Paul asks in effect, “Why did this happen? Why did Israel reject salvation?”
And he gives us a two-part answer. He says that they rejected salvation because they sought it the wrong way, and because they rejected the Savior. They rejected salvation because they sought it the wrong way, by works, and because they rejected the Savior, Christ crucified.
In other words, Israel sought right standing with God the wrong way. Paul puts it this way in verse 32, “Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone.”
What led to this disaster? How could God’s people miss the mark so badly? Paul’s answer is in the first part of verse 32, “Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works.” Israel sought right standing with God the wrong way. They sought it by works.
You know, that’s an amazing thing that Paul is saying, that there is a wrong way to seek fellowship with God. That thought is antithetical to our culture. We think that if a person is seeking God, he’s going to find him. If a person wants to be a follower of God, God is just totally happy with it. There are many ways up the mountain. All religions are the same. Everybody who seeks God is a child of God.
And the apostle Paul is saying here in verse 32, “Wrong, there is a right way to seek fellowship with God, and there is a wrong way.” The wrong way is by works, and he is saying precisely what the Israel of his own day did. They sought right standing with God by their own works.
Now, people who seek right standing with God by works, usually make two further mistakes. First, they underestimate their own sin. They do not see themselves as sinners in the way that the Bible sees them as sinners. They discount their sin. They see themselves as basically good people.
Second, they underestimate the cost of salvation. They underestimate the cost of grace. They think that by doing a few things they can make up for the few foibles of their past. Not only do they refer to their sin as mistakes, not only do they downplay and sanitize their sin and make it respectable, but they also downplay the cost of salvation.
The apostle Paul says that Christ himself is the price that the Father has paid for salvation. So salvation is the costliest thing in the world, even though it is offered freely to you. And the one who desires to save himself by works doesn’t reckon with either of those things.
Now there are not many of us who would just come right out and say, “I’m not a sinner, and I don’t need to be saved by Jesus Christ.”
But there are a lot of people who think that. They think of other people as sinners. They believe that they are able to do certain things in order to earn God’s favor, by being obedient, keeping certain stipulations or rituals or ceremonies. And the apostle Paul is saying that is precisely the mistake the Israel of his own day made, and therefore they missed salvation. They rejected it.
Now, the second thing that Paul has to say is in the second half of verse 32. Look at those words. Paul succinctly says, “They have stumbled over the stumbling stone.”
Now, the stumbling stone is a favorite Old Testament reference to Jesus Christ. It refers to Jesus as the cornerstone that was rejected by the builders. And the picture of the stumbling stone was often applied by the New Testament writers to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Paul is saying here that Israel could not accept Christ and his cross.
You see, there are always people who are looking for a way into fellowship with God that short-circuits or goes around the cross. They want a relationship with God, but apart from Jesus Christ, and apart from the cross. And the apostle Paul says that there is no such thing, and it’s vitally important for us to understand that.
Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. That is not a popular thing to say. How many people have said that all religions are the same? All roads lead up the mountain. There are many ways into fellowship with God. Jesus Christ is one way, but there are others.
And here the apostle Paul is saying that it is a stumbling stone to think that there is any way into fellowship with God apart from Jesus Christ. He is asserting that there is a wrong way into fellowship with God. And that wrong way is by your own works, by your own merits, by your own efforts and apart from Jesus Christ. And there is a right way, and it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. And it’s just that simple.
Paul is saying that if you are trying to enter into fellowship with the living God, there is no hope. Why? Because you’re a sinner. You’re the problem. Jesus is the solution to the problem that you have caused. The problem can’t solve itself. Only Jesus can solve this problem, and so we must accept Jesus Christ as he is offered in the gospel, or we must part with salvation.
Why would religious people reject salvation? Because they trust in their own goodness, and they discount their need of God’s grace. That’s why someone would reject salvation. Because the gospel is offensive.
You know, Paul didn’t go out and test the market. He didn’t data test this gospel and discover that nine out of ten in the test market really respond affirmatively to the idea that salvation is by grace alone, that we’re all sinners and that we need Jesus Christ to die for us in order to be saved. That’s the most offensive message in the world if you listen to it.
If you’re an unbeliever, it offends your pride, because it says that you’re such a sinner that you need a Savior like that to save you. It offends your character, it offends your person, but it’s the way of salvation, it’s the word of grace.
Paul didn’t test it to see if people liked it, because it’s the truth. It still offends people today, and it still will offend, and it will increasingly offend them.
In fact, people who claim that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation are sure to be targeted as the terrorists of the future, because we have people running around us saying that the problem is that people out there believe that truth has a capitol “T” on it. When all truth is truth, many different truths are truths, contradictory truths are truths, and only reasonable people can possible get along, people agree truth is relative.
Other people say, “You know, the first step to terrorism is somebody that thinks there is only one way to God, so we’ve got to wipe out everybody who believes there is only one way to God,” and so they begin to relativize the teaching of Scripture. And Paul doesn’t back down an inch here. Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation.
III. Christ Is Appointed for the Rise and Fall of Many in Israel—And Beyond (9:33)
The third point Paul makes in this passage is that Christ is appointed for the rise and fall of many in Israel—and beyond.
He quotes an Old Testament passage in verse 33. He says that the Old Testament (in Isaiah 28:16) predicted that Christ would both be a stumbling block and the way of salvation, that many would take offense at him, but also those that trust in him would be saved.
Look at what he says, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” There is the negative side. He is going to be one upon whom some stumble. Here’s the positive side, “and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
In other words, Jesus would simultaneously be one who would be rejected by his people and would become the occasion of them taking offense, and at the same time, he would be the very heart of salvation of those who believe in him.
Now isn’t it interesting? In Luke 2:34 you find an interesting verse. Mary and Joseph have taken the baby Jesus to Simeon to be blessed, and Simeon lays his hand on the child, and he looks into Mary’s eyes, and he says to Mary, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel.”
Simeon is saying that he recognized that the Messiah will both be the occasion of salvation and destruction of many in Israel. And what will be the difference? Believing on him or rejecting him. Trusting in our works, or trusting in his works. Trying to save ourselves, or acknowledging that we can’t save ourselves and that only he can save us. And that will be the difference, and that is what Paul is saying.
Why would anyone reject salvation? Because they refuse to acknowledge their need and they refuse to put their hope in Jesus Christ. That’s why salvation is offensive. It’s offensive to say that you need to be saved. But it’s the truth of the gospel, Paul says, and all those who embrace Jesus Christ find that the word of warning and judgment in the gospel is but a word of blessing because it has driven them from themselves and from their sin to Jesus Christ and to his salvation. Salvation, Paul is saying, is in Jesus Christ alone.
Conclusion
How do you reject salvation? You reject Christ. You refuse to believe on him, and that is a challenge for us today. That’s a challenge for people who are religious people who have grown up in the church.
Will we acknowledge that Jesus Christ alone is the way into a saving fellowship with God? Will we trust in him alone, as he is offered in the gospel for salvation?
That’s what Paul is saying. Paul is standing before you and saying this today.
Dr. Ligon Duncan tells the story of a dear friend, Douglas Macmillan, who in his own time was perhaps the greatest evangelist in Scotland. He also had in his pre-Christian days been a great athlete.
He was a massive man. He tossed the saber, threw the hammer, and did all those heavy lifting Highland sports. And he could have been a national champion in it.
He eventually became a Christian, but his struggle to become a Christian was hard, partly because he did not want to let go of so many things in his life in which he took pleasure. He was a ladies’ man. He was known to be a hard drinker as well. And he liked his lifestyle. He liked being a man’s man, and he liked doing what he wanted to do, when he wanted to do it, how he wanted to do it, with no accountability to anyone.
One day the minister came to speak with him about the gospel, and said to him, “Douglas, in this hand I’ll give you Christ, and in this hand, I’ll give you everything that you think you have to give up in order to embrace Christ. Which is it going to be? Christ or everything else?”
Douglas, reflecting on that, later looked back and he said, “You didn’t make it easy on me, and I’m so thankful.”
That’s a problem with so many in the church today. They want Christ, but they want everything else too.
You see, Christ, plus this is hell. Christ plus our works is hell. Christ plus anything else is hell.
It’s faith alone, in Christ alone. That’s salvation, Paul says.
And that’s the choice that’s before every one of us. Will we trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? That’s the difference.
Why would anyone reject salvation? Because they cannot come to the realization that they are a sinner in need of grace, and so trust in the only one who can deliver them.
Why does a person come to salvation? Because, by the mercy of God, he opens their eyes to see both their sin and their Savior, and so to trust in him alone for salvation.
May God enable you to trust in Jesus Christ who is the only way to salvation. Amen.
