Stumbling onto Grace
Romans 9:30-33
-Do you know what a caricature is? One definition says that it’s “a representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject’s distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect.” Miriam-Webster offers a shorter description: “An exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics.”
-Political figures are often depicted in this way (show pics). I want to suggest this morning that many people today have created a false caricature of Christ. Let me list five from a message by James MacDonald (www.walkintheword.com).
* Jesus is my buddy. While it is true that Jesus calls believers his “friends,” He is not just a pal. If we saw Him as He really is, we would fall flat on our faces. When the Apostle John saw Jesus in the first chapter of Revelation, he says: “I fell at his feet as though dead” (Revelation 1:17).
* Jesus is my good luck charm. People who have this image of Jesus think that just because they have Him around their neck or carry Him in their purse that they’ll be protected. Friends, Jesus is not lucky, He is Lord.
* Jesus is my religious artifact. Some people believe Jesus lives at church and they go there to kiss a picture or bow before a statue. We saw a lot of this in Mexico.
* Jesus is my meal ticket. In this picture, Jesus wants to give me His “favor” and will make me healthy and wealthy. Many people today believe that Jesus is the key that unlocks the door to every longing in the sinful heart. Remember this: Jesus doesn’t work for you; you work for Him.
* Jesus is my social conscience. In this caricature of Christ, Jesus is an example for us as we seek to be involved in horizontal goodness. Since Jesus was a nice man and a good teacher, I should be nice to others. Jesus is an example but He’s so much more.
-What we need is a true picture of Jesus, with nothing avoided and nothing exaggerated. We must be careful to not overemphasize one aspect of Christ’s character at the exclusion of the totality of His being.
-In the first part of Romans 9:30 Paul writes: “What then shall we say?” This is his common way of saying, “Here’s what I mean.” He uses this same phrase in Romans 3:5 and Romans 9:14. Since the verses that follow can either be considered a conclusion to Romans 9 or an introduction to Romans 10, here’s a brief review of what we’ve covered most recently in Romans 9:
* In Romans 9:1-5, we learned that evangelism will have little effect if we don’t love the lost. Paul cried for the unconverted and so should we.
* In Romans 9:6-18, we were reminded that God’s Word cannot fail because He is faithful and He is fair…and He will never drop you.
* Then, a few weeks ago while we focused on how to make sense of predestination in Romans 9:19-29, we uncovered this truth: God is supremely sovereign and we are responsible for our response to Him.
-We need to see Jesus for who He really is. When we do, we will either stumble over Him or base our lives on Him. Unfortunately, some people today don’t stumble over Him because they’ve shrunk the Savior to a more manageable size.
-There are different stumbling blocks for different people. It seems that those who follow religious ritual and rules may have the biggest struggle, while those who know they are sinners often embrace the Savior far easier. Shortly after Jesus was born, Simeon predicted in Luke 2:34 that Jesus would be a stumbling stone, causing people to be separated into two groups: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against…”
-I have three thoughts to summarize our passage for today in Romans 9:30-33. Before we get to them, let’s read it:
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." 33 As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
I. Unexpected Favor
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
-We didn’t seek Him – He sought us! We didn’t come to Him until He came to us and called us to Himself.
Romans 5:6-8 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-We may not have had any real spiritual interest at all, but Jesus had an interest in us! We may not have been seeking Him, but He was seeking us!
-There’s a song that says, “Mercy came running, like a prisoner set free, past all my failures to the point of my need. When the sin that I carried was all I could see
when I could not reach mercy, Mercy came running to me.”
II. Unearned Righteousness
-God owed us nothing (Eph. 2:8-9). We didn’t have it coming to us and we could obtain righteousness on our own. We were nowhere close to being righteous. But then God stepped into our lives. The blinders were removed from our eyes. And we believed the good news about Jesus! We received His forgiveness and began to experience the newness of His life in us! He made us righteous because we believed on His righteous Son, Jesus, whose death atoned for our sins.
III. Unstumbling Trust
-You will never find God’s favor or receive His righteousness until you trust Him completely! Many have stumbled over Jesus and have not put their trust in Him.
-Some stumble because they cannot deal with the idea that they are sinners! Something within them refuses to admit “I am a sinner!” Instead of running after righteousness, many are sliding into sin. Listen to the words found in Romans 1:29-32: “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
-These same people, who are a lot like us, according to Romans 9:30 have obtained righteousness, even though they weren’t pursuing it. One thing they did have figured out was that they were sinners. They knew that their behavior would never qualify them as righteous; the only way for that to happen was “by faith.” Literally this means “out of, or from” faith and is not just a mental assent but a firm conviction and surrender to the truth. They received something they weren’t even looking for, much less striving to attain, but they got it because of faith. Don’t miss this. Having a right relationship with God is not something you can work for because it comes as a gift. Righteousness is a gift of God’s grace, not a reward for hard work. I love Isaiah 65:1: “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me.”
-Do you have it figured out that you’re a sinner? If not, you’ll keep stumbling over this one until you do. If you’re settled and you know that you’re a sinner, that’s a good thing. In Matthew 9:13, Jesus says: “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” I should warn you however, that sin can also cause us to miss the message because of its potential to hold us in bondage. Listen to the words of 1 Peter 2:8: “They stumble because they disobey the message…” Sounds like God’s word to Cain in Genesis 4:7: “…But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
-Some people just cannot see their need for a Savior. Instead, they believe that somehow they will be able to do enough good things to balance out the bad. Many of the Jews tried hard to obey God’s laws. In fact they built what they called fences around the Torah. They added their own laws and guidelines to the Torah as safeguards to keep them from even getting close to breaking one of God’s commandments in the Law (i.e. God’s name; meat & milk; Sabbath rules). This may seem admirable on one level, but it became a point of pride and self-achievement for many. They grew much more attached to Laws than to the Lawgiver.
-Nobody can earn their righteousness. Nobody can earn God’s favor! That is not God’s plan, nor is it even possible! No amount of good works can qualify you for heaven! God didn’t send a self-help guru to save us. He didn’t send us a behavior modification specialist. No! God is into heart change, so He sent us a Savior! The Savior can change your heart! The Savior can change your life! And yes, the Savior can change your behavior! However, many people get the cart before the horse. Good works should follow those who believe, not lead the way! Some people think that if you get your act together and get all your actions and behavior in line, then God will accept you. In other words, they think that if we can modify our behavior to such an extent that we look like we are righteous, then God will look at our actions and say, “Hey! You’ve been so good that I’m going to let you into heaven!” But the Bible tells us that man is the one who looks on the outward appearance. God looks on the heart! The pure in heart see God!
-Some stumble over admitting they are a sinner. Some stumble over the Savior, thinking they can modify their performance and pass the test. Lastly, some stumble over how simple grace really is.
-Theologian Robert Haldane said: “A free salvation becomes an offense to men on account of their pride – men’s desire is to do something…to merit their salvation, at least in part.” The requirement is simple – it’s called trust. Once we settle our sinfulness and see Jesus as Savior then we’re called to simple trust. I love how Jesus reframed his listeners’ desire to “work” for their salvation in John 6:28-29. It’s as if He’s saying that if they want to work, here’s their job: “Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’” This is similar to what we read in Acts 16:30-31 when the Philippian jailer asked this question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The answer was simple: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved.”
-It’s not that complicated. And yet people stumble over it all the time. Salvation is simple because Jesus did all the work. It’s free because He paid the price for your sins. And it’s a gift because all you need to do is receive it. Because we are sinners we can trust Him for our salvation and we can also trust Him with the stresses of our lives.
-Since God is in complete control and has ultimate authority, you and I can trust Him with all the horrible headlines and the uneasy uncertainty that is swirling around us. The end of verse 33 says: “And the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” The word “trusts” is in the present tense, meaning that we can always trust, every day and every moment. The door is still open. And when we do, we will never be put to shame. It’s difficult but it’s also simple. As a way to get this imprinted in our heads and on our hearts, I’m going to read a few statements and I’d like you to respond with this phrase after each one: “I will trust Him.”
* With earthquakes, storms, and other natural disasters …“I will trust Him.”
* With family problems and broken relationships …“I will trust Him.”
* In health, sickness or in death …“I will trust Him.”
* With financial hardships and surprises …“I will trust Him.”
* With our presidential election coming up …“I will trust Him.”
* When I am disappointed or upset …“I will trust Him.”
-I own the fact that I’m a sinner and I believe that Jesus is my Savior. And now by simple faith I receive Him into my life.
-Jesus is either a Rock of Refuge or a Stumbling Stone. Are you standing on the rock or are you stumbling over being a sinner? Are you embracing the Savior with simple trust in the One who died in your place? Those who trust in Him will never be put to shame. That means you’ll never be sorry that you gave your life to Jesus. Those who stumble over Him now will be ashamed that they have wasted their lives in the pursuit of possessions and other pleasures when they see Him face to face.
-Is Jesus a Rock of Refuge or a Stumbling Stone to you? Will you trust the One who will never let you down or will you be crushed by Him? Don’t be content with a caricature of Christ or of the Christian life when you can have the real thing.
-I’d like to share a song with you. My hope is that it will help you trust the Lord more because He is actively working in your life, making you more like Jesus. (Blessings)
(Much of intro and 3rd main point adapted from Brian Bill’s sermon on Rom. 9:30-33, sermoncentral.com)
