Romans Series # 44 June 26, 2002
Title: The #1 Reason People Miss Heaven
Website: www.newlifeinchrist.info
Email: pastorsarver@yahoo.com
Introduction: Welcome to New Life in Christ. We are currently at the end of Chapter 9 of Romans as we continue with message #44 of our verse-by-verse study of the Book of Romans.
Read Romans 9:30-10:21
Opening Prayer
The Bible makes very clear that many, many people will not be in heaven because they never were saved. Multitudes will be eternally lost and separated from God because they never entered into a righteous relationship with him. As Jesus said in Matthew 7:13, ". . . wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it."
Why will so many miss heaven? This is the subject of today’s message and Scripture passage. In this passage Paul tells us why the people of Israel did not attain righteous standing with God. In doing this, he is also showing us why people in general do not enter into a right and healthy relationship with God. The terms "saved" and "righteousness" in this passage refers to a healthy relationship with God. It is that healthy and right relationship with God which results in eternal life in heaven, so in essence this passage tells us the reason why so many people will miss heaven.
Why will people miss heaven? Is it because some people do not try hard enough? No, verses 2-4 tell us the Jewish people were very zealous, which means they were very diligent in their efforts to be right with God, but they were not saved. Will people miss heaven because God’s way of salvation is too hard for some people? No, in verses 6-8 Paul makes clear that everyone can be saved and that salvation is not too hard for anyone. Do people usually miss heaven because they never heard the Gospel? No, in verses 14-18 Paul makes clear that this is not usually the problem. People have heard the Good News but have not accepted the message. Perhaps some people miss heaven because they can’t understand God’s way of salvation? No, in verses 19-20 Paul says that a people without understanding, i.e. spiritual insight, responded to the Gospel so the problem is not a lack of understanding. Perhaps the people of Israel and other people will not be saved because God doesn’t want them to be saved? Again the answer is "no." In verse 21 we’re told that God is not holding people back but rather he is holding out his hands all day long with the offer of reconciliation and the desire for salvation. There is no reluctance on God’s part for anyone to be saved.
None of these are the reasons why people will not go to heaven. Then what is the reason people won’t go to heaven?
1. The number one reason people are not going to heaven is pride.
It was pride that kept many in the nation of Israel from responding to the Gospel and it is pride which keeps many from responding today. In their pride, people are unwilling to admit their need for a Savior. In their pride, people are unwilling to admit their inability to save themselves. Pride was certainly the reason Israel rejected the Good News of Jesus Christ, as we can see in these first few verses.
Read Verses 9:30-33
First Paul acknowledges that many Gentiles, who were not religious and not even "pursuing" or trying to have a right relationship with God, had "obtained it." At the same time the people of Israel who were religious and who were trying to have a right relationship with God had "not attained it." This does not seem to make any sense. Why wouldn’t the people who were trying the hardest attain a healthy relationship with God? Paul answers that question in verse 32 where he says they missed a healthy relationship with God "because they pursued it not by faith (trust) but as if it were by works." In other words they rejected a right relationship with God on the basis of trusting in Jesus and instead insisted on working their way to heaven.
Why would anyone insist on working for something which they could get for free? The answer is pride! Why would anyone refuse God’s offer of help? Pride! In our pride we do not want to admit when we need help. This pride is exemplified in many aspects of our lives. For instance it is pride which keeps a man from asking for directions when he is lost. He doesn’t want to admit he needs help. It is pride which keeps families from accepting financial assistance. For instance, my wife’s family pays for half of my kids’ private Christian schooling. I appreciate it tremendously but it also bothers me because I want to be able to take care of it myself. I am troubled in receiving their help because of my pride. People refuse God’s free offer of salvation and miss heaven for the same reason. It is because of pride that people will miss heaven. Many will insist on trying to work their way to heaven instead of admitting that they are messed up sinners in desperate need of a Savior.
It was because of pride that the people of Israel refused to trust in Jesus and rather pursued a righteousness based on doing good works and keeping the commands of God. In doing this they "stumbled over the stumbling stone (verse 32)." Paul is making reference to Old Testament scriptures in which Jesus was figuratively described as a "stone that causes men to stumble." In other words, people are going to be spiritually tripped up by him. How is Jesus a stumbling block to people? Well the ministry of Jesus clearly indicates that people are not good enough to be right with God. The implication of his death on a cross is that all people can not save themselves but need a Savior. This damages the pride of those who thought of themselves as basically good people and so they are tripped up by rejecting Jesus as the only way the heaven.
1. The number one reason people are not going to heaven is pride.
Jesus is the rock and as the rock some people will stumble over him because of their pride but others who "trusts in him will never be put to shame (vs. 33b)." In other words, if you will humble yourself and trust in Jesus you will not fall in the judgment, but if you try and be right with God for your own works you will all, i.e. be put to shame.
Read Verses 10:1-4
In verse 1 Paul affirms his love for Israel as he also did in the beginning of Chapter 9. He wants us to know that he is not saying these things about Israel missing salvation because he is hostile or bitter towards them. It is his "heart’s desire" that Israel be saved, so he has no ulterior motive in his words.
Did Paul think that the people of Israel were not right with God because they did not try hard enough? Was this why they were going to miss heaven? The answer is "no." In verse 2 Paul makes clear that he knows how hard they work at being right with God. They put great effort, time, and sacrifice into having a right relationship with God. As a former Pharisee Paul could testify from experience that they are "zealous for God. . ."
The problem was not their hard work or zeal but that their hard work was based on a false presumption. As Paul says "there zeal is not based on knowledge." By knowledge he means knowledge of the truth. They were zealous in their efforts because they falsely believed that by their good works or religious deeds they could establish a righteousness of their own making, as verse 3 makes states.
The average Jew believed he could build a ladder to heaven out of good deeds and self righteous efforts. Many have similar beliefs today including: Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cults, non Christian religions, some Roman Catholics, and some Protestants also believe that going to heaven is a matter of being good enough. Many people who believe this do work very hard at doing the right things but in so doing they are seeking to "establish a righteousness of their own. . . (instead of) submitting to God’s righteousness (verse 3)." Such efforts are based on human pride which refuses to acknowledge our inability to save ourselves!
1. The number one reason people are not going to heaven is pride.
No one will go to heaven that doesn’t realize and acknowledge that all their efforts are worthless in attaining a healthy relationship with God. The only way for everyone to go to heaven is by trusting in Christ alone. He fulfills the law which none of us ever could and therefore he makes a way for everyone who believes, no matter how sinful they are, to be saved and go to heaven. This is the point of verse 4 which says, "Christ is the end of the law." The word "end" can mean two things in this context. It could either mean "termination" or "fulfillment." In a sense both are true of the work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the termination of the law in the sense that he is the end of peoples trying to be right with God by keeping the law. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law in the sense that he kept the law perfectly and his righteousness is applied to us. In either case, the point is that trusting in Jesus is the only way for anyone to be saved. Zealousness and hard work are not enough. Why not? Paul answers that question in verse 5.
Read Verse 5
Moses described what it would take to be righteous by keeping the law. He said, "The man who does these things will live by them." Moses is referring to keeping the Law and he is saying that it is only the person who “does these things”, i.e. keeps the Law, who will live, i.e. be saved. It isn’t just knowing the Law or trying hard to keep the Law that results in righteousness, a person must also keep the Law to be righteous and go to heaven. This presents a problem because nobody has kept the law and nobody can!
Does this mean that people miss heaven because God’s way of salvation is just too hard? No, because God offers another way to be right with him that it is not at all difficult or impossible. Paul describes this way in verses 6-13.
Read Verses 6-13.
Paul describes the difficulty, even the impossibility of being saved by works in verse 5. In verse 6 Paul wants to express how much different is salvation through trusting in Christ. To be righteous by faith one doesn’t have to complete some impossible task like ascending to heaven to bring Christ down or descending into the deep to raise him up from the grave. Both of these things were done by God, so salvation for us is not inaccessible or impossible. Verse 8 says "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart." In other words, Salvation is very close and easy to attain for you. The New Living Translation captures the point Paul is conveying in verse 8 like this "salvation is within easy reach (NLT)."
If a person misses heaven, it isn’t because God has just made it too hard for some people to be saved. Salvation is within easy reach of everyone know matter how much they may have failed to keep God’s law. How easy is it for person to be saved? What does a person have to do? Paul answers these questions in verse 9 in which he says two things must be done to be saved.
First, a person must "confess with their mouth ’Jesus is Lord.’” Second a person must "believe in their heart God raised him from the dead." When Paul talked about confessing with our mouths Jesus lordship, he is referring to a public proclamation that Jesus is Lord, which was usually done at baptism. There are no secret Christians. The Lordship of Jesus that is proclaimed here is not a mere verbal formula to be repeated, but rather refers to a legitimate and real commitment to Jesus as Lord of our lives personally. Now the word "Lord" means Ruler or Master. To call Jesus Lord is to acknowledge and surrender to his direction of our lives.
This is where pride becomes a hindrance to salvation because in our pride we do not want anybody else telling us what to do. We don’t want another master; we want to be masters of our own lives. We want to decide how we will live our lives, spend our money, watch on TV, go on Sunday, etc... In our pride we want to be our own lords but to be saved we must commit to Jesus as our Lord and Master.
1. The number one reason people are not going to heaven is pride.
God doesn’t require that we live perfectly but he does require that we are willing to surrender, commit and confess Jesus as the ruler of our personal lives. Anybody can do this because it is not a matter of ability but of willingness. Are you willing to relinquish control of your life to Jesus? Do you really believe that God raised him from the dead? If you can answer "yes" to these questions you will be saved. As verses 10-13 emphasize, anyone who does this and is trusting in Jesus, whether Gentile or Jew, will be saved "for there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Conclusion: If a person misses heaven, it is either because they’re unwilling to admit that they can not save themselves and therefore need a Savior or because they’re unwilling to relinquish control of the lives completely to Jesus. In either case, the problem is pride!
1. The number one reason people are not going to heaven is pride.
Closing Prayer
