And so we come to the conclusion of Romans chapter nine, and that is exactly what Paul does here, is he states the obvious conclusion that we must come to, given all that he has had to say for the last three or four months, or however long it has been. Yes, I'm aware that it did not take him three or four months to say this, it just took me three or four months to help him along, you know. Anyway, Paul's main argument ends at verse 29, and here he draws that conclusion, as is his pattern in all of his teachings. To give a summary of the entire argument, and he introduces that summary with his customary question, what shall we say then? In other words, in light of all of this, what is the position that we find ourselves in now? And that's important to realize that he is drawing this conclusion based not just on his immediate statements, but on everything he has had to say in this entire chapter, especially from verse six on. So as we read this, note that he will give us a plain and clear statement of the facts before us, and then he will give us an explanation of those facts, and obviously support it as always with a quotation from the scriptures to back it up. uh... so let's read we're in uh... verses thirty three thirty three 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 because they did not pursue it by faith but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as 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. And so first off we look at the facts, first of which is that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it. They have attained what? A righteousness that is by faith. which is a repeat of what he has already told us in verse 24, he says, even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. So let's look at what that statement in verse 30 actually says. At first blush, it might appear that Paul is referring here to all of the Gentiles, that all of the Gentiles were believers. Well, we know for certain that such is not the case. All that Paul is trying to enforce here is the outlandish idea that Gentiles, even if there had been only one, that it would be an astonishing thing. But there are, in fact, more than one. They are in the church. They are the majority of the church. And the Jews, whom one would expect to be in the forefront, are out. Not all Jews, of course, because there was a remnant, as he has been telling us. So Paul is saying in very broad terms that when one looks at the church as a whole, what we see is Gentiles rather than Jews. But he's not content to leave it at that, and so he will elaborate, as will we. And that elaboration is not only important, it is very interesting. He begins with a well-known characteristic of Gentiles. What is the most well-known characteristic of Gentiles? It is that they did not pursue righteousness. Okay? Well, there is no question about that. In the very first chapter, Paul expounds on what it looked like for Gentiles to not pursue righteousness, the kind of lives that they were living. And Paul gives us a detailed description in what is one of the most terrifying passages in all of Scripture. uh... far from pursuing righteousness they were living lives that were godless, vile, polluted, sinful uh... probably not enough words to actually do it justice as it were however here in chapter nine he is referring to not just the kind of life that they were actually living he is also saying that they were not one bit concerned about their relationship to god they were not pursuing god at all They were not seeking to be right with him. That is the important point made here. Over and above the fact that it was a bad life, the terrible thing about the life of these pagan Gentiles was that they were totally, completely, and gladly without God. Worshippers of idols, utterly unconcerned about the one true God, totally unaware of God's wrath against sin or of the coming judgment, standing on the brink of destruction and blissfully unaware that such was the case." As Paul puts it elsewhere, that they were dead in their trespasses and sins. Not sickly, not dying, they were dead for all intents and purposes. And yet, says Paul, the astonishing thing in front of us is that these once filthy, vile creatures have attained that very righteousness that they were not seeking and had no desire for. Now, that word attained here is not the best choice of translations. It might make it seem as if they did something to attain it. A better word here would be apprehended, that they have laid hold on this righteousness. They have eagerly seized it, as it were. They did not know they needed it. They were not pursuing it. They had no desire for it. But when it was presented to them, they eagerly and earnestly seized it. That is the power of God at work. They have laid hold of this righteousness that is by faith. Quite unconcerned, quite uninterested, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, never giving a thought to these things at all, just living life. sinful, vile, godless life. And yet when they heard the presentation and the preaching of this way of salvation in Jesus Christ, they eagerly embraced it. As we see throughout the New Testament, especially in the book of Acts, that is exactly how it happened. As Paul and the other apostles went around preaching and presenting the gospel, the Jews were rejecting it. But we are told there that the Gentiles were delighted at it and they rejoiced in it. So that's the first half of the statement. We now come to the sad and tragic contrast, because as we have said, anywhere there is election, there is also rejection. He says, but that Israel, who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness, did not succeed in reaching that law. this is what paul has been telling us constantly consistently the thing that was breaking his heart that israel of all people would be outside the church because he says they were actually pursuing a law that would lead to righteousness they were pursuing it they desired it they added that avidly and eagerly wanted it point being that the characteristic of the jew was that he was very much concerned with this question of righteousness, and he was pursuing it with great eagerness. But, says Paul, they were pursuing a law that would lead to that righteousness that they so desired. Pursuing righteousness in terms of the law, the Mosaic law to be exact, uh... there is some debate in the commentaries that they were pursuing a g just a general law of righteousness but we know uh... that the uh... that idea doesn't fit what we read in the entirety of scripture they were concerned about the mosaic law and it alone as the way to bring them to righteousness uh... the righteousness that they desired so much they were pursuing this goal of righteousness by means of and through keeping uh... the law of moses So Paul here is giving us the truth about these people, that they were pursuing eagerly to be right with God, and they were doing so by trying to keep the Law of Moses. And here is the important part of their plan. They were persuading themselves that they were keeping it, and that they had kept it. But, says Paul, they have not succeeded. They did not arrive at their destination despite all of their efforts to get there." Now, of course, he's not making any new announcement here. He spent the first four chapters saying exactly the same thing. But for the purpose of his argument here, he sort of puts it into a summary statement to show once again that the Jews as a whole are outside the camp, that they had not arrived at this law and neither the fulfillment of this law. So this then is the whole tragedy of the Jews. They had this great concern for righteousness, and they had convinced themselves that they had reached that righteousness. And they did that, if you remember, in the way that Jesus exposed in the Sermon on the Mount, where he compares righteousness as it was defined by the Pharisees with true righteousness as it is defined in the Law of Moses itself. They had been short-cutting, if you will, the Law of Moses and had developed an imagined distinction between actually doing a thing in practice and having that thing in your mind. They had completely missed the spiritual character of the law that they so loved. And so now we are confronted by this astonishing fact that on the one hand, the people who never gave a moment's thought to God are now right with God. And on the other hand, the people to whom the biggest thing in life was religion and being right with God are not right with God. That is the statement that is before us. Just the facts as they stand. But then he leads us into the secret at the same time. How is this statement even possible? Sounds totally backward. It sounds totally bizarre. How is it that any of this is true? It is because true righteousness can only be attained by faith. That is the key. In other words, the reason that the Jews did not succeed in reaching that law that leads to righteousness was the point that is stated so clearly by James in his epistle, James chapter 2 verse 10. He says, for whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become what? Guilty of it all. Okay. That is the trouble with the law. It demands absolute perfection, makes no allowances at all. 99.9999% is not enough. If there is the slightest defect, then the offender is totally condemned. To the Jews, the law was the biggest thing in their lives. They boasted of it. They condemned the Gentiles, the dogs, the pagans, the outsiders for not keeping the law as they did. They were right with God and all others were utterly hopeless and lost and deserved to be despised. But the fact is, says Paul, that when we look at the current state of the Christian church, we see that the outsider is in and the people who ought to be in, well, they are out. Jesus said the same thing. He told these same people that the day would come when they would see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the Gentiles in the kingdom of God while they looked on from outside the kingdom. So to clarify all of this, Paul's lead-in question is this, remember all the way back to the beginning of the chapter, the lead-in question is, has the word of God failed? It sure seemed like it to the uninformed. Paul's answer is, by no means. What God's Word actually says is, that speaking generally, the Jews are going to be out and the Gentiles are going to be in. So he is here just reminding them of these facts once more. Plain and simple, just the facts. Which brings us to what many find to be the extremely difficult part, and he asks his own question, he says, why? Why are these things the way that they are? Why are these people in the position that they are in? Because, he says, because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written. So the question is, why is it that the Gentiles are in and the Jews are out? But in particular, why is it that the Jews are out? Everybody can accept the fact that the Gentiles are in. Why is it that the Jews are out? Why is it that these people whose great purpose in life, whose sole ambition was righteousness and to be right with God, why are they not right with Him? There's a common misconception even today that it is all about intent. That one can do the wrong thing for the right reason and God will accept that. We have many proofs in the scripture that God does not agree with that statement. This in front of us being the foremost, but we also read of men like Uzzah. Y'all remember Uzzah? Put his hand on the ark, thought his hand was more fit to touch the ark than the ground it was going to fall on. And Uzzah died, Uzzah died because of his intent. Or Nadab and Abihu, who thought that they could spice up the worship services a little bit, make it more seeker-friendly, as it were? They died, and their good intentions died with them. Why are the Jews outside the kingdom, which fulfills the prophecy of Christ, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation that will bring forth the fruits of it, a prophecy verified and fulfilled in the Christian church, mainly Gentile, but a remnant of the Jews. This is now the kingdom of God. So the question is, why is this so? Well, Paul gives the answer. They did not pursue it. This is where people find the problem. They say that Paul is now contradicting everything that he has been saying thus far, that salvation is entirely dependent on the sovereignty of God and has used the illustration of the potter and the clay to make it absolutely crystal clear that man has nothing to do with it. He's also told us that the difference between Jacob and Esau is something that was determined in the womb before they were born, before they had done anything either good or bad. He has said that it is entirely of God. It doesn't depend on human will or exertion, but on God's mercy. That God has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he will harden whom he will harden. It has been Paul's great point. But now they say suddenly he comes to us and says that what decides whether a man is in the kingdom of God or not is the way in which he seeks it. That what decides whether a man is saved or not is whether he has faith, whether he believes or not. So after all of your teaching, you are now telling us that it is man's faith that saves him and not the sovereignty of God in his electing choice. So is Paul contradicting himself here or is he not? There are two ways that people have attempted to solve this dilemma. The first is to say that they do believe that God elects people to salvation. But obviously, in light of what Paul is saying here, his electing grace is determined by his foreknowledge. He only elects and saves those who in his foreknowledge he has seen are going to believe and exercise their faith. They say that there is no other possible solution, because Paul says here that the Gentiles exercised their faith, therefore they are saved. But the Jews did not exercise their faith, but rather attempted to gain it by works, therefore they are lost. They say that this is the only valid explanation. Second way is that some say, especially the Lutherans, if you're familiar with them, They say that yes, it is God alone who can and must do the saving. Man cannot save himself. The idea that faith saves is wrong. God must do the saving, but nevertheless, man has the power, a negative power, by which he can resist or refuse to be saved. That man has the power and the capacity of refusing to allow God to save him. Not a vast difference between the two, but there is a difference which we shall see. Lutheran's being a little closer to the truth, but still terribly wrong. So what stands before us is the question of the relationship between the sovereignty of God and man's responsibility. This being the first time that the question has been raised in this chapter. So here we must face it. I'm gonna mess it up. Okay? I'm just going to forewarn you. I'm going to mess it up. Okay. Romans 9, 33-33. It's okay. It was mine. Ask that woman behind you. If something happened, it was my fault. Okay. it's alright uh... first thing that we have to know is that the bible never ever ever contradicts itself if you believe it does you might as well go home because you're not going to get anything out of it ever uh... anyone who says otherwise is just looking for an excuse to deny god second thing is that paul uh... was mistaken. That's what some people say, that Paul was mistaken, that he was human, he was capable of error. This removes the truth that all of Scripture is God-breathed, God-inspired. So Paul did not make a mistake, there was no error. Still others say that this is the mystery of godliness that Paul speaks of, and that we don't even need to know it. Can't be satisfied with that considering the lengths that Paul has gone to to show that the Gentiles are in and the Jews are out. So what is the truth of the matter? To begin with, we must face that the doctrine of the sovereignty of God and the doctrine of human responsibility are both true. And that Paul is stating that those two doctrines here in front of us. He already stated the doctrine of human responsibility in chapter 1 and verse 20. He says, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made, so they are without excuse. All men are without excuse. That is all the proof we need for the doctrine of human responsibility, that all men are without excuse. In chapter two, he states that both Jews and Gentiles alike are without excuse. Again, all the proof we need for the doctrine of human responsibility. In the book of Acts, we are told that God commands all men everywhere to repent. That is a command that asserts human responsibility. God does not command something that you're not capable of, okay? Human responsibility is everywhere in the scripture and it is asserted side-by-side with the absolute sovereignty of God and that salvation is entirely the result of His election. So here we are faced with the thing that we have touched on before. I told you that the commentators sometimes call me a monster. You remember that? They say that the Bible teaches that election alone accounts for the saved. which I totally 100 percent agree with. We all agree with that, right? Election alone is what accounts for the saved. But non-election does not account for the lost, which I say is semantics because the end result is the same. You have to make up your own mind about that as we have stated a couple of times. I'm going to give you the doctrine based on men far wiser than me, so you might be best served to listen to them Anyway, to continue, no man would be saved unless God in a sovereign manner has chosen him. It is God's action alone that saves a man. We all agree with that. At least we should all agree with that. So why is anybody lost? Is it because they are not elected? Their answer Okay, their answer, this is their answer, this is all the people that are way smarter than me, their answer is no. That what accounts for the lost is their rejection of the gospel and even before that of course is that they are in Adam and belong to this mass of perdition. I also agree with that, with all of my heart, okay? I just happen to believe that just like the acceptance of the gospel is dependent on election, rejection of the gospel is the only alternative that is left you make up your own mind that's what you have to do so they say that we are responsible for our rejection of the gospel but we are not responsible for our acceptance of it my mind cannot grasp that statement I say that God is in charge of all things that's what I believe So it might be a good thing that this is my last lesson for a little bit. Maybe I'll get smarter and less monstrous before I come back. That's as far as I'm going to go with that right there. So what is Paul teaching here? That the Jews are out because they were not elected to salvation in eternity past. The Gentiles and the remnant of the Jews are in because they were elected to salvation in eternity past. are the lost jews responsible for their rejection of the gospel absolutely because god said they are responsible that's that is all i need to know about that that is all i need to know about i don't understand it i don't i have no i i don't understand but i do know that god says that they are responsible for their rejection of the gospel Are the Gentiles and the remnant of the Jews responsible for their acceptance of the gospel? Absolutely not. They were chosen before the foundation of the earth was laid and their salvation is all a work of God. Just like yours, just like mine. And that is all I need to know about that. Just like Paul's example earlier. by row he says hardened his own heart scripture says that god hardened by roseheart both of those statements are true payroll hardened his own heart god pardoned by roseheart both of those statements are true because the scripture says they're true i don't understand it the jews hardened their own hearts God hardened the hearts of the Jews. Do I understand that? No, I do not. I just know that it is true. So, I told you I was going to mess it up, didn't I? So now that I've sufficiently messed that up, let's move ahead. The first reason that the Jews are out is because they sought to be righteous by means of the works of the law. The second reason is that they stumbled over the stumbling stone. The stumbling stone being, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ and his work on our behalf. This is an important statement, not only in helping us to understand the actual history of what happened to Christ and the position of the church at that time, but it is a crucial statement for all times and in all places. This is the very heart of the Christian gospel. Paul reminds us that all of this had already been prophesied and predicted. This question of how these people, these Jews, with all of the Scriptures opened in front of them, uh, lost my place. Okay, anyway, it was given by God to the prophets to see it, and they in turn put it in writing. Paul again here said, again here, backing up his assertions with quotations from Scripture. And here he shows us that the true tragedy of the Jews, they were condemned, as it were, out of their own mouths. They gloried in their scriptures as we have said. They were proud of the prophets and the writings of the prophets, while it was those very writings that condemned them over and above everything else. It was written that they were going to be blinded and that blindness would cause them to stumble at their own Messiah and thereby at the salvation that god had provided in and through jesus christ we have here a prophetic reminder that all of this had been predicted and prophesied and along with that the there's a reputation of the idea that cross death came as a surprise to him as some would say you read all these commentaries you find out all kinds of stuff okay It's very famous people believe that Christ's death came as a surprise to him. There are those that go so far as to say that Christ died in disappointment and with a broken heart because he didn't know it was going to happen this way. There's also the reputation of a popular dispensational teaching that says that Jesus came into the world primarily to offer the kingdom to the Jews And if the Jews had accepted him, then none of his suffering would have happened. And it was only as plan B, after the Jews refused to believe and receive his teaching, that it was determined that the gospel of grace, and through Jesus Christ, had to be brought in. So the gospel of grace was plan B, because plan A didn't work. So they go so far as to say that this gospel of grace is only temporary and that a day will come when the gospel of the kingdom will once again be preached and salvation will be determined based on whether they accept it or not. All of this is refuted in this statement in front of us. The cross was planned before the foundation of the world. The Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world. All of this was decreed by God in eternity past, prophesied by His prophets for centuries, and ultimately fulfilled by Jesus Christ. So, leaving that aside, we look at Paul's statement. Three main principles that work here. First is that our relationship to God is determined entirely by our attitude toward Jesus Christ. He is the stone. He is the test. It all comes down to that. Why are the Jews outside and rejected? Because they stumbled at this person. Christ determines everything. Nothing else matters, one iota. Jesus Christ is the acid test of the value of any proclaimed belief in God. So there's this idea that the Jews and the Muslims and the Christians all worship the same God. Y'all have heard that, I'm sure, okay? uh... that is heresy just so you know the trinity is the only true god and any reference to god that does not include his son is a construct of their own depraved mind god did not send his only son in order to make israel great again or england or scotland or america great again okay that's not why jesus came not why he's here God sent his son to reconcile a people for himself. And any idea or notion of God that differs from that one goal is idolatry. God sent his son to reconcile a people for himself. There is no other reason that he came. You can't add anything to that and say, well, he's going to give me this and give me this and give my country this. that no, none of that is part of that. Okay? It is to reconcile a people for himself. So Paul takes two quotations from Isaiah and forms them into one statement. The first being Isaiah chapter 8 verses 13 to 15. He says, but the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary, and a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it, and they shall fall and be broken. They shall be snared and taken." And the second comes from Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 16. Therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not be in haste. So the two merged into one, as Paul gives us here. 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. The same idea announced by Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 21 verses 42 to 44 says, therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. And when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. over and over again throughout the new testament peter and john and jude and luke in the book of acts and paul and many of his appeals they all use the same phrasing crossed is the head crossed is the foundation crosses cornerstone crosses the way and crossed when rejected is the stumbling block there can be no relation ship with god No service to God, no worship of the one true God apart from and through Jesus Christ. Anything else is a waste. Yes, absolutely. The one with the hair that looks like a shampoo model. The pictures on the wall. There are only two possible attitudes towards him. What will you do with Jesus? That's a common phrase. There are songs and sermons galore that ask that question. Furthest back I could find was a poem that was written by a Scottish Presbyterian by the name of Albert Simpson around the 1870s. He started saying, what are you going to do with this Jesus? So it has been a key question for decades, and that question, what will you do with Jesus, is still a fitting question for us today. Paul says you have two options. You will either believe on him, trusting yourself to him, and resting in him in a place where there is no longer any fear or shame. That is one option. The other option is you will stumble at him. that he becomes a stumbling stone and a rock of offense and that leads in the end to the ultimate shame. So this is Paul's statement that our relationship to God is determined totally, entirely by our attitude towards Jesus Christ and to what he has done on our behalf. The Jews are out because they stumbled at him The Gentiles are in because they believed in him. The second principle we see here is why Jesus was and is a stumbling stone to many. He was to the Jews and to many of the Greeks also. He continued for centuries and still continues to be a stumbling stone to many people. In fact, to the vast majority of the people in the entire world. Why is that? There are almost as many answers to that as there are people. To the Jews, it was his abject poverty and humble condition. They sought glory and grandeur. What they got was a stable and a man with no place to lay his head. They sought a conquering king, and what they got was a humble servant. They stumbled at that. They stumbled at his manner of teaching, his appearance, his friend group, his status in the community, his conception. Anything and everything that was different from them was offensive. Quite possibly the thing that caused them the most difficulty, the thing that caused them to stumble the most, was what he did not do. He did not set himself up as a king in Jerusalem. He did not gather an army together. He did not declare war against the Roman conquerors. and lead his army to liberate the Jews and lift them up to their supreme position over all the nations. That is what they wanted, but he did not do it. They even at one point attempted to take him by force and make him a king, but he did not do it. That was the most grievous source of their stumbling. And there are those who still say, well, if the Jews had known who he really was, they would have acted differently. Not so. The Scriptures are very clear that the Jewish leaders knew exactly who he was. They knew exactly who he was. From the very beginning, they knew exactly who he was. They just didn't like what he was. And they did not like what he was because it was not what they wanted. He offered them no physical, earthly, or fleshly benefit. Get that. Jesus Christ offered them no physical, earthly, or fleshly benefit. So He had to be rejected. That was their chief stumbling block and their rock of offense. They had fashioned for themselves an image of what their Messiah would be, and when He failed to fit into their idolatrous mold, they killed Him. They knew God. They knew who he was. They knew God, but they refused to worship him as God. And today is no different. The largest so-called Christian movement in the world today is what we know as the prosperity gospel. It's taken over the continent of Africa. It's millions worshiping a God that they have fashioned for themselves, that will benefit them in the moment. with physical, earthly, and fleshly blessings. And we have the Christian naturalist determined that God exists to make America great again. It is the same stumbling block that the Jews could not get past. The third principle we see at work here is the tragedy of their stumbling, that Paul was heartbroken over his countrymen. His heart's desire was that they might be saved, but they were not. We see it in the case of the Jews, but it is not confined to them. It is equally tragic, and we see the same stumbling among our families and our friends and our co-workers. Everywhere we go, we see the same stumbling. Every rejection of Christ should bring us, like Paul, to a sense of sadness and loss. if we really believe where those people are going. But in the case of the Jews, we have a valuable lesson for today. He came into his own. Scripture says he came into his own and his own received him not. His own people in their own glorious city of which they were so proud, of all people to stumble at him. Well, it's not much different today. What we see is a repetition of the very same thing. Where is it today that Christ is most obviously a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense? It's not out in the world. It is in his own church among those who claim his name. As we see one denomination after another capitulating to the world, one pastor after another, hirelings in it for the money and benefit packages, capitulating to the enemy and the world in order to keep the seats full. If Christ were to return today in the same fashion as then, I dare say that he would be crucified all over again, and it would be facilitated by those that call themselves Christian. So we need to be clear about this. Jesus Christ is one of these two things to us, every one of us. You either believe in him and rest your faith in him alone, or else he is a stumbling block and a rock of offense. The lesson that we learn from the Jewish nation should awaken any of us who may have doubted. What we do with Christ in everything, in everything, not just on Sunday morning. What we do with Christ in everything is everything. He says, why do we call Him Lord, Lord, and then do not do what He says? Well, it's because we do not believe enough. You're deceiving yourself if you think that you believe enough. None of us do. Okay? We say it. We don't glory in Him. We don't glory in Him and in our salvation as we should. We say it, we take it for granted, and then we go about our lives with more thoughts of mammon than of mercy. Do we realize what has happened? God has laid this stone, His own Son. It involved crushing His own Son that we might be delivered, forgiven, restored. that we might become God's children, that we might be joint heirs with Christ and eventually enter into glory with Him. Love so amazing, love so divine, it doesn't request, it demands. My life, my soul, my all. Don't you love that song? Let's pray. Father God, our soul, our lives, our all, all that we are, it belongs to you, God. You have purchased our soul, our lives, our all. Grant us grace and mercy, Lord, and the wisdom to give them back to you where they belong. In Christ's name, amen.