THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Romans 9:30-33

By David Woodbury

30 What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,

“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble,
  a rock that makes them fall.
But anyone who trusts in him
  will never be disgraced.” (Romans 9:30-33 - NLT)

Here Paul returns to the main theme of his letter to the Jews in Rome; righteousness, being in a right standing with God through faith alone. How we understand the words righteousness is central to our relationship with God and our spiritual pilgrimage. The Jews chose to understand it as pursuing a certain pattern of behaviour based on the law which they believed would place them in a right standing with God; an objective which was humanly impossible. Paul believed and taught that righteousness is not the kind of life we succeed in living, but rather a gift we humbly and freely receive from God when we choose the place our faith in the redeeming death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here is the stark contrast in the perception of righteousness before God; one based on our inept performance according to the law, or one based solely on faith in Jesus. A religion based on purely legal requirements can never bring humanity into the experience of salvation

Righteousness pursued solely through the law often has undesirable consequences. It leads us to set too high a value on what we ourselves can do and all too often arouses a judgmental attitude which destroys charity, love, forbearance, and tolerance. The person who pursues the letter of the law more often than not becomes legalistic, judgmental and critical, since they judge everyone else by the law, even though they themselves are incapable of keeping it.

There is an inevitable sequence in religious self-reliance which leads from trust in our own achievements, through to pride in our powers and blindness to all other values. Not only do we become callous and judgmental of others, we also shut ourselves off from the love, mercy and forgiveness that God offers to those who receive righteousness as a gift of faith. The result is that that we adopt a total mindset in our flawed pursuit of being right with God by scrupulously keeping the law, which completely blinds us to the free gift God offers through the redeeming death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a lifestyle built on an illusion.

The reference to the stone as a stumbling block is perhaps a play on words by Paul. Maybe there is a reference here to Jesus as the cornerstone of the faith. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. (Ephesians 2:20 – NLT) Certainly in the day of Jesus, his very presence was a stumbling stone to many of the Jewish leaders. To some, his presence and message was salvation and fellowship with God. To others, it was simply a blockage over which they could not, or would not pass, blinded by their need to achieve salvation by their own ways. The same is true today; the presence and message of Jesus is Salvation to those who accept him, but a stumbling stone to those who feel they can achieve righteousness through their own efforts and on their own terms.