Lesson 127
Romans Chapter Nine
The Faithfulness of God to
** So far Paul has presented God's dealing
with
Next in 9:30-33 the
focus is
What shall we say
then?
For one who is
focused totally on the Sovereignty of God there is an apparent problem.
God your not fair!
- It was not the pattern of the Gentiles to pursue
Christ but idols; Acts
- attained
righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith.
Then the means or
the how; by
faith ek [gen] pistij
Only way to acquire
the righteousness of God, of Christ is by faith; that's been the focus since
-
Now lets look at vs:31 and
but
They were not
pursuing after righteousness but a law, the M/L, through which, by their self
effort and works in observing that law, they hoped to obtain righteousness, a
standing before God.
-
Did not arrive at that law, fqanw to arrive at
an objective, here righteousness; no matter how intensely they pursued
righteousness through law performance they could, or no one for that matter can
meet the requirements of the law, total perfection, fail one, fail all.
-
9:32 Paul now deals with the cause, why they failed to attain righteousness.
Why? Because
they did not (pursue it
-righteousness) by faith but as though (it were) by works.
-
They missed justification by faith all together, as most religious types
do! Their whole pursuit was not by
faith.
This set them up
for a fall; They
stumbled over the stumbling stone,
-
Since they were so wrapped up in their elaborate system of works, they failed
to recognize Christ as the stone of their prophetic Scripture.
Peter in 1 Pet 2:8,
in quoting this same context in Isaiah (
"because they are disobedient to the word"
Result of that
refusal to believe, rejection of the gospel;
"to this (doom) they were appointed."
Principle:
- Therefore when +R sees only -R (human
righteousness) in an individual the result is divine justice goes into
operation and they receive the penalty for their negative volition, refusal to
believe in Christ, being disobedient to the Word.
- The consequence, which "doom" they were appointed is in the passive voice, they
receive the consequences of their refusal to believe in Christ from the Justice
of God.
Note:
This is not buttressing the Calvinist view that some are appointed or destined
to be an unbeliever and therefore eternal judgment. Why?
-
a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense;
liqoj
proskommatoj [a
stumbling block] an obstacle over which
someone stumbles/trips and falls.
-
Jesus Christ, became a stone of stumbling to the spiritual leaders of
- and
he who believes in Him will not be disappointed
Jesus Christ is the
only object of faith that saves, no other!
Primary: in the
flow of the context I would take it that the reference to the one who believes
and will not be disappointed is the Jew, that becomes
a part of the remnant, even during that tremendously difficult period of
testing and persecution during the Tribulation.
-
General Prin: This states a principle that is always true, for anyone who
believes in Christ, never be disappointed, or put to shame.
If we are to
realize experientially the benefits of that positional reality it depends on
our daily recognizing and counting as true that we have died to the sin nature,
it no longer needs to rule us, and to place our selves at His disposal for
service in whatever we are doing in life. (ch-6.)
Observations:
1.
Jesus Christ, the one who was rejected by mankind, and the builders, the
religious leaders of Israel of His day is the one exalted by God.
- man
examined Him and concluded, He was worthless and rejected Him.
- God examined Him,
choice and highly esteemed.
2.
Jesus Christ as the stone, brings security and
stability to the lives of the ones related to Him.
- true
of
3.
Jesus Christ is both a cornerstone and a foundation stone to the church.
a.
foundation stone implies that we are to
build our lives on Him and Him alone.
It also implies that
our relationship with Him is one of total dependence on His work and strength.
b.
cornerstone is a large stone that binds
two walls together.
4.
Only as our life is built on the foundation of Christ are we building a
structure that will stand for time and eternity.