ISRAEL’S IGNORANCE OF GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS (Romans 10:1-3)
SORRY ABOUT THE VIDEO QUALITY.
INTRODUCTION:
We finished up chapter nine last Sunday where Paul teaches that Israel’s unbelief and rejection is consistent with God’s plan of redemption. We learned that the nation of Israel’s unbelief and rejection of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus did not change the promises that God had made to the nation, they will be fulfilled in the future. The nation’s unbelief and rejection did not change God’s person, He has been perfectly righteous and just at all times and in His perfect sovereignty He has chosen some to have mercy and He has left others in their sin. We also learned that God was not surprised by Israel’s unbelief and rejection but had predicted it centuries earlier through the prophets also revealing that He would always reserve for Himself a remnant of true believers within the nation. Finally, last Sunday we learned that Israel’s unbelief and rejection did not change God’s plan of redemption and the requirement of faith in Jesus Christ as the only way to be declared righteous before God in the righteousness that is in Christ.
This morning we begin chapter 10 and this chapter is also devoted to Israel as I said at the beginning of chapter 9 Paul devotes three chapters 9-11 to the nation of Israel and how they fit into God’s plan of redemption. Paul begins chapter 10 much as he did chapter 9 and then gives his testimony as to why Israel as a nation has been set aside for a time as God works in individuals building His church. Chapter 9 was offensive to the Jews because Paul taught that not all Jews were the elect of God, Paul had written, “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants.” (Romans 9:6–7, NASB95)[1] Chapter 10 is also offensive to the Jews as Paul focuses again on Israel’s willing unbelief and her spiritual ignorance and the condemnation that her unbelief brings. Because of this Paul again begins by announcing his love for his fellow countrymen, his kinsman according to the flesh. Let’s pray and then get into our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans 10:1-3, our passage for this morning. Paul begins by sharing his love, then giving testimony to Israel’s ignorance and finally the reason for their ignorance. Please stand if you are able in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Romans 10:1-3,
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:1–3, NASB95)[2]
PAUL’S PRAYER (Romans 10:1)
Much like the beginning of chapter 9 where Paul expressed his great sorrow and unceasing grief in his heart because of the unbelief of his Jewish kinsmen, willing if possible that he could himself be accursed and separated from Christ if it would mean the salvation of the Jews. Paul begins this chapter by stating that his heart’s desire and prayer for his people, for the people of Israel is for their salvation. Even though Paul was called and commissioned by God to be the apostle to the Gentiles, Paul never lost his love and concern for his own people and he agonized over their unbelief and prayed for their salvation. Whenever he went to a new place on his missionary journeys he always went and preached the gospel first in a synagogue or wherever the Jews might gather for worship.
This word translated “prayer” is a word that means “to plead, to implore, to be persistent in petitioning someone for something. Paul was pleading with God from a heart that agonized for his people that God would save them. This was not a hopeless prayer by Paul, he fully believed that God could save all Israel if they would repent of their unbelief and in faith trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, their Messiah and Savior. Paul had no animosity towards his fellow Jews even though they rejected the gospel and persecuted him, instead he prayed for them, for their salvation.
Paul understood the sovereign election of God, yet he prayed with certainty that God could in His perfect sovereignty and grace save Israel. Paul did not try to reconcile in his mind the seemingly contradiction between God’s sovereign election and man’s willing faith. We as believers must not cease to pray for the salvation of others understanding that God’s sovereign election is His secret choice and we are not responsible to determine who is elect and who is not, our responsibility is to pray for the unsaved and to witness to them sharing the gospel of Christ knowing that God will faithfully save those who believe by faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death on our behalf and His triumphant resurrection guaranteeing our future resurrection. It is unbiblical to separate God’s sovereign choice from man’s willing faith when God has inseparably united them. We, as Paul, must have compassion for the lost, and pray for their salvation leaving the results to God.
PAUL’S TESTIMONY (Romans 10:2)
After expressing his heart’s desire and prayer for the people of Israel, Paul goes on to testify about his people, his testimony comes from his own personal experience, he knows that the people of Israel have a zeal for God, but that zeal was not in accordance with knowledge. By this testimony Paul was describing himself before he met the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was a radically, zealous Pharisee before he came to faith in Christ and he knew that most of the Jews of his day were very religious but far from God.
Listen as I read Paul’s testimony of his own life before Christ. He wrote in Galatians 1:13-14, “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.” (Galatians 1:13–14, NASB95)[3] Paul understood the animosity and the hate of those Jews who zealously opposed him and his message because he had been one of them before he put his faith in Jesus Christ. Listen again as I read Paul’s testimony written in Philippians 3:5-6, “If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.” (Philippians 3:4–6, NASB95)[4] Paul lived his life in such a way that he legalistically fulfilled the outward demands of the law and so outwardly he was blameless, yet like those Jews whom he was testifying about they had a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge, all of Paul’s zeal was without understanding of spiritual truth, otherwise he would have not been opposed to the church and he would not have been seeking to destroy it.
If anyone knew what it was to be zealous for God, but not in accordance with knowledge it was Paul. Paul is not saying that the Jews he is testifying about have no knowledge, they had an intellectual understanding of the outward demands of the Law, but they did not have the spiritual knowledge and understanding of God’s Word that comes from a relationship with Him by faith. They had a religious knowledge which made them proud and arrogant, but not the knowledge that comes from a relationship with God and from the indwelling Holy Spirit that produces humility and holiness. It is only through the indwelling Holy Spirit illuminating the Word of God to us that we can grow in the wisdom and knowledge of God. Paul speaking of his concern for the believers in Colossae and Laodicea wrote in Colossians 2:1-3, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:1–3, NASB95)[5] Paul knew that only through faith in Jesus Christ can we have the true knowledge of God because all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers as well that they might grow in their faith, he wrote in Ephesians 1:15-19, “For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:15–19a, NASB95)[6] Paul understood that only through faith in Jesus Christ can we have the true knowledge of God that comes through the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit it does not matter how religiously zealous you are, it will not be in accordance with knowledge.
THE REASON FOR ISRAEL’S IGNORANCE (Romans 10:3)
Paul goes on in verse 3 to tell us the reason for Israel’s ignorance and it is due to the fact of their not knowing about God’s righteousness. This lack of knowledge or ignorance as I already spoke of is due to a lack of faith. That is what Paul was saying in the end of chapter nine, he was declaring that Israel’s failure in righteousness was because of their failure in faith. He wrote in Romans 9:31-32, “but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,” (Romans 9:31–32, NASB95)[7]
Paul’s point is that Israel’s rejection by God, their being set aside for a time, was not due to God’s sovereign election as if He had held back His grace from His chosen people. On the contrary, God had given every opportunity to the Jewish nation to come to Him, the Old Testament scriptures are the evidence of God’s calling of His people over and over again, His calling is seen in the Law, His calling is seen in the warnings of the prophets, and His calling His people is seen in the other writings of the Old Testament. Israel had been given every opportunity to turn to God in faith having been entrusted with the very Word of God, because of this Israel was uniquely responsible for her rejection by God. John MacArthur writes, “As with the rest of the world (cf. Rom. 1:18-21), Israel rejected God before God rejected Israel. The tragedy in the history of Israel was squandering the immeasurable privilege of having directly received the very Word of God—first His written Word in the Scriptures, and even more tragically the living Word, God’s only Son, Jesus Christ.”[8]
Paul goes on in verse three to give the full reason for Israel’s ignorance and it has to do with the fact that they were willingly and inexcusably ignorant about God’s righteousness, not only that but they sought to establish a righteousness of their own making and refused to subject themselves to the righteousness of God. This declaration of Paul on the reason that Israel was zealous for God, but not in accordance with knowledge would have been very offensive to the Jews who were very proud of what they knew about God and in being His chosen people.
How could Paul make the assertion that the Israelites were ignorant about God’s righteousness? They had the entire revelation of the Old Testament at their disposal which is very clear about the perfect righteousness of God. Four times in our Scripture reading this morning from Psalm 119 is God’s righteousness mentioned. In verses 137-138 it is mentioned two times, the psalmist writes, “Righteous are You, O Lord, And upright are Your judgments. You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness And exceeding faithfulness.” (Psalm 119:137–138, NASB95)[9] then down in verse 142 the psalmist writes, “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth.” (Psalm 119:142, NASB95)[10] and again in the final verse of the passage we read in verse 144, “Your testimonies are righteous forever; Give me understanding that I may live.” (Psalm 119:144, NASB95)[11] This is just one example of God’s righteousness expounded upon in the Old Testament, but Israel brought God’s righteousness down to their own sinful level, they made God less holy and more tolerant of sin then was clearly revealed in Scripture if they would have looked. Jeremiah warned the people of Israel in Jeremiah 9:23-24, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23–24, NASB95)[12] God clearly declares that the only righteousness that we can boast in is His, never our own. But this is exactly what the Jews did, they boasted in their own works righteousness which met their standard of righteousness. Many considered the fact that they were God’s chosen people alone made them acceptable to God and if they were lacking anything it could be made up through good works. They no longer adhered to the Law of God which no sinful human can keep but they kept the rabbinical traditions that had lowered the standards of God’s law to a man-made level which could be kept outwardly without God’s grace. Unbelieving Israel was not only ignorant about God’s righteousness, but they were equally ignorant about their own unrighteousness. Because of this self-righteous attitude they felt no need for a Messiah to save them from sin but wanted a Messiah to save them from their enemies, specifically Rome.
Even though the Old Testament clearly taught God’s standard of righteousness that could be obtained by faith, the Jews did not submit to it, but rather to their own standard of righteousness which they sought to achieve by works, a standard that did not even come close to God’s standard of righteousness and holiness.
What exactly is this righteousness and holiness of God that the Israelites abandoned for their own standard of righteousness? The two terms are almost the same, but they can be defined in this way: holiness is the standard where righteousness is the active fulfillment of that standard. In other words, the holiness of God is His complete separation from all evil, from all sin, and His righteousness is the display of that holiness.
No one can fully understand the holiness and righteousness of God, but when we even comprehend just a small part of it, it magnifies our own sinfulness. Understanding that God in His holiness and righteousness hates evil in any form and sin in any form no matter how small we may consider it should drive us to our knees in repentance, knowing that God’s perfect righteousness will be the judge of our own sinfulness. The Jews of Paul’s day did not know or acknowledge God’s righteousness and neither did they submit to it by faith and this is the ignorance that kept them in their sin, believing that because they were God’s chosen people and that they kept the traditions handed down by the rabbis that they were righteous in their own sight and because of this Paul prayed for them that they might understand that they were dead in their sin and self-righteousness and they needed to repent and put their faith in their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION:
It was not only the Jews of Paul’s day that developed their own standard of righteousness so that they would feel that they can be righteous and accepted by God. No amount of works righteousness will make us acceptable to God. We can do all that we want, and it will fall short of God’s standard of righteousness. Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 64:6, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6, NASB95)[13] What are you depending on this morning to make you acceptable to God? Not only is God perfectly holy and righteous, but He demands that of anyone who is to be accepted by Him. The standard of righteousness by which we are judged is not our standard but His holy standard. This is not something we can achieve, because of our sin we will always fall short. There is only One who ever fulfilled the Law perfectly and achieved God’s acceptance because of His perfect righteousness and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ in perfect righteousness went to the cross on our behalf, He took upon Himself the sin of mankind and died paying the penalty for sin, He was buried and on the third day He rose from the dead proving that His payment for sin was accepted by God and paid the entire penalty for sin. The righteousness that we need can be obtained through faith in Jesus Christ and His death and burial for us. When we trust in Christ just as our sin became His, His righteousness becomes ours and we stand accepted before God in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Paul spoke of this exchange in 2 Corinthians 5:21 when he wrote, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB95)[14]
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]MacArthur, John, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Romans 9-16. Chicago, IL : Moody Publishers, 1994
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.