Let it be remembered that the ninth chapter
of Romans sets forth the condition of Israel according to the
flesh they who are called Israel. They are "accursed from
Christ." They "followed after the law of righteousness,"
but did not attain to righteousness, because they sought it not
by faith, but by works." The Gentiles, therefore, gained
the precedence over them, because they sought righteousness in
the right way, namely, by faith.
Thus were fulfilled the words of Christ
to the self-righteous Jews: "The publicans and the harlots
go into the kingdom of God before you;" and again, "The
kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof." Matt. 21:31, 43.
But the Lord did not cast off his people
because they stumbled at the Stone which he had placed for a
foundation. He endured with much long-suffering even the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction. So the apostle continues:
The Glorious Gospel Romans 10:1-21
1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. 3 For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth. 5 For Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall
live by them. 6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh
on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven
(that is, to bring Christ down from above): 7 or, Who shall descend
into the deep (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth,
and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 that if thou shalt confess with they mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. 11 For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on
him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto
all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe
in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without
a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent?
as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord,
who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, Have they not heard?
Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words
unto the ends of the world. 19 But I say, Did not Israel know?
First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that
are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. 20 But
Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought
me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth
my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
Zeal without Knowledge. "It is good
to be zealously affected always in a good thing." Zeal is
very necessary to the accomplishment of anything; but zeal without
knowledge is like a wild horse without bit or bridle. There is
plenty of activity, but it is of no use. Or it is like the man
who displays great zeal and earnestness in reaching a certain
place, but who is traveling in the wrong direction. No matter
how zealous a man may be, he will never reach a place that is
north of him by traveling southward. Ignorance nullifies zeal.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Hosea
4:6.
Israel's Ignorance. They were "ignorant
of God's righteousness." It is a kind of ignorance that
did not cease with the generation then living, and which is not
confined to any certain people. But that which made it so much
worse in this instance was that this ignorance of God's righteousness
was coupled with the highest profession of serving him.
God's Righteousness. The righteousness
of God is something besides a name. It is something far different
from a form of words, or even the mere statement of a law. It
is nothing less than the life and character of God. As there
can not be sweetness apart from something that is sweet, so there
is no such thing as abstract righteousness. Righteousness must
necessarily be connected with some living being. But God alone
is righteous. See Mark 10:18. Therefore wherever righteousness
is, there God must be active. Righteousness is the essential
characteristic of God.
Form and Fact. The Jews had "the
form of knowledge and of the truth in the law;" but they
had not the truth itself. The law of God, as written on the tables
of stone, or in a book, is as perfect as it could possibly be.
But there was just the same difference between that and the real
law that there is between a photograph of a man and the man himself.
It was but a shadow. There was no life in the written characters,
and they could not do anything. They were simply the statement
of that which exists only in the life of God.
Empty Righteousness. The Jews very well
knew that the words on the stone or in the book could not do
anything; and since they were ignorant of the righteousness of
which those words were but the description, they went about to
establish a righteousness of their own. This they would never
have done if they had not been ignorant of God's righteousness.
Of that the psalmist says, "Thy righteousness is like the
great mountains." Ps. 26:6. They were trying to produce
from themselves the essential attribute of God.
Such an effort, no matter how great the
zeal, could end only in miserable failure. Saul of Tarsus was
"more exceedingly zealous of the traditions" of the
fathers than any others of his class, yet when he came to a right
understanding, those things that were gain to him he was obliged
to count but loss. That is, the more he did to establish his
own righteousness, the worse off he became.
Submitting to Righteousness. If the Jews
had not been ignorant of God's righteousness, they would not
have attempted to establish a righteousness of their own. They
tried to make God's righteousness submit to them, whereas they
should have submitted to it. God's righteousness is active. It
is his own life. Just as the air will rush into any place where
there is an opening, so the righteous life of God will fill every
heart that is open to receive it. When men try to handle the
law of God, they invariably pervert it, and fit it to their own
ideas; the only way to have its perfection appear is to submit
to it, allowing it to rule. Then it will work itself out in the
life. "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to
do of his good-pleasure." Phil. 2:13.
The End of the Law. "Now the end
of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good
conscience, and of faith unfeigned." 1 Tim. 1:5. Charity
is love, and "love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom.
13:10. Therefore the end of the law is its perfect fulfillment.
That is self-evident. It makes no difference in what sense the
word "end" is taken. Suppose it be used in the common
sense of "object." It is very plain that the things
which it requires shall be done. Or use the word "end"
in the ordinary sense of the farthest extent, and we have the
same thing. You arrive at the end of a law only when you reach
the utmost limit of its requirement.
Christ the End of the Law. We have seen
that the end or object of the law is the righteousness which
it requires. So it is said that Christ is the end of the law
"for righteousness." The law of God is the righteousness
of God. See Isa. 51:6, 7. But this righteousness is the real
life of God himself, and the words of the law are only the shadow
of it. That life is found only in Christ, for he alone declares
the righteousness of God. Rom 3:24, 25. His life is the law of
God, since God was in him. That which the Jews had only in form,
is found in fact only in Christ. In him the end of the law is
found. Does any one say that "the end of the law" means
its abolition? Very well; when they find the abolition of Christ,
they will have found the abolition of the law, and not before.
Only a study of the life of Christ will reveal the righteousness
which the law of God requires.
To Whom? To whom is Christ the end of
the law for righteousness? "To every one that believeth."
Christ dwells in the heart by faith. Eph. 3:17. The perfect righteousness
of the law is found only in him. It is in him in absolute perfection.
Therefore since Christ dwells in the heart of the believer, in
him only is the end of the law attained. "This is the work
of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." John
6:29. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness."
Doing to Live and Living to Do. The righteousness
which is of the law, that is, men's own righteousness (see Phil.
3:9), is on the principle of doing something in order to live.
The mere statement of the case is sufficient to show its impossibility;
for life must necessarily precede action. A dead body does not
do something in order that it may live, but it must be given
life in order that it may do something. Peter did not tell the
dead Dorcas to do some more charitable work, to sew some more
garments, in order that she might live, but in the name of Jesus
he restored her to life, in order that she might pursue her good
works. The man that doeth those things shall live in them, but
he must first live before he can do them. Therefore the righteousness
which is of the law is but an empty dream. Christ gives life,
even the eternal and righteous life of God, which works righteousness
in the soul that it has quickened.
Christ the Word. Verses 6-8 of this chapter
are a direct quotation from Deuteronomy 30:11-14. Moses had been
rehearsing the law to the people, and exhorting them to obedience,
and told them that the commandment was not "far off,"
so that they needed to send some one to bring it to them, "but
the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart,
that thou mayest do it." Paul, writing by inspiration of
the Spirit, quotes the words of Moses, and shows that they refer
to Christ. Christ is the Word, the commandment, which is not
"far off," which needs not to be brought down from
heaven, nor to be raised from the dead. Let the reader compare
these two portions of Scripture very carefully, and he will clearly
see that the real commandment of the Lord is nothing less than
Christ.
Law and Life. This truth was not necessarily
hidden till the New Testament was written. The thoughtful Jew
in the days of Moses could clearly understand that only in the
life of God could the righteousness of the law be found. Moses
said: "I call heaven and earth to record this day against
you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may
live; that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest
obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him; for he
is thy life, and the length of thy days." Deut. 30:19, 20.
In setting the law before the people,
Moses set before them the life of God, and that is to be found
only in Christ. "I know that his commandment is life everlasting."
John 12:50. "And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
John 17:3.
The Word Very Near. Remembering that the
word is Christ, we read, "The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which
we preach." Is Christ so near as that? Indeed he is; for
he himself says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock."
Rev. 3:20. It is not alone to the good that he is near, but he
is "not far from every one of us." Acts 17:27. So near
is he that "in him we live, and move, and have our being."
We can not reach out our hand without
finding him. Christ is in [near] the heart even of wicked men,
waiting for them to recognize the fact that already exists, and
will in all their ways acknowledge him; then he will dwell in
their hearts "by faith." He will then direct them in
all their ways. In nothing is the love of Christ more fully shown
than in his dwelling with sinful men, and enduring all their
hatefulness, in order that by his patience he may win them from
their evil ways.
Belief in the Resurrection. "If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved." He "was delivered for our offenses, and
was raised again for our justification." Rom. 4:25. And
"he died for all." He tasted death for every man. Therefore
he was raised for the justification of every man. To believe
in the heart that God hath raised him from the dead, is to believe
that he justifies me. The one who does not believe that Jesus
does cleanse him from sin, does not really believe that God has
raised him from the dead; for we can not believe in the resurrection
of Jesus, without believing that for which he was raised. The
resurrection of Jesus is much less generally believed than is
commonly supposed.
Not Ashamed. The root of the word "believe"
indicates a foundation, something upon which one can build. To
believe on Jesus is to build upon him. He is the tried Stone,
the sure Foundation, the Rock. Isa. 28:16. Whosoever builds upon
him will not be obliged to flee in confusion when the rain descends,
and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat upon his house;
for he is the Rock of Ages.
No Difference. The keynote of the gospel
call is "whosoever." "God so loved the world,
that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John
3:16. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Rev. 22:17. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved." No distinction is made; "for there
is no difference between the Jew and the Greek."
Read again the second and third chapters
of Romans, and the fourth also. Indeed, the whole book of Romans
gives a death-blow to that wicked idea that God is partial, and
that he favors some people more than others. The idea that God
has special blessings for one nation of earth that he has not
for others, no matter whether that one nation be called Jews,
Israelites, Anglo-Saxons, Englishmen, or anything else, is a
direct denial of the gospel of the grace of God.
The Gospel to All. The thirteenth, fourteenth,
and fifteenth verses show the steps necessary for salvation.
First, men must call upon the Lord. But in order to call upon
him, they must believe in him. But they can not hear without
someone being sent. But preachers have been sent, yet all have
not believed and obeyed, although they have all heard.
What have they all heard? They have all
heard the word of God. In proof of this, the apostle says that
faith comes by hearing the word of God, and adds: "Have
they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth,
and their words unto the ends of the world." All in the
world have heard, and there is no excuse for unbelief on the
part of any. Read again Romans 1:16-20.
Glorious Preachers. The gospel of Christ
is "the glorious gospel." It shines its way into the
heart. See 2 Corinthians 4:4. So it is fitting that those who
preach it should be arrayed in glory. The sun, moon, and stars
are the beautiful "preachers" whose words have gone
to the ends of the world. They preach the glorious gospel of
Christ. They are a continual example of the right way to preach
the gospel they shine forth the glory of God.
So the apostle says to us who have heard
and believed the word, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of the
darkness into his marvelous light." 1 Pet. 2:9. The gospel
is the revelation of God to men. "God is light," therefore
the proclaiming of the gospel consists in showing forth his light.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Matt. 5:16.
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