Brethren, let's turn to Romans
chapter 10. Paul begins here in verse 1.
And he says, Brethren, my heart's desire Prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved. Now every God sent preacher has
this desire for those to whom he ministers. This was Paul's
desire for his kinsmen according to the flesh, for his countrymen.
This was his prayer to God for them. This is my desire and prayer
to God for you. I pray for you every day. I call you by name and ask God
to save you. That's my heart's desire. That's truly my prayer to God
for you. Now these things the Spirit of
God gave Paul to write in the next three verses are so very,
very important. I want you to turn with me in
your Bibles. I want you to look these Scriptures
up with me. This is so important. Wouldn't
it be amazing if this hour God granted somebody here a change
of mind and granted you faith to believe on Christ? Wouldn't
it be amazing if He rooted and grounded you who believe more
in faith this hour. That's my heart's desire. That's
my prayer to God for you. Our subject is the righteousness
of God. Now Christ is the righteousness
of God to whom we must submit if we will be accepted of God.
Christ is the righteousness of God in Him alone. The only way
to attain this righteousness is through faith in Him, is to
cast all your care on Christ and believe on Him. The only
way a sinner can be made righteous. And we have to have the righteousness
of Christ or God will not receive us. This is the only way. The only way. Now, the first
thing I want us to see here is a zeal for God will not save. He says there in verse 2, This
is why he was praying for the children of Israel. For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. This is sad, but poor sinners
are taught by preachers that if they have a zeal for God,
then everything's alright. They're saved and everything's
alright. And that's just not so. These folks who Paul is writing
about had a zeal for God. They had a zeal for God. These
Jews were exceedingly zealous for God. They were zealous for
the keeping of God's commandments. That's why the Pharisees wanted
to stone the Lord Jesus Christ. It's because when He said, I
and my Father are one, they heard a man breaking God's law. They heard a man transgressing
the commandments of God. That's what they heard. And for
God, for God's honor, they were ready to stone him. They did
that in zeal to God. That was a zeal they had for
God and for His law. The Jews answered him saying,
for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy because
that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Paul's kinsmen were
zealous to obey the commandments of God and they were zealous
to do it for God. They were zealous to really and
truly obey God. They were zealous to obey God
so much so they were ready to stone a man to blaspheme That's
how zealous they were. Now man may be that zealous for
God. He may be that earnest and that
fervent to obey God. That zealous for God's honor
and yet be totally ignorant of the righteousness of God. Be
totally ignorant. A zeal for God does not save. You see people in religion all
over this world, and they're sincere, brethren. They are sincere. But sincerity, zeal, does not
save. Now secondly, a man zealous for
God, who's yet ignorant of God's righteousness, is a man zealous
to establish his own righteousness. Anybody who's zealous in religion,
zealous for God, And yet, ignorant of God's righteousness, that
man is going about to establish his own righteousness. That's
what he's doing. Look here in verse 3. For they,
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. These Pharisees and Sadducees
and Nicolaitans and all these Israelites after the flesh. They
were zealous for God, but they were ignorant of God. They were
ignorant of God. They were ignorant of God's righteousness.
Ignorant of God's holy nature. They were ignorant of the righteousness
of God and what He requires in the law. They were ignorant of
the righteousness revealed in the gospel. This is what Paul
said in Romans 9. They stumbled at. That stumbling
stone. God is holy in nature. He is
so holy that the stars are not pure in His sight. You think
the stars must be pure. They are so far away from our
defiling hand. And yet the stars are not pure
in God's sight. The angels cover their face and
their feet in God's presence. God is holy. He's holy, so holy
that He cannot behold iniquity. He's holy. They were ignorant
that God requires perfect righteousness in even the thoughts of a man. God says in Leviticus 22, 21,
it shall be perfect to be accepted. Anything God accepts has to be
perfect to be accepted. It's not enough to not commit
murder. If we're impatient with somebody,
if we lose our patience with somebody, or you become angry
without a cause, God says you're guilty. It's not enough not to
steal. If you just think about it, you're
guilty. The law reaches to the thoughts
and intents of a man's heart. what he thinks in his heart.
It's not enough to keep all the law except for one law that you
broke. It's not enough to break one,
to offend in one point is to be guilty of all. Not only this,
they were ignorant of the truth that God requires complete satisfaction
of justice upon the man who has broken the law. It's not enough
that we give the law righteous obedience. That's not enough. We have to also give the law
justice for every offense. The soul that sinneth must die.
The wages of sin is death. If we've broken the law, to fulfill
the law, we not only have to give it perfect obedience, we
have to die under the justice of God to fulfill the law. Because
we've broken it. We're guilty. They were ignorant
of this, brethren. They were ignorant of the righteousness
of God. And so, when a man is ignorant
of the righteousness of God, what that man is doing is going
about to establish his own righteousness. In all his religious deeds and
everything he does, he is trying to establish his own righteousness. When he looks to his obedience
before the law for anything, Holiness, righteousness, which
are so vitally connected. I know theologians want to correct
us all the time and say, well, you are confusing righteousness
and holiness. They are so vitally connected,
brethren. If a man looks to the law for
anything, he is going about to establish his own righteousness.
If he is looking to the law, if he is looking to how he has
reformed his life, If he's looking to his religious deeds, to his
church attendance, to his baptism, to anything he does in religion,
he's going about to establish his own righteousness. If a man
is looking to his sorrow and his remorse over his guilt, I'm
so fearful that's what some do. It's like some seem to think
that there's some some value to constantly be downcast and
constantly be sorrowing over sin and to be having remorse
over your guilt. If you look into that, brethren,
that's trying to establish your own righteousness. See, there's
a lot of ways a man can go about trying to establish his own righteousness. But this is what the problem
is. ignorant of God's righteousness. We need God to teach us this
is how He is going to do it. He is going to take these words
as they are being preached and He is going to apply them to
the heart and make His child understand righteousness. And when it comes to the righteousness
in the gospel, go back over to Romans chapter 1 and look at
this with me. Do you know what the law of the
gospel is? The preaching of the gospel?
Do you know what it is? Look here. Paul said in verse
16, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the
just shall live by faith. This gospel we preach is concerning
the righteousness of God. It's concerning how God can be
just and the justifier of His people. That's what the message
is we preach. It's not just a part of the message
we preach. It is the message we preach.
The righteousness of God. Go to Romans chapter 3. Romans
chapter 3. This is why Christ was sent forth
into the world. He said in Romans chapter 3 and
verse 26, He says, He was set forth to declare, I say at this
time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. This is what the Gospel is concerning,
how God can be just and the justifier. That's what He sent Christ to
declare. That's what God is revealing to His people in the Gospel. This is what they were ignorant
of. And here is the third thing I
want you to see. The man trying to establish his
own righteousness has not submitted himself to the righteousness
of God. He is ignorant of this righteousness
we are talking about. This righteousness revealed in
the Gospel. And he has not submitted himself to this righteousness
of God. Look at Romans 10 and verse 3.
Paul says, they're going about to establish their own righteousness
and have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
What is the righteousness of God? It's not a what, it's a
who. Look at the next word, for Christ. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. The righteousness
of God, the only righteousness God will accept is the righteousness
of His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I are sinners,
brethren. Guilty sinners before the law
of God. The only righteousness God will
accept, and we have to have righteousness. We have to be as righteous as
God is. We have to be made the righteousness
of God before God will receive us. That righteousness is His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only righteousness
God will receive, His obedience. Not our obedience, His obedience. That is the only obedience God
will receive. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
righteousness of God. They have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God, for Christ is. He is. that righteousness. He is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
Go back to Romans 8. This is what Paul has been declaring
all through this epistle. This is what all the apostles
declared. You know the apostles preached
differently than what most preachers preach today. Most, all the epistles,
the Hebrew letter, all the New Testament is taken up with turning
sinners from the law to Christ. And most preachers today are
trying to turn sinners from Christ to the law. They are doing just
the opposite. They talk about a balanced ministry,
but they spend all their time preaching the works of men. We preach Christ. the righteousness
of God. This is the righteousness we
have to have, brethren. Look here at Romans 8 verse 3.
What the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for sin condemned sin in the flesh. Christ did that. He
did that in His flesh. That's why He was made in the
likeness of our sinful flesh. It was so that He could condemn
sin in the flesh. And here is the other reason
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. Fulfilled in us who walk not
after the flesh but after the Spirit. Christ came to fulfill
the righteousness of the law. And that is what He did. That
is what He accomplished. What does God mean when He inspired
Paul here to write that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe it. What did he mean by that? What's
God declaring through Paul? It means the purpose of the law,
the end goal of the law is Christ. That's the first thing. It means
the purpose of the law, the reason God gave the law is Christ. It's Christ. The law was not
given to save. It could not save us. There's
no way it could save us. And the law wasn't given to save. When God gave the law, He gave
it to a guilty people who were sinning while He wrote the law.
They were at the bottom of the mountain, worshipping a golden
calf, breaking the law as God was writing the law. He didn't
give that law to save us. He didn't give that law for us
to try to save ourselves by obedience to it. The law was not given
to produce sanctification in a believer. It wasn't. It wasn't given to motivate believers
to holiness. That's not why it was given.
It wasn't given as a measurement to try to measure our holiness
or our righteousness. It wasn't given for that. Not
to measure how well we had done, but it was given to show us how
short we've come. That's what it was given for.
We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's what
the law declares. That's what the law declares
to us. The law was not given as a rule of life. Let me ask
you this. The law is called... Now let
me... The law written on tables of
stone, Paul said. What law is that? That's the
Ten Commandments. Is it not? And that's what everybody
preaches most everybody, and says that's the believer's rule
of life. Okay? How can this law that's
supposed to be a believer's rule of life, how is it then that
the scripture calls it the ministration of death and condemnation? That's
what Paul said in correct tense. It's the ministration of death.
It was given to minister death to them that hear it, to condemn
them that hear it. That's what it was given for.
It wasn't given as a rule of life. The law was given to show
us our sin. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. That's what Paul said in Romans
3. By the law is the knowledge of sin. The law was given to
show us our sin and thus show us our need and drive us to Christ. The law is not a savior, the
law is a schoolmaster. The law is not a savior, the
law is a schoolmaster to drive us to Christ that we might be
justified by Christ's faithful obedience. Look over at Galatians
chapter 2. Galatians 2, look here in verse
16. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. He is not justified before God
or men by the works of the law. He is not justified, period,
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. That means Christ's own faithfulness
justified His people. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. and not
by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. That of and in is vitally important,
brethren. We're not justified by our works,
we're justified by the faith of Christ, by His faithful obedience
to the law of God. And that's why we believe in
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. That's
what the law was given for, to drive us to Christ, that we might
be justified by Christ. When Paul says Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness, he also means Christ is the fulfillment
of the law. We just saw in Romans 8, Christ
came and fulfilled the righteousness of the law for His people. Speaking of God's servant, the
Lord Jesus Christ, Isaiah said this in Isaiah 42, 21, The Lord
is well pleased for his righteousness sake. He will magnify the law
and make it honorable. He is talking about Christ. He
said behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect. He said he will magnify
the law and make it honorable. He will fulfill the law. He will
bring in everlasting righteousness and justify his people from our
sin. Christ gave the law perfect righteousness. That's why he was made flesh.
That's why he was born of a woman, made under the law. It was to
give the law perfect obedience that we couldn't give. It was
to give the law that perfect obedience that his people could
not give the law by our obedience. It was to give the law. He was
made sin and made a curse to give the law the satisfaction
of justice which it demands. And that's what he did. He gave
the law everything the law demanded so that his people are made righteous
by his obedience, not by our obedience. As by one man's disobedience. Let's go back and look at Romans
5.19. Look here. As by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. Let me ask you something. Did
Adam's disobedience make it possible for you to be made a sinner?
Did his obedience just make it possible and give you a chance
to be a sinner? No, his disobedience made us
sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Christ's obedience didn't give
us the opportunity to be made righteous. He made His people
righteous. It's His obedience alone. That
means in Christ, all God's elect fulfilled the law. Romans 3,
go back there. This is that passage that most
everybody twists it. He hasn't been talking about
your works under the law. He's been talking about how Christ
fulfilled the law and how that we believe on Him And we're given
the righteousness of Christ. We're given that fulfillment
of the law through faith in Him. And so He says this, Do we then
make void the law through faith? Verse 31. Do we then make void
the law through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish
the law. He's saying through faith in
Christ. And when you read on, He's saying just like Abraham
did before the law was ever given. That's how you establish the
law, through faith in Christ. That means by Christ being made
a curse for us, believer, we are redeemed from the curse and
condemnation of the law. Romans 8.1, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk
not after the flesh but after the spirit. Get that good news. You that believe, Christ is the
end of the law. He's the end of the law for righteousness.
He's the end of the law for the fulfillment of it in obedience. He's the end of the law for the
fulfillment of it in justification, in paying the wages of our sin
debt. We fulfilled it. We've given
the law everything the law could possibly demand of us in Christ
who gave it all for us. He did it all. He did it all. Well then, listen to this now.
When God says Christ is the end of the law for righteousness,
it means Christ is the termination of the law for righteousness
and sanctification to all who believe on Him. He is the termination
of the law. The end of it. Go to Romans 7. I will show you what I mean.
Romans 7. verses 1 through 4. I didn't
realize when I was preparing this how, what a review this
was going to be of everything we've seen in this book. Romans 7, Christ is the termination
of the law. No you're not, brethren, for
I speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion
over a man as long as he liveth. for the woman which hath a husband
is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she's
loosed from the law of her husband. So then if while her husband
liveth she be married to another man, she should be called an
adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she's
free from the law so that she is no adulteress though she be
married to another man. And people Look at that and they
hear that. And people that don't have ears
to hear, they go right to the letter of the law and all they
can talk about is marriage and divorce. And they miss what that
whole law was given to tell us. What was that law teaching us?
Here is what it was given to teach us. Verse 4. Wherefore,
my brethren, you also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ. It's a terminating point you've
come to. That you're dead to the law by
the body of Christ, that you should be married to another,
even to him who's raised from the dead, that we should bring
forth fruit unto God. Look at verse six. Now we are
delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held,
that we should serve in newness of spirit, not in the oldness
of the latter. We're going to, second hour,
I'm going to preach to you from the law. These two messages go
together so well because we're hearing now how the believer
is not under the law in any shape, form or fashion. We serve God
in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the letter. And
you're going to see in the second hour what newness of spirit is. is to look to the law and do
what Paul did here in Romans 7, is to understand the spirit
of the law and what the law is teaching us concerning Christ
Jesus our righteousness. Christ has terminated the law
as a covenant of life for His people. He has terminated it. He has terminated it. We are
not under the law, we are under grace. We are under grace. Christ has terminated the law's
curse and its penalty for us. In Christ every believer has
a just righteous claim by our merit. Get that now. By our merit because Christ's
merit has made our merit. We've earned it because Christ
earned it for us. And we have A right, and it's
a just right, it's a right claim, a righteous claim that we have
to every blessing of everlasting glory. In Christ, with Christ
in you, our spirit is holy and accepted of God. Listen to this,
I'll back up what I said from Psalm 32 if you want to turn
there. Psalm 32 verse 1, listen to this. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is
no God. That right there means that Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness and for holiness. for righteousness
and for holiness. Both are included when he says
for righteousness. Here is why. Because blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity because our sins
are covered. They are blotted out so that
we are righteous before the law and because he has created us
anew in heart and created a new holy man within us and imparted
his righteousness to us in this new spirit there is no guile,
no sin. in the new man. That means Christ
is the end of the law for everything. We have everything that we need
in Christ. Of God is Christ made unto you
wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. If He is your wisdom, then you
understand by His light that He is your righteousness And
He is your holiness. And He is your redemption. Meaning
He has delivered you from the law lock, stock and barrel. So you are delivered from it.
The law has nothing to say to us by way of condemnation or
dominion over us or anything other than to continue to teach
us our sin and to continue to show us Christ. That is the only
thing. The only thing. But don't miss
this now, and I want you to please get this. Go back to our text.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. To everyone that believeth. We
cannot obtain righteousness by any merit or any works of
the law in us. We can't do it. To attempt to
do so is to count Christ's death vanity. Paul said in Galatians
2.21, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. If we say there's
something we need to do to supplement what Christ accomplished for
His people, we're saying Christ died in vain. That's what we're
saying. So we don't look to ourselves
anymore for anything. We look to Christ alone. But
don't miss this now. This is only true for those who
believe on Christ. For the believer. Only to everyone
that believeth. Senator, do you believe on Christ?
That's the issue. He is the one thing needful.
Do you believe on Christ? Believing on Christ is not He's
not just learning a bunch of facts about Christ. And it's
not learning about doctrine of Christ. And just, you know, a
system of doctrine. It's not that. It includes learning
doctrine from Christ and in Christ. But it's about beholding Christ. He's all you need. So that you
believe on Him. You trust Him. You believe on
Christ, He'll teach you all the doctrine. He'll teach you everything.
When you come to it in scripture, you'll see it glorifies Christ,
you'll see it puts the sinner in the dust, and you'll say,
Amen. I see it now. Because all doctrine
gets its light from Christ. And it redounds to His glory. Here's where we have to be brought,
brethren. Look down at Romans 10 verse 8. Here's the word of faith we preach
right here. Look at the middle part. The
Word is nigh thee. It's near thee. How near? In your mouth and in your heart. That is the Word of faith which
we preach that 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. Here's why. Because with
the heart not lifting a finger or a toe, not walking in an aisle,
not doing anything bodily motion-wise. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. And with the mouth, confession
is made unto salvation. And all those who believe won't
be ashamed. to confess Him. They won't be
ashamed to confess Him in believer's baptism. They won't be ashamed
to confess Him before men. Why? Because the Scripture says,
Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. Believer, sinner,
do you believe on Him? Do you trust Him? It's believing
in the heart. It's trusting Him in the heart.
We believe unto righteousness. We don't work unto righteousness.
I want to be found in Him, Paul said. I count everything else
lost for the excellency of this knowledge that they were ignorant
of. The knowledge of the righteousness of Christ. I want to be found
in Him. Not having my own righteousness
which is by the law. But I want to be found having
His righteousness. That righteousness which is by
the faithfulness of Christ given to me freely through faith in
Him. That's where I want to be found.
I pray God to make us all have that same desire and that same
faith in Christ. Alright, let's stand together. Father, we thank You for Your
Word. Lord, we do pray for the lost. We pray for those that
are perishing in their sins that don't know You. Father, according
to Your will, look to Christ, look to His blood, His obedience. We ask You, Lord, to call out
poor lost perishing sinner. Bring him to Christ to rest entirely
in Christ. Robe him in your righteousness
and make him stay there. Make us all be rooted and grounded
in faith. Make us know this love that passes
knowledge. Make us not look anywhere but
to Christ, Lord. This is our health, this is our
life, this is what we need. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.