Verse 1, the Apostle Paul addresses the
people in the church at Rome by calling them brethren. And
he says in verse 1, brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer
to God for Israel. He's talking about the Jews,
his kinsmen according to the flesh. that they might be saved. As Paul had stated in the preceding
chapter, that only a remnant would be saved. Most of them
would reject the gospel. Most of them would be cut off.
He said, if the Lord of the Sabbath had not left us a seed, we'd
be like Sodom and Gomorrah. He knew that the divine method
of justification was foolishness to these Jews. They ridiculed
it and rejected it. He knew that they were prejudiced
against him. He knew they despised him. He
knew they sought his death. It was not the Romans who sought
the death of Paul, it was the Jews. It was his brethren, according
to the flesh. And yet Paul expresses his deep
love for them. And his great desire, he said,
my heart's desire and my prayer to God for Israel is, for the
Jewish people, is that they might be saved, that they might come
to a knowledge of Christ, that they might be partakers of Christ
and his righteousness. That's my desire, that's my prayer.
And he says in verse 2, they have, I bear them record, he
said they have a zeal of God. They're not atheists. They're
not like the Philistines. They're not like the Amalekites.
They're not like the Romans. They have a zeal of God. They
have a zeal for the word of God. The writings of Moses they treasured,
and they read, and they memorized, and they defended. They have
a zeal for the law of God, for the ceremonies of religion, for
the feast days, all the rituals that Moses had given to them.
They have a zeal of God. They're religious people. But
he says it's not according to knowledge. That is, their zeal
for God was based on mistaken principles entirely. Their zeal
for God and for the Word of God and for the ceremonies was based
on ignorance. They did not know the Father. Christ accused them of that.
He said, ye have neither known me nor my Father. If you had
known my Father, you should have known me also. They knew neither
God the Father nor God the Son. They did not understand the law.
They defended it. They did not understand the ceremonies. They kept them. They did not
understand the feast days, the holy days, the types, but they
were particularly careful to observe them all. They were zealous
for the law, but they knew neither the nature of it, nor the need
of it, nor the use of it. Paul said, I bear them record.
They are not atheists. They have a zeal of God. They
have a zeal for the word of God. They have a zeal for the law
and the ceremonies of God. but it's based on ignorance. Verse 3, for they being ignorant
of God's righteousness. Now John Brown said this, and
I think it's quite good, and it's applicable to this day.
Maybe it's applicable to us. Let's listen to it carefully.
This zeal for God and religion which Israel had not being an
enlightened knowledge, and not being an enlightened zeal, hindered rather than helped them. He went on to say, a man who
is well versed in false religion and false worship is worse off
because his false righteousness gives him security, and it therefore
becomes an insurmountable obstacle and barrier in his way to God. It would be better, he continued,
to have no zeal for God at all. Now you think that through a
little bit. Who are the hardest people today,
as we say, to with the gospel of pure grace? Is it not the
religious man? Who is the greatest enemy of
pure grace? Is it not the religious man?
Who is the man who is quick to defend his works and his righteousness
and refuse the pure, merciful righteousness of God? Is it not
the religious man? Who is it that shall hear Christ
say, Depart from me, I never knew you? It is the man who said,
We have done many wonderful works in thy name, cast out devils
in thy name, and prophesied in thy name." Israel had a zeal
of God. Israel was steeped in religion.
Israel was set for the defense of their types and their rituals
and their ceremonies and their table and their tabernacle and
their synagogue and their holy of holies. And these things,
rather than being means of grace as they were intended and means
of God as they were given to bring them to Christ, these things
became a snare and a stumbling stone. and an insurmountable
barrier between them and a true knowledge of God. It's a lot
easier to fill an empty hand than to fill one that's already
full of something else. It's a lot easier to fill an
empty heart than it is to fill one that's already full of its
own righteousness, and that's what John Brown is saying. They
have a zeal of God. Paul could go out among the Gentiles
And they had no knowledge of God, they had no profession of
God, they had no claim on God, and Paul could give them the
righteousness of God. And they received it, but he
went to the Jews, and the Jews had all the answers. We have
Moses to our father, we have Abraham, we have the prophets,
we have the table, we have the sacrifices. We don't need what
you have to offer. Verse 3, now watch this, verse
3 is divided into three parts, it'll help you understand it
a lot better. First of all, verse 3 says, they
being ignorant of God's righteousness. Now stop right there, just a
minute. They were ignorant, this is what they were ignorant of,
and it's what people today are ignorant of. These Jews were
ignorant of the strictness of God's justice. They were ignorant
of the purity and holiness of God's nature. They knew that
God is holy. These Jews knew that God is righteous. But these Jews did not think
he was so holy and so righteous and so strict as he is, insisting
on perfect obedience of the heart and of the thoughts and of the
mind, requiring at our hand every jot and tittle of the law, every
word and every thought. That's what they didn't know.
They were ignorant of the strictness of God's holy law. They were
ignorant of God's holiness, of God's character, of God's righteousness. Now turn to Matthew 5. We'll
get a little light on that. Our Lord Jesus Christ is teaching
here, and he says in Matthew 5, verse 21, go back to verse
20, It'll open a little light on it. I say unto you, except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven.
You have heard it said by them, by these Pharisees, by these
Sadducees, the teachers of the scripture of old times, thou
shalt not kill. That was their law. They respected
it. They taught it. They abided by
it. Whosoever shall kill shall be
in danger of the judgment." But I say unto you, now here comes
the strictness of God's law which they were ignorant of. They believed
that you were not supposed to kill. They believed that. They believed that God was holy.
They believed that God was righteous. They believed that He would call
to account any man whose hands were stained with the blood of
another. But Christ says it goes farther than that. God's righteousness
and God's holiness condemns not only murder, but it condemns
the thought of murder. It condemns the thought of anger. It condemns even impatience. You see what I'm saying? That's
what Christ says here. I say unto you, whosoever is
angry with his brother is going to be in danger of the judgment, And then down in verse 27, these
Pharisees taught that it was wrong to commit adultery. These
Jews agreed with that 100%. They believed that you were not
supposed to commit adultery, that God's holiness and God's
righteousness demanded purity of deed. Christ said, but I say
unto you, even a look God's law condemns. Even a thought God's
law condemns. And he goes on and applies it
all the way through. So they were ignorant of God's
righteousness. Turn to Galatians just a moment,
chapter 4. Galatians 4, verse 21. Tell me, Paul said, you that
desire to be under the law, Galatians 4, 21, do you not hear the law? Don't you know what the law is
saying? These Jews didn't. Paul said,
they are ignorant of God's righteousness. I hope there's nobody here tonight
who's ignorant of God's righteousness. I hope there's nobody here that
underestimates God's holiness, and underestimates God Almighty's
perfection, and what He requires and expects of us. God commands
us to be as holy as He is. God commands us to be as perfect
as He is in our walk, in our actions, in our thoughts, in
our affections, in our attitudes, in our motives, in our deeds,
in everything that we do. Don't be ignorant of God's righteousness. It's as holy as holiness itself. Now, the second part of this
verse. And here's the reason they were trying to be saved
by works, is because they were ignorant of God's righteousness.
They were ignorant of it. I remember reading some time
ago, back in years ago, I don't know whether it's still true
or not, but the state of New York, when they hired a policeman,
he had to be six feet tall. City of New York, one of those
places up there. Six feet tall. Had to be. Every
man that came in as a candidate to be a law officer in this particular
city, they brought him in, stood him up to the wall there, and
there was the mark. If he wasn't six feet tall, that was it. It
didn't matter if he's five feet, lemon, five-eighths. It didn't
matter if he's five foot, lemon, seven-eighths. He had to be six
feet tall. And it was just impossible to
get a job as a law enforcement officer if you didn't come up
to that standard. Well, the reason people are trying
to get by with their works and their so-called religion and
their so-called goodness is because they don't know where God's mark
is. Where is God's mark? God's mark is as high as his
throne of purity. That's how high it is. And you
and I have fallen short of the mark. We're short. We're not five feet limb and
seven, eight. We're not even anywhere near,
but we think we are. and the reason they're ignorant
of God's holiness and they're going about to establish their
own righteousness. Their own righteousness was their
outward works before men, most of the time to be seen of men.
It was their fasting, their praying, their giving of tithes and alms.
The Pharisee stood in the temple and gave it all out. He said,
Lord, I thank you I'm not like other men. I fast. I give alms
and I tithe. And these were their righteousness. These works in the sight of God,
listen to what Christ says in Matthew 23. These works in the
sight of God were nothing but a dead carcass with the stench
of human Our Lord says in verse 25 of Matthew 23, "'Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees! You are hypocrites, for you make
clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within,
on the inside, you are full of extortion and excess.'" Verse
27, "'Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees! Hypocrites, you are
like whited sepulchres, like graves which appear, indeed appear
beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and
all uncleanness." Now Romans 10, verse 3, here's the third
part of that verse. Now this is important. Number
one, and this is the basis of all false standards for salvation,
ignorant of God's righteousness. because they're ignorant of God's
righteousness, they're going about to establish a righteousness
which will be accepted of God and guarantee them a place in
heaven. And thirdly, they have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. Now the righteousness of God
here, what he's talking about here, you've got three different
righteousnesses used here. First of all, they were ignorant
of God's personal holiness and God's nature, and what God would
be satisfied with and what God would reject. They were ignorant
of that. They were going about to establish their own holiness,
their own righteousness by their own deeds and works. That's what
they were doing. They were saying, Look, God,
how good I've been, and I've been a good boy today. Wasn't
I a good boy last week? I gave him a tie. Did you see,
Lord, I put that money in. Did you write that down up there?
I've got to put a little money in there, you know, Lord. And
you notice how I visited the sick and how I read my Bible
yesterday. I read real good yesterday, and
I prayed five or six minutes yesterday. And, Lord, you're
getting all that down now. My righteousness, that's what
we're doing here. And thirdly, they have not submitted
to the righteousness of God which is accepted and approved by God,
and that is the righteousness of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
as a man, as our representative down here on this earth, under
the same requirements that the Father requires of us, Christ
met God's demands as a man. fulfilled everything that the
Father required. He fulfilled every requirement
of the law for us and in our stead, and thereby imputed unto
us a perfect righteousness. Now here's a word I want you
to look at. They have not submitted themselves. Now the divine method of justification
The divine method of salvation requires nothing of you but to
be submitted unto. That's right. There's no work to be done by
you. It is to be submitted unto. The righteousness of God, which
is Christ. The righteousness of God, which
is the person and work of Christ. the righteousness of God which
is fulfilled in our representative. We are to refuse our works and
submit to his, submit to him. There are two principles of that. Now get this. Man is restored
to the divine favor of the Heavenly Father, not by man's own doings,
but by the doings of Christ. Now in believing on Christ, And
that's what the Bible says, he that believeth on the Son hath
life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life. In believing
on Christ, we receive forgiveness, acceptance, and eternal life. And it requires nothing but submission. Barnard used to contend that
in John 1, 12, where the scripture says, to as many as receive him. that that word received is submit. Submit to Christ. They have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Now look
at verse 4. For Christ is the end of the
law. This will throw you if you don't
watch it now. It goes right with verse 2 and
3. See, each one of these verses starts with F-O-R, and they just
lead right into the other. See, verse 1, I want Israel to
be saved, for I bear them record, for they are ignorant, for Christ
is the end of the law. Now, let me suggest two or three
things, all of which are true. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. I suggest this
first. This is my preference. When a
person embraces Christ, When a person submits to Christ for
justification and for salvation, that means the end of the law,
as far as that man is concerned, for justification in any way. The individual who receives Christ,
who submits to Christ, who rests on Christ, entirely abandons
the law as a way of life, totally. It can't bring life, it can't
create life, it can't give life, it can only bring death. And
the person who submits to Christ, to Him, the law as a way of life,
the law as a way of justification, the law as a way of redemption,
why it's totally ended. He never gives it a thought,
not one thought. He does not gauge his standing
before God ever on the basis of his work. It's always on the
basis of Christ's work. Do you ever shift back and forth?
If you do, you better be careful. Do you ever own Christ one day
and the next day, depending on yourself? Are you ever on Christ
one day, and the preacher preaches salvation by the blood, and salvation
by the cross, and salvation by Christ, and boy, you rejoice,
and you're glad, and you're thrilled, and you're resting on Him, and
then a few days later, you're questioning whether or not you're
God's child on the basis of your own deeds and your own works?
Christ is the end of the law. as a way of salvation. Secondly,
now the law was given to bring sinners to Christ. The scripture
says the law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The whole
goal, the word G-O-A-L, many people think is the word end
here. Christ is the goal of the law. The very goal of the law, the
very object of the law, is to bring men to Christ. And then
third suggestion is this, all true, both of those are true,
both I've given you. Here's the third one. The law
originally contained terms of life. What did God say to Adam? Do this and live. That's terms,
isn't it? That's the terms of life. So
at one time, when the law was given to a perfect man, When
the law was given to an upright man, when the law was given to
a man created in God's image, the law contained terms of life. But Adam, and Adam had he kept
his integrity, would have lived by the law, not by Christ, by
the law. If Adam had remained without
sin, he could have lived. But when Adam fell, that's the
end of the law. Christ Jesus became our surety. Christ Jesus became our righteousness. Christ Jesus became our mediator. And Christ then and there was
the end of the law. For the law can never enable
a fallen man to live. That's the end of it. Now Moses
describes, verse 5, the righteousness of the law. And here's the way he described
it. He says, the man that doeth the law shall live by it. There
it is, right there. The righteousness of the law,
the holiness of the law, if that's my righteousness, it lies in
doing. Doing. Doing. Not just abstaining
now, you misinterpret the law. If all you do is, thou shalt
not kill, and thou shalt not commit adultery, and thou shalt
not steal, and thou shalt not bear false witness, the righteousness
of the law lies not only in not doing, but in doing. And keeping the statutes of God,
not just externally, but internally. Not just with some of the heart,
but all of the heart, all of the soul, all of the strength,
all of the mind. That's what Christ said. The
law requires a perfect love to God and all his creatures, even
his butterfly, even his ants. A perfect heart conformed to
a perfect God. That's what the righteousness
of the law is. That's it. And that's what Christ
did. That's when he was here. That's what he did. The Father
looked down at him. He said, This is my Son in whom
I'm well pleased. He did every bit of that. God
never could look at you or me at any time in our existence
and say that he's well pleased, for in the flesh no man can please
God. All right, verse 6, but the righteousness
which is of faith, two different righteousnesses here, righteousness
of the law is due, due. The righteousness of faith speaketh
on this wire. Say not in your heart who shall
ascend into heaven to bring the Messiah down or who shall descend
into the deep to bring the Messiah up from the grave. Do not think, my friend, that
divine justification depends on something to be done by you
or anyone else. There's no need to say the Apostle's
quotes from Moses, writing, Who shall ascend into heaven to bring
the Messiah down? He's already come. He's already
done the work for which he came. He's already died on the cross. There's no reason to say, who
shall ascend into heaven and bring the Messiah down? Do you
remember what the doctor said to the preacher? Wouldn't it
be wonderful if somebody up there would come down here and tell
us what it's all about? That's exactly what Paul is saying
here. He did come. He's already come. And don't
say in your heart, who shall descend into the grave, into
the deep, to bring him up from beneath. He is already risen. Our justification is by his resurrection
from the grave. The gospel which reveals the
righteousness of faith does not require you to do anything but
submit, but believe, but receive. it tells you that it's already
done. The gospel tells you of an all-sufficient
Savior. It tells you of his completed
and accepted work. When he arose from the grave,
his work was accepted on behalf of all who believed. And this
word of salvation, verse 8, is right there in your mouth. and right there in your heart."
He said, "...the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and
in thy heart." That is the word of faith which we preach, the
word of faith whereby we're saved. It's brought to you by them that
preach. There's nothing to prevent you
from becoming acquainted with it and to receive it. The righteousness of the law
is due. do. The righteousness of faith
is, it's done. It's done. And the word of this
faith and the message of this righteousness is right there.
It's nigh thee, it's even in your mouth. Now what does he
mean by that? Read the next verse. Here it is. That is, thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, or Jesus to be Lord. Brethren,
to confess Christ with the mouth, John Gill says, is to make a
good, sincere, and hearty confession to God. As Roth used to say,
do business with God first. That's don't come down here in
front of the church telling people about something that hasn't happened
yet. That's don't go into the baptismal pool and confess something
that's not true. First of all, a confession of
Jesus as Lord is a confession to God. Secondly, a confession
before the Church. And thirdly, a confession before
the world that Jesus Christ is the Lord by whom we are saved
and the Lord whom we serve. And that's done in baptism. Thou shalt confess with thy mouth,
Jesus to be Lord." This is the word of faith, this is the word
of righteousness, this is the word of life, and believe in
thine heart. It's not something that you do,
it's not something that you have to go up to heaven to bring the
Messiah down, or go into the grave to resurrect him again,
or go over to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage. It's right in your mouth and
in your heart. What is it to believe in your heart? Well,
to believe that God hath raised him from the dead supposes that
you believe that he came to the earth. He couldn't have been
down here in a grave unless he had come to start with. Secondly,
it supposes also that you believe that he died. He died on the
cross. Thirdly, it is to believe that
his sacrifice, watch it, was effectual, because God raised
him from the dead. You see that? That thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart
that God raised him from the dead. God, having been totally
satisfied in his law and in his justice and in his holiness with
what Christ did. God the Father raised him from
the dead. Now watch this next verse. For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. The Apostle explains here, I
believe, the nature of faith. This heart faith, this saving
faith, does not lie in a bare mental ascent. Somebody says,
well, preacher, everybody believes Jesus Christ lived on the earth.
Yes, there's a sense in which most people believe that. The
devil believes that. Everybody believes he died on
the cross, and most people believe he rose again. Yes, there's a
sense in which they believe that. But Paul differentiates here
between that kind of faith and the kind of faith that saves
us. For he says, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. And I think this is what he means.
It is a heart work in that it is a believing with the affections. It is a believing with a new
will. It's a believing with an enlightened
understanding. It is a beholding of Christ's
glory. It is a beholding of Christ's
fullness, he that seeth the sun. It is a beholding of Christ's
sufficiency. It is a beholding of Christ's
willingness to save. It is a beholding of Christ's
beauty and the fulfillment of every requirement. And through
this kind of faith we receive righteousness. This is the kind
of faith that causes a man to leave home, to leave mother,
father, brother, sister, husband, wife, even to lay down his own
life. It is a heart faith. And that heart faith leads us
to an external confession. The early church openly confessed
their Lord. Now look at verse 11. For the
Scripture says, Whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. And that's taken from Isaiah
28, 16. It's not whosoever of the Jews believes on him. It's
not whosoever keeps the law. It's whosoever believeth. And Paul says they're not going
to be ashamed. That is, they're not going to
be without a covering at the judgment. They're not going to
be without a righteousness. They're not going to be ashamed
at his coming. How'd you get in here without
a wedding garment? They're not going to be submitted
to that embarrassment. No hope can on the law be built
of justifying grace. The law that shows the sinner's
guilt condemns him to his face. O Christ, how glorious is thy
grace, when in thy name we trust. Our faith receives a righteousness
that makes the blackest sinner just. Verse 12 and 13. There is no
difference between the Jew and the Greek. You notice verse 11
says, "...whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
It goes right on into verse 12. Far, and this is the reason,
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. The whosoever
here is Jew or Greek, male or female, bond or free, the same
Lord over all is rich unto all of whatever nationality, kindred,
tribe, or tongue that call upon him. Far, whosoever. shall call
upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." Now watch this next
verse. But how are they going to call on someone in whom they've
not believed? There can be no calling on Christ
if there's no knowledge of Christ and no faith in Christ. And they
certainly cannot believe on Him in whom they have not heard.
A man can't trust an unrevealed Savior. And how are they going
to hear this gospel unless somebody preaches it to them, and how
are they going to preach except they be divinely sent? John Brown
paraphrased this and said this, and I think it's quite good.
There can be no calling on Christ by those who do not believe in
Christ, and there can be no faith in Christ where there is no knowledge
of Christ, and there can be no knowledge of Christ where Christ
is not preached. And Christ cannot effectually
be preached unless it's a divine mission. God must send the preacher
in the power of the Holy Spirit if any effectual good is to be
accomplished. How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace. We take it for granted,
don't we? We call it the old, old story,
and to most people it's a stale old story. But to those who are
in need, and those who are in trouble, and those who have a
knowledge of the necessity of a mediator, it's glad tidings
from a far country. But, Paul says, quoting Isaiah,
they have not all obeyed the gospel, that is, they've not
all that have heard it, have not embraced it, have not received
the Lord Jesus in their heart, they've never confessed him.
For Isaiah complained of the same problem. He said, Who hath
believed our doctrine? Who hath believed our gospel? Who hath believed our report?
Faith cometh by hearing. Faith can only come as a result
of hearing the message. and the message is the report
that God hath given in his word. Faith cometh by hearing. The
more you hear the word of God as the Holy Spirit applies it
to your heart, the stronger your faith, the stronger your faith. Our Father, we pray that thou
would take the message tonight, thy word which we have read And make it, O Lord, to be more
than just words, doctrines, theology. Make it to be the living word
of the living God that goes like a sharp two-edged sword piercing
down into the very soul and heart of every one of us. May thy word
live in our hearts. Grant, O Lord, that we shall
never grow weary of these precious words, these precious promises,
that we shall never grow weary of hearing of the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that thou would strengthen
the faith of all who believe, that thou would grant faith to
those who have never been brought to believe, that thou would create
a desire for the Lord and for salvation in the hearts of those
who are careless and indifferent. Grant that these young people
here tonight shall have seeds sown in their hearts that will
bear fruit in later years, when they are exposed to real conflict
and real trial and real need, when they are exposed to the
sinfulness of sin, that they shall recall these words that
have been spoken this evening The righteousness of the law
is in doing, which we cannot produce. The righteousness of
Christ is in submitting. It's done, the great transaction's
done. I am my Lord's and he is mine. That we live by the faith of
Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. We don't
live by even our own faith, but by his faith. We are clothed
in His righteousness. We are cleansed by His blood.
We are accepted before the Father by His presence. We pray tonight
for every home represented in this service. Thou knowest our
need, O Lord. We pray according to Thy will
and according to Thy divine purpose for us that these needs shall
be met. And those of our friends and loved ones who are sick,
we pray for them. Thou would minister to them.
as it pleaseth thee, and in a way that will bring most glory to
thy precious name. Forgive our sins, we pray for
Christ's sake. Amen.