Romans 9:25-33

• 25 As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one,"
• 26 and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God'."
• 27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
• 28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality."
• 29 It is just as Isaiah said previously: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."
• 30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
• 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
• 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling-stone".
• 33 As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Introduction: One of the foundation principles of the Bible is that every human being needs salvation, personally. We do not come into this world in a right relationship with God. As soon as we are old enough to act out our inclinations, we begin to sin. We have sinful hearts, and we do not need to be taught how to sin. We do it by nature, and of our own free will. We are not forced to sin. We sin because we want to. And because of our sin we are "under the wrath of God."

• 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
• 19 ¶ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
  (Romans 1:18-19)

• 1 ¶ You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
• 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
• 3 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
  (Romans 2:1-3)

• 9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
• 10 As it is written: "There is no-one righteous, not even one;
• 11 there is no-one who understands, no-one who seeks God.
• 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one."
  (Romans 3:9-12)

So God, the Great Judge of all the world, has pronounced a sentence of "guilty" on the whole human race. So, WE ALL NEED SALVATION!

PEOPLE KNOW THAT THEY NEED SALVATION. All around the world, people are seeking salvation, usually through some kind of religion, ritual, sacrifices and good deeds. Sometimes they chant and meditate for hours, trying to purify their souls. Sometimes they bring literal sacrifices of animals, or fruit, and place on the altar of a god, or an ancestor. Sometimes they rely on being born, or reborn into a high caste. Sometimes they give millions of dollars to start hospitals, or fund medical research. Sometimes they have elaborate rituals of praying toward Mecca seven times every day. Sometimes they bathe themselves in holy rivers, or go on pilgrimages. Buddhists believe that salvation comes from following the Noble Eightfold Path. Why do they do all these things? They are seeking salvation. They are seeking forgiveness of their sins. They are seeking life after death.

In these verses in Romans, Paul reminds us of Three Truths About Salvation....

I. Salvation does not come by means of birth or race.

• 25 As he says in Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one,"
• 26 and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God'."
• 30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
• 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
  Romans 9:25-31

Most of the Jews of the Old Testament, and the Jews of Jesus' time, thought they would be saved from their sins, and go to Heaven when they died, just because they were Jewish. Everyone else was unclean and rejected by God because they weren't Jewish. They really believe in salvation by race. That's why Jesus and Paul had to address the Jews with the following words..........

9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
(Matthew 3:9)

• 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
• 33 They answered him, "We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"
• 34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
• 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it for ever.
• 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
• 37 I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word.
• 38 ¶ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father."
• 39 "Abraham is our father," they answered.
  (John 8:32-39)

22 ¶ Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.
(2 Cor 11:22)

II. Salvation does not come through religious rituals.

• 30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
• 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
  (Romans 9:30-31)

Israel pursued a law of righteousness. They were enamored of the rules and regulations. They counted all the commandments in the Pentateuch, and then added more commands. This is sometimes called "legalism." It is very similar to "ritualism." The Pharisees were very concerned about the minutia of the Law, and of the religious ceremonies.

• 1 ¶ The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus and
• 2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed.
• 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.
• 4 When they come from the market-place they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
• 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?"
• 6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
• 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’
• 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
• 9 And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
  (Mark 7:1-9)

Barclay's Commentary on Mark tells of a rabbi who was imprisoned by the Romans and who "used the water which was given to him for handwashing rather than for drinking, and in the end nearly perished from thirst, because he was determined to observe the rules of handwashing."

People today do so many kinds of religious rituals for salvation. Praying seven times a day. Sweeping your path as you walk, so you won't step on a bug, and get bad Karma. Spinning prayer wheels. Genuflecting to a crucifix in a church. Swinging incense burners. Reciting the Rosary. Doing the stations of the cross. Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims: all who rely on religious rituals for salvation will be disappointed. Rituals cannot take away your sins.

Some people think they will go to Heaven because they joined the right Church: The Roman Catholic Church -- The Church of Christ -- The Church of God -- The Mormon Church -- or a Baptist or Presbyterian or whatever. This is wrong. Jesus did not come to earth to start any particular denomination. He came bringing salvation, and salvation comes from HIM, not from any gathering of believers, no matter how spiritual they are. Never look to a church or denomination for your salvation!

III. Salvation does not come from doing good works.

• 30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
• 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
  (Romans 9:30-31)

Part of pursuing the Law is keeping the Ten Commandments, the moral laws of God. This means doing good works. Do not murder. Defend the lives of the innocent. Do not steal. Defend the safety and personal property of your neighbor. Do not commit adultery. Defend the morality of the community. Do not bear false witness. See for justice and truth in the courts of the land. Love your neighbor as you love yourself, and so on.

This is all very good, and everyone should live that way. We should all do good works. But we must always remember that good works are a result of our salvation, and not a path to salvation. Our good works are not good enough to save us. And the number of good works we do is not enough to over-balance the sins we have committed.

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
(Isaiah 64:6)

• 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
• 9 not by works, so that no-one can boast.
• 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
  (Ephesians 2:8-10)

• 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared,
• 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
  (Titus 3:4-5)

• 7 "Suppose one of you had a servant ploughing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’?
• 8 Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?
• 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?
• 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’"
  (Luke 17:7-10)

Do you remember the parable of Jesus, of the Pharisee and the Publican? It is the attitude of the Publican that leads to salvation. We must see ourselves as unworthy of salvation, and plead for grace, and it shall be given.

• 9 ¶ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:
• 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
• 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector.
• 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
• 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
• 14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
  (Luke 18:9-14)

Conclusion: How then shall we be saved? Not by works. Not by race. Not by ritual. But by faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.

• 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
• 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling-stone".
• 33 As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
  (Romans 9:31-33)