Romans 9:30-33
We all want to get right. With God. With ourselves. With others. We want to be right, approved, whole, clean, settled and at peace. But how can we get there considering all the mistakes we make and downright bad things we do?
There are two primary ways to pursue righteousness. One works and the other doesn’t.
The tricky part is that both ways of pursuit look identical. Two people can sit in the same church pew, hearing the same sermons, using the same Bible translation, serving on the same committees, giving the same amount to church and charity, raising their families in the same way; and yet hear drastically different words from Jesus in the end. One hearing, “Well done my good and faithful servant;” the other, “Depart from me for I never knew you.”
Which one are you? Please consider your pursuit in light of the following three considerations:
1. What is the OBJECT of your pursuit? (v.30-31)
Pursuing the wrong object ruins any endeavor. If you’re going on a family vacation and start pursuing efficiency rather than quality family time, it ruins everything.
Pursuing even very good secondary objects will ruin the whole endeavor if it distracts you from the primary object. If you’re dating or married and start pursuing romance rather than your date or spouse, it ruins everything. If you’re a parent and you start pursuing perfect parenting rather than your kids, it ruins everything.
This is especially true in the pursuit of righteousness. Paul writes that the Jews were pursuing a law of righteousness that turned out to be the wrong object. The law was meant to be a tool to use in pursuit of God, not an object in of itself. And this gets at the danger of doing church.
Church involvement is more dangerous that you’d think, because we can forget the true object of our pursuit and begin pursuing church instead.
So, what are you pursuing? Why are you involved in church?
To put it another way, what would success look like in your Christian endeavor? If success is becoming good, living comfortably, or being well thought of; you’re getting it wrong. Success is getting caught up with a grand, glorious, dangerous, unpredictable, all-consuming God.
Those other things may be a part of it; but they are far from the primary object of our pursuit.
2. What is the BASIS of your pursuit? (v.31-32)
Pursuing the right object on the wrong basis ruins things too. Think of the Prodigal Son story. The older son thought he had earned the father’s affection based on his faithfulness and hard work. It was right to want the father’s affection; but wrong to pursue it based on work.
If my five-year-old son started basing his relationship with me on work like an employee, it would be a major concern. There is a huge difference in earning sonship and living sonship.
The gospel is that Jesus did the work we couldn’t do. It is finished. The price he paid financed our adoption and now we are God’s sons and daughters. Period.
So, on what is your Christianity based? Is it based on what you do or what Jesus did?
Another way to think about it: If someone were to ask you about your Christianity, would you tell them about the things you do or the things you believe?
What you do as a Christian is important; but the basis of your doing is faith in what Jesus has already done.
3. What is the RESULT of your pursuit? (v.32-33)
Jesus is either the foundation stone or a stumbling stone in your life.
In Jesus, God placed a foundation (the foundation!) on top of which we are meant to build our lives. Yet, many of us build 20 yards to the left and Jesus is this strange thing in our back yard that we stumble over from time to time.
I have talked with many people on their deathbeds and I’m disturbed by how many tell me that they feel ready to face God because they’re good. They never cheated on their spouse or taxes. They didn’t cuss a lot. They never killed anyone. As though being right with God is a matter of doing more good things than bad things. If this were the case, why did Jesus need to live at all? Why did he need to die on the cross? Why did he need to rise again?
Many people practice a Christianity that doesn’t require a Christ at all. It’s just a self-improvement program.
Does your Christianity require Jesus? If not, you’re doing it wrong, which results in stumbling and shame. It leads to a tiny, frustrated life in which you never move forward and you’re always tripping over the same sins and problems. You can do Christianity this way for 50 years and not change or grow.
However, building on top of Jesus as your foundation leads to a life in which you grow and change and move forward. It gives you traction in a life of increasing freedom and fulfillment.
Which result are you experiencing?
Discussion Starters
- How was your week? Take some time to share together.
- Work together to remember the basic idea of Romans 9.
- Who is Paul talking about when he mentions the Gentiles and Israel?
- How did each group pursue righteousness? How do people today pursue it? How does the pursuit of righteousness today compare to that of Paul’s day?
- Why did the Jewish pursuit of law fail to reach righteousness?
- Personally, are you more inclined to pursue Christian activities or God himself? Why?
- Do you tend to rest more in your efforts to be good or Jesus’ work on your behalf? Why?
- What is Dulin’s Grove’s primary pursuit? What are we mainly after as a church? Good deeds or our good God? How can you tell?
- What changes do you need to make in response to this passage? What changes does our church need to make?
