I. Spiritual Condition Of Israel (Religionists)
A. Hopefully, You Are Praying For Them V. 1
1. The Jewish people of whom Paul spoke were self-righteous, and very condescending and hateful towards non-Jews.
2. These people that believed that Gentiles were created to fuel the fires of Hell.
3. It would be easy to have a disdain for such people, and ignore them as self-righteous snobs.
4. Paul had been physically assaulted by these people. He could have been hateful.
5. He could have rejoiced in their spiritual blindness, being glad that God would judge them.
6. Instead, Paul took the high road, and was moved by the Holy Spirit to pray for them, in spite of their spiritual arrogance and
self-righteousness.
7. Are we willing to pray for the self-righteous people that we know, or do we take the easy route, and ignore and criticize
them?
8. Worse yet, do we think that we are better than they are?
B. Religious Zeal Without Knowledge V. 2
1. It is possible to be very religious, but miss the truth about God.
2. Zeal is not a replacement for truth.
3. According to the Bible, multitudes of religious people are sincerely wrong.
4. Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
5. Luther- Zeal for God according to knowledge is to know that you do not know.
It is to realize that you don’t have the ability to be right with God via your own efforts.
6. Self-made religion appeals to self-righteous people.
7. Examples of self-righteous religion
a. Turn to Luke 18:9-14 They trusted in themselves, and despised others.
b. Turn to Matthew 23:23, 24 They magnified lesser matters; minimized greater matters.
c. God’s Sabbath regulationsExodus 20:8-10 8“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is
the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your
female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
2
d. Religionist version of righteousness
A person was permitted to go much farther than a Sabbath day’s journey if at some time previous he had deposited, within the legal
Sabbath day’s journey of the place he wished to reach, bread and water; this point was now to be regarded as the limit of his house.
A man did not break the Sabbath rest of his donkey, though he rode on it, and hence did not break the Sabbath law, but if he carried
a switch with which to expedite the pace of the beast he was guilty, because he had laid a burden upon it.
C. Religionist’s View Of Righteousness V. 3
1. They Are Ignorant Of God’s Righteousness (God’s true standard)
a. Ignorant- agnoeo- to not know, to not understand, to err or sin through mistake
b. They were ignorant of the righteousness expected by God and provided by God.
c. Their ignorance was not due to lack of exposure of God’s word; they had the O.T.
i. Jesus expected them to understand the standards of God’s righteousness
d. Matt. 13:14,15 Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the hearts of this
people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed,
e. David Guzik- People cannot come to Jesus without the right information about the gospel, but information alone is not enough to
save anyone. There must be a radical submission to the righteousness of God, putting away our own righteousness.
2. They Believe In Their Own Righteousness
a. Philippians 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless… (Paul’s
previous opinion of himself)
b. It wasn’t that they weren’t concerned with the idea of being righteous before God, but it was they thought that they could
be right with God through their own efforts.
3. Didn’t Submit To God’s Righteousness
a. They were unwilling to submit themselves to God’s plan for salvation
II. God’s Method Of Salvation V. 4
4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
End- termination, fulfillment, goal.
Philippians 3:9 9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.
Romans 3:19-24 19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
Jesus fulfilled the Law- Matthew 5:17 17“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
Jesus paid the price for those who did not fulfill the law.
He was the worthy sacrifice, having never sinned
Romans 8:3, 4 3For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Salvation is only available to those who submit to God’s offer of salvation, and who believe, and receive it by faith.