The text this morning is from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, the 10th chapter:
For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
This week, Paul is continuing his thought from last week, that the Jews had a special relationship with God that no longer exists, and how anxious he is to save them. He writes that, for them, that relationship was revealed to them through the standard of righteousness. What is righteousness? It means to be perfectly holy, blameless in every way, according to the standard of Christ’s life and obedience, even to death on a cross.
Now, to the Jews, before Christ has revealed Himself to the world in the flesh, that righteousness seemed to be found through what the Law of God told them to do. And you know what they said when God gave them that Law? They didn’t equivocate. They didn’t stumble. They didn’t make excuses. They gave the right answer when you’re scared to death before a Lord who has the power to wipe you from the face of the earth: they said, “All You have said, we will do.”
Now, when you consider this statement, it may seem like a no-brainer. Follow after God? Sure. Listen to Him? Sure. Make sacrifices for my sins? Sure. Not cut the corners of my beard? Weird, but sure. It seems easy enough. But, what seems easy has so much more meaning and thus is so much easier to break.
We know this, right? Think of Jesus when He says that you shouldn’t commit adultery, and, of, by the way, anyone who looks at another with lust has had that intimate, sexual relationship with them already. Oops. Or if you hate your brother, you just murdered him. Oops. The reality is that behind the words of God, though this is plain to see when we understand the Scriptures by faith, the Law is impossible to keep. I never can keep stray thoughts at bay. They fly at me, unbidden, and it seems so easy to just think the wrong thing, then it becomes easy to say the wrong thing, then it becomes easy to do the wrong thing, and before you know it I’m head-deep into the morass of sin.
Nevertheless, the Israelites did promise God that they would od the Law. And the benefit of doing the Law completely, fully would be that they would live eternally. They would be righteous and thus never die. But not one of them could do it. All the Israelites who stood before Mt. Sinai and listened to Moses and heard the voice of God and saw His glory are all dead. They died a long time ago. They’re not around. That means that they all sinned. They all fell short of the glory of God. They were not righteous.
This is our sinful condition. Our humanity is always striving for righteousness. It’s true. Every single person in the world wants to be righteous. How we get there is a whole other matter. You see, most people seek after their own righteousness which is defined by their own opinions. As long as I’m good, as long as I’m noble, as long as I’m accepting, as long as I’m tolerant, I will be righteous and whatever god there is out there will let me to heaven. For them today, righteousness is defined however they imagine it.
For others, righteousness is defined similarly to the Scriptures, actually, fundamentally, literally to the Scriptures. There was a book a few years ago that got to this point called “The Year of Living Biblically.” In it, an atheistic or agnostic man of Jewish descent tried to understand his heritage by literally following the laws laid out in the Old Testament. He threw pebbles at adulterers behind their backs (instead of stoning them). He tried to put his wife out of their house during that special time of the month (she didn’t put up with it). He let his hair and beard grow. He didn’t eat shellfish or pork. He was looking at righteousness through the lens of doing all things himself. And honestly, there are Christians who do this, too, and they are just as ridiculous.
Paul calls the first way, meaning a standard of your own righteousness, descending into the abyss. It’s like taking Christ into the disgusting muck and mire of hell in order to find goodness. This way brings Christ up from the dead as if they can do this by their power to vindicate themselves in their personal beliefs. And the second way, trying for righteousness by pure obedience, is like ascending into heaven. But, though that sounds nice, it really isn’t. After all, what person have you see that can ascend to the Father just as the Son of God did? That way brings perfection down into the realm of our ability, which it isn’t.
Now, what do we do? We have what the standard looks like in the Scriptures, but we can’t attain that due to our sinfulness. We can’t just make stuff up instead of the Word of God and expect God to honor it. Instead, look near you. The Word is near, Jesus is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. The Word of Faith, faith which believes God and is for that credited as righteousness is near you.
See, this is the thing: God in Christ is always near you. He promised you that He is with you always, even unto the end of the age. If He’s with you, if He’s pouring into you that faith which He has promised, then you never need to go further than your own lips to find the righteousness of Christ.
You know what your heart says and does. I mean, if I’m honest with myself, I know that there are times where I am more doubtful of the Lord, but I truly want to believe always. I pray that the Lord helps my unbelief when it arises. My heart goes up and down. But my lips, well, not much comes out of them that isn’t intentional, at least when it comes to God. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with my heart that God raised Christ from the dead and therefore will be saved.
You see, that’s righteousness; that’s what the Law had been working to propel the entire world towards since the beginning. The Law is there to show us our sin, to convict us, and then when it has brought us to the point of despair when we realize that there is nothing that we can do and that we need someone to save us, then the Good News of Jesus Christ is given for all people, for you.
Righteousness becomes then, not a product of my work, but a product of Christ’s work, of His obedience, of His life, of His death, of His resurrection. And just as Abraham was declared righteous by faith, so, too, are you. You’re not declared righteous because God is just out there loving on you; you’re declared righteous through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus in your place. Because you believe that, because you confess that, you, too, will be brought into everlasting life.
That’s the beauty of the Church: here you learn to confess Christ, here you learn to hear His Word, here you learn that you are His. I’m sure you can all name a pastor in your life who preached the Word so clearly that there was no mistaking that you were Christ’s. I’m sure you can think of a friend who taught you more deeply what it is that you confess. By the work of the liturgy, you are literally learning each week what it is that you are supposed to confess, to say together, to say the same thing that other Christians are saying around the world. The Church, altogether, has continued to teach her children year after year, generation after generation, millennium after millennium, what it is to believe and confess Christ. And so you have been taught.
If this is where you desire to be, if you desire to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His Word and teach all who would come, then this is the place for you. You’ll learn what it is to be the Church in, this, our church. You’ll learn what to say, you’ll learn what to sing, you’ll learn what to pray. Because in this church, we pray the Scriptures, we sing the Scriptures, we confess the Scriptures, and specifically, that Jesus is Lord and He is risen from the grave. Believe upon that, for your faith, your marvelous faith, your faith given to you by God Himself, comes by hearing, and hearing, true hearing, comes through the Word of Christ. And if you have that faith, then you are righteous. You have not followed after the rulers of this world nor the delusions of your heart, but you seek the righteousness of Christ. And when you do that, when you rely on Christ for your salvation, then know you are forgiven of all your sins and you are declared righteous by the precious blood of Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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