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We Americans are proud of our heritage – especially here in Oregon. This is a pioneer state – Lewis and Clark (or was it Clark & Lewis?) braving the wilderness with Sacagawea; hardy pioneers traversing the Oregon Trail, then fighting off Indians to stake a claim in God’s country; the bottle bill; the beach bill; Assisted Suicide – all looked upon as hallmarks of a state where people are fiercely independent, sticking stubbornly to our course no matter what because “Things are different here.”
Some might call that attitude tenacious – but when it comes to serving God, it may very well be nothing more than obstinate pride. Maybe it’s no wonder that Oregon is the least churched state in the Union. A recent census found that 70% of people in Yamhill County (where Newberg is located) do NOT attend church – and as we know, not all of those 30% who do attend are Christians.
The pioneer spirit lives! The pioneer spirit can lead to death unless your heart is broken before the Lord. This week we find Paul dealing with that same kind of obstinate attitude among his people, the Jews – and it serves as a picture for us as we choose – obstinacy, or submission.
1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.
You may remember this heart from chapter 9, where Paul actually said he would be willing to be separated from Christ if it meant his brothers in Israel could be saved. This reflects the heart of God – willing to give up anything for the salvation of others. Now many of the Jews didn’t think they needed saving at all.
2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.
The Jews were indeed zealous for God. Paul himself had so much zeal for God that he hunted down Christians and had them killed for preaching about Jesus. That is, until God revealed one little fact that Paul had overlooked – that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, and God Himself.
And it brings up a good point: there are many “religious” people in the world that have all kinds of “zeal” for God. Terrorists, in fact, give their lives in zeal for Allah. But their zeal is without knowledge – they are missing key information about God which makes their zeal useless.
Even those of us who know Jesus as our Lord and Savior can fall into this trap – we let our excitement and exuberance outpace our wisdom and knowledge. That’s how we get some of the cults we see out there today, that’s some of the strange doctrines that seem to run around the church.
Now zeal is a good thing – Jesus said “zeal for my Father’s house will consume me.” (John 2:17) Fervency, excitement, “on-fire” for God – these are good things. In fact, the word “zeal” means “to heat up.” So how do you know if your zeal is running ahead of your knowledge?
I would suggest applying one simple test – is what you propose based on the revealed will of God as found in His Word? Even more specific, was it foretold in the Old Testament, taught by Jesus, and spoken of by the Apostles? One of the biggest mistakes Christians make is that they feel as if God has given them a “new revelation” that goes beyond the Word and is fresh for today. I say “baloney!”
2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
If the Jews of Jesus day and afterward had read the Scriptures they had with an open heart, they could have readily seen that Jesus was the Messiah – and many did – but here’s what happened to many others:
3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
All rightness comes from God – we don’t stand on our own – but it is the gift of God through Jesus Christ. If, however, we try to make ourselves right by how many rules we obey or how “good” a person we can be – then what happens is we miss God’s righteousness in Jesus. Jesus is the “end of the law” because no one can fulfill the law – only Jesus has, and we get His rightousness.
5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them."
Plain and simple – if you want to get rightness by the law you have to obey the law – every single bit of it. Good luck. Only one person’s been able to do it so far – and it wasn’t you!
6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, ’Who will ascend into heaven?’" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 "or ’Who will descend into the deep?’" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
In other words – faith means we admit we can’t save ourselves. No one on earth could go up into heaven and say, “Yo, Jesus – come on down and help out!” nor could any of us do what Jesus did in dying and taking our punishment for sin.
And how does this faith operate?
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
You don’t have to climb Mount Everest or dive to the depths of the ocean to find the faith to be saved – it’s as close as what you believe and what you confess. Verse 9 is another stop along the Romans Road. What its saying in essence is that you give your life over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and that you are convinced, even if you don’t understand it all, that when Jesus died for your sins and God raised Him from the dead, that it was the way of forgiveness for your sins.
Paul explains it another way next:
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
It must start with belief – you can’t be justified without believing that Jesus died for your sins – but mere belief isn’t enough to save you in that you must appropriate that belief by making the declaration that Jesus is your Lord.
James (2:19) tell us that even the demons believe in Jesus – but belief without confession won’t get you heaven. The demons believe but have declared that Lucifer is their Lord, and they will suffer Lucifer’s fate – as will everyone who refuses to declare Jesus as Lord.
I like that last line – “anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” As much as people run down Christianity – in the end you will never feel ashamed for having put your trust in Jesus. This was very important for the Jews – who were shamed for doing just that.
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
There isn’t a Jewish God and a Christian God – there is only God, Yahweh. And here Paul is asserting that Jesus is God. The scripture reference is from Joel 3:5.
So next, Paul traces the root of calling on the Lord.
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent?
So this is the chain of belief – someone has to be sent, then preach the gospel – those that are there need to hear, believe the gospel, then call on the Lord and be saved.
As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
It comes from Isaiah. Listen to more of it: (52:7)
7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
The Psalmist isn’t saying “my you have a incredibly good looking feet.” The idea is of a runner coming with news of deliverance. That’s what the gospel is – you are a messenger of good news. You’re not telling someone to follow some code of ethics or do this thing of another – you are simply telling them what someone else did on their behalf.
In context – the Jews were told this good news – but many rejected it.
16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
There is something more powerful in the gospel than mere words. The writer of Hebrews states: 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
And remember back in Romans 1? 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:
"Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,
"I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding."
20 And Isaiah boldly says,
"I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me."
Paul shows through Old Testament references that Israel was put on notice that gentiles would be included in God’s kingdom. He concludes the chapter with this statement:
21 But concerning Israel he says,
"All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people."
God is calling – many of the Jews refused to answer that call if it included the gentiles, and a system of righteousness that did not include their way of looking at earning righteousness.
Conclusion
So in conclusion I want to look at the two types of hearts – the obstinate, and the humble.
The hallmarks of an obstinate heart
Pharaoh
o Out for self interest (“bless me”)
o Fashioned after man’s heart (analogy of the world & its temporary riches)
o Doesn’t care about the truth (Didn’t want to hear about Yahweh)
o Never acknowledges error (my magicians can do the same)
o Deflects the truth when presented (make them work harder)
o Blames others for own problems (you brought this on)
o Gets hard (7x’s pharaoh hardened, 7 times God hardened)
o Slow to change (took 10 plagues)
o Changes are often temporary (chased Israel after they left)
The hallmarks of a submissive heart
David
o Out for God’s interest (a worshipper) & the well being of others (David left Jerusalem)
o Fashioned after God’s heart (man after my heart)
o Desires truth (Ps 51 “You desire truth in the inner parts)
o Makes mistakes (Bathsheba)
o Accepts truth when presented (against You have I sinned)
o Takes responsibility for actions (cleanse me)
o Breaks (You desire a broken heart)
o Quick to accept God’s changes (immediately repented)
o Makes the changes permanent (never fell in that way again)
