What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 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 people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame."
Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Romans 9:30-10:4
Almost all of my Upward Basketball devotions deal with this theme; you can't get to Heaven by your good deeds. Christ's righteousness is given to us when we receive it by faith. This is not just where the Jews stumble but every religion in the world other than Christianity stumble over this. When I say Christianity, I mean true Christianity. Many "sects" of Christianity stumble over this, too. Catholics believe you have to take the seven sacraments to achieve Heaven. Church of Christ believes you have to be baptized. Mormons believe to get to Celestial Heaven you must obey temple ordinances. Jehovah Witnesses believe you must live according to the teachings put out by the Watchtower Society.
In medicine we use diagnostic questions. Just this week we did a c-section on a patient who post-operatively dropped her blood count and was extremely distended. We had to determine if it was just gas with blood loss during the surgery or if it was her abdomen filling up with blood from an uncontrolled bleeder which would necessitate going back in. I asked her if she had right shoulder pain and she said, "No". This is a diagnostic question looking for blood under the diaphragm. In Christianity we have a diagnostic question, also. it is, "When you stand before the Lord someday and He asks you, 'Why should I let you into Heaven?', how would you answer?" If their answer has anything to do with being a good person, it indicates that they are trusting in their own righteousness.
One of my favorite devotions I do is pouring water into a cup and I ask them if they would drink it. Everyone replies yes. Then I bring in a urine in a specimen cup (actually I use Mountain Dew) and use a medicine dropper and put one drop in the water and then ask if they would drink it. Everyone replies, no. Then I add sugar or crystal light or anything to make it more palatable and they still say no. The point is, that urine, even just one drop, defiles the water and makes it unfit for drinking. You get the meaning, I'm sure. Sin, even one sin, defiles us and we are unfit to enter God's presence. No amount of good deeds can help, the sin must be removed. Jesus took the sin upon Himself on the cross and by faith refills our cup with His clean water. This is salvation.
This salvation seems too simple and that's why people stumble over it. Intuitively we think that to get anything of value, it must be earned. Salvation can't be, it's a free gift. Humble yourself, receive it, and just be people of eternal gratitude.
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