Your rules don’t work – Romans 9:30-33

Romans 9:30-33 (ESV)

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Your good works will not make you righteous. Good works, without first having faith in Christ, are nothing.

Your rules, regulations and laws will not make you righteous. One of the key themes in Romans is that we all are sinners, and no one is capable of meeting every single requirement of the law fully. Obedience is nothing without faith in Christ.

Our perspective is faulty. As God’s greatest creation on this earth (Genesis 1:28), we rightfully see ourselves as above all that is around us. We are more than the birds, the animals, the fish and the trees. Even the more intelligent animals like dolphins or apes, or even dogs and cats, have got nothing on us. We have reason, we have intelligence, we have the ability to learn, to communicate. What we fail to take into account is what a little place this planet is. Just as we were set over the earth, there is a Creator who is still over us, and all of the rest of the universe. He is so much bigger, greater and more powerful than we are, but because he is not directly visible to us in our day to day lives we live as though He doesn’t exist.

And so, we make judgments on our perspectives. We try to be ‘good people’, and by our judgment, we often are. We try to do ‘good works’, and by our judgment, they are truly marvellous. And yet – we leave God out of this picture.

What we are doing is bringing God down to our level, to our intelligence, to our judgment. And so we make a list of rules that we feel will make us ‘righteous’. And then we follow those rules, and call out ‘Hey God, look how great I am. I’ve met the lot!’.  We have turned God from an all-powerful Creator of the universe, to someone on our level. We are no longer talking to the real God, but a made up apparition in our own minds.

That is the craziest, most amazing claim of all Christianity. To be made right with God, there is only one thing we need – faith. The rest is done. We don’t bring God down to us with rules or laws or works, but we are lifted up to God.

We don’t do the work – He does.

And because then He does the work, our works are nothing. Our laws are nothing. Our rules are nothing. The only way to be made right with God is to have faith, and to believe in the work that Jesus has done for us all on the Cross.

Simple isn’t it?

Prayer

Lord God, help us to gain a right perspective of ourselves and You. Help us to see where we fit in Your creation, rather than bring You down to our level, and create an idol in our own image. Thank you that You have done the work for us, and we need only believe! Help us believe rightly in you! In Jesus name. Amen.