WE have not quite finished with chapter 9 of Romans for Paul, not content with showing that righteousness which saves is received by the gift of faith, and that those who seek it by their own efforts never achieve it, goes on to explain this from the Old Testament Scriptures, and so reveals the tragedy of this fact.

Paul has in mind particularly the division in his day between the Jews on the one hand, and the Gentiles on the other. He explains that the Jews as a nation pursued righteousness by their own efforts at keeping the law of Moses, and so did not submit to the righteousness which is given to those who believe in Jesus, who alone provides the perfect righteousness which is acceptable to God. Because of this they were not saved because their own righteousness was unacceptable to God. On the other hand the Gentiles were saved because they, having no righteousness of their own, submitted to the righteousness of Christ given to all who believe in him. However this distinction between those who pursue righteousness by faith and those who pursue it by works, is always present in every age.

This is in fact enough and Paul has said all he needs to say, but he is not content with this. He wants us to be sure that this teaching is true, and so he brings the Old Testament Scriptures, given by the inspiration of God, to bear on the matter. He wants us to have certainty concerning this teaching. In doing this Paul highlights the tragedy of stumbling which is the experience of so many, and which causes them to fail to obtain righteousness which makes them acceptable to God.

THE QUOTATION.

The first thing we must do is seek to understand clearly what the quotation from Isaiah is telling us. Unless we have this clear in our minds we shall not gain a right understanding of the truth that is being revealed.

The quotation is an amalgamation of two verses in Isaiah. The first is from chapter 8 verse 14, and the second is from chapter 28 verse 16. Under the inspiration of God Paul brings these two together, but in doing so he clarifies the message which Isaiah was inspired to declare.

The quotation tells us of the action of God. God has laid this stone. Then we see that the stone is laid in Zion; that is in the midst of the people of God, which for Isaiah was the nation of the Jews. God has placed this stone, but it has a strange effect. It cause men to stumble. The picture is of people coming to this stone and finding it impedes their movement forward, and causes them to stumble. This cause is even more devastating for it causes people to fall. The meaning here is that the stone is the cause of their damnation and rejection by God. On the other hand this stone has a beneficial effect on those who trust in him. Here the stone is identified as a person. Those who trust in this stone will never be put to shame. The meaning here is that they will never be condemned for their sins, and cast out of the presence of God. The emphasis is on the word 'never'. This stone is a sure foundation which gives everlasting assurance of the blessing and favour of God.

The stone is plainly referring to a person, and we learn from the New Testament as well as the Old that this person is the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 2:4 Peter speaks of Jesus as the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to God. This stone is a living stone and those who believe on him are built into a spiritual house and are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So in verse 7 Peter declares that this stone is precious to the believer, but to those who do not believe it causes them to stumble and fall.

This understanding concerning Jesus is fundamental to Bible truth and is found everywhere. One place it is expressed so clearly is by the words of the aged Simeon in Luke 2:34 where Simeon tells Mary that Jesus would be a cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel. This is the same idea expressed by Isaiah. Jesus is a precious stone laid by God who has a dividing effect on people. To some he is an offence and they stumble over him, and so fail to know the favour of God. To others he is stone which gives them rising to new life, which is eternal in the favour of God.

What we are brought to understand here is that Christ is a true and only foundation for favour with God and salvation. As the Scripture declares – there is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And again Jesus says that he is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by him. And again there is no other name given among men than Jesus whereby we must be saved.

This is the truth that the devil seeks diligently to hide and prevent being understood and heeded. In our day the whole attitude of society in church and state joins in denying this truth, and saying that it is unacceptable and offensive to talk like this. The idea is that it is unacceptable to say that there is only one true and saving religion, which is the religion of Christ as God and Saviour, and to assert it is to be offensive to other faiths. Yet the fact is that this is the teaching revealed by God in the Bible. The Bible tells us that we can only come safely to God through and in Jesus Christ. By this it is saying that every other faith and religion which denies this is a deception of the evil one. It is understandable that people of other faiths find this offensive, but how can we keep silent on a matter so serious as this, which is a matter of life and death. If we keep silent then we are allowing Satan to carry people without hindrance into hell.

UNDERSTANDING THE OFFENCE.

The way of salvation in Christ is so simple, easy and totally effective, so why is it such and offence. Why do people reject Christ so vehemently? Why do people fail to close with such a wonderful and free offer of life? This is the big question? Put in the terms which the quotation from Isaiah presents the problem – Why is Jesus a stone on which people stumble. The idea of Jesus as a stone is explained by Peter and Paul by revealing to us that he is the foundation stone of God's building. If we are prepared to be built on him as our foundation then we become God's building being built for eternal life. On the other hand if we will not accept Jesus as the foundation stone, then there is no other way of favour with God, and so Jesus becomes a stone of offence and stumbling. Paul explains in Corinthians that there is no other foundation than Christ and him crucified on which we can build and be saved. This is such an offence to people.

How is this so? If we turn to the two passages in Isaiah from which Paul draws this quotation we shall find the answer. In Isaiah 8:14 Isaiah explains that the problem lies in the fact that people do not fear God. In Isaiah 28:16ff it is explained that if we do not fear God, then we do not appreciate the true nature of sin. Because of this people feel that they are able to make themselves acceptable to God.

Let us look at these two passages briefly. From verse 11 of Isaiah 8 Isaiah tells people that they should not go along with human wisdom. The idea behind Isaiah's words is that the people were resorting to human strength and wisdom, and trusting in treaties made with men. The call of Isaiah is that the one we need to fear is God. We should fear God because he is holy and we should fear him because anyone that falls short of his holiness must be condemned. So Isaiah says we must dread God.

Here is the first problem of humanity. There is no fear of God in them. Because of this they feel that God will always find them acceptable. After all he is a God of love, it is wrong to fear him. The teaching today is all about this, and Christ is simply a demonstration of God's love. God sent his Son and so loves us that even when we crucify his Son he still forgives us. People do not accept what the coming of Jesus, and the revelation of why he came – that he came to give his life as a ransom for sin – is telling us about God. It offends them. They call such an idea of God as making him into a psychopath. So they are offended.

Then when we turn to Isaiah 28:16ff we find Isaiah painting a picture of the Jews of his time as not fearing death, and believing that they are quite safe, and so believing all is well with them and they have nothing to fear. In this attitude they felt that God would remain favourable toward them however they behaved. God says through Isaiah that this is folly. In verse 17 God declares that he will come and judge them. He will make his justice, his holiness, the measuring line, and his righteousness his plumb-line, and by this he will sweep away the peoples refuge of lies, and they will be drowned in their sins. By saying the people's covenant with death will be annulled, the people are being told that all their refuge in their own wisdom and their safety will be removed, and they will see that death would be their devastation and everlasting damnation.

What this reveals is that where people do not fear God because they do not appreciate the holy character of God, there will be no sense of sin, and of the desperate condition we are all in due to our sin, and so the message of the cross will be an offence.

The message of Christ crucified is an offence to all except those who, being deeply conscious of the holiness of God, see the depth of their sin and sinfulness, and so see themselves worthy only of eternal death and damnation. It is only when we see ourselves in this condition, which is the only true assessment of our condition, and see that we are lost and deserve to be lost and condemned, that Christ will be the precious stone on which to trust. To the sinner in this way, who knows he or she has no way of escape in themselves or anywhere in this world, from the death they deserve, the message of the cross, where Jesus bore our sins in his body, and so cancelled our debt to God, is infinitely beautiful and precious, for here is salvation.

In this understanding the love of God, who gave his only Son, and spared not his Son, but gave him up to our death and hell, is a wonder beyond all telling. Here is the everlasting arms of a wonderful God placed around us, loving us even in all our sin, and so providing that his justice might be upheld at infinite cost, so that he may be just and at the same time justify us who have sinned.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM.

We are now able to understand the problem better. If we do not appreciate the holiness of God, and in the light of his holiness know and feel both the guilt of our sins, and the guilt and vileness of our sinfulness, we shall have a pride in our own strength and wisdom, and believe that we are able to save ourselves. In this understanding it will be offensive to human pride to be told we are unable to work our own acceptance before God. Without the knowledge of the desperate offensiveness to God both of our sins and our sinfulness, we will feel a pride in our so called goodness, and believe that God is pleased with us.

Further we will have a confidence in our own wisdom, and not be able to see the weakness of the shallow views of the love of God which are being taught and accepted, and feel that God will condemn no one, and so all are safe, and just a little renovation or reformation is all that is needed.

In this attitude we may well believe in Christ as Saviour, but not in the sense which meets the need of our sin and lost condition before God. We will simply believe that Christ is the Saviour because he shows that God loves us and will forgive us our sins, and there is no need for our sins to be punished, for God just forgets them.