Jews and Gentiles

No One Saw That Coming

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1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.. – Ephesians 3:1-6 ESV

Something once hidden, but now revealed; that is what Paul means when he speaks of the mystery of Christ. In the Old Testament, the Jews knew of and longed for the coming Messiah, but they believed He would be the Savior of Israel alone. He was to be their king and redeemer, much like King David had been, leading them to great victories over their enemies and back into prominence as a nation.

Any relationship between their Messiah and the Gentile nations would come in the form of military victories over them and nothing more. The thought of the Messiah coming as the Savior of all mankind never crossed their minds. The only way a Gentile could partake of the blessings of Israel was through conversion to Judaism, including circumcision and the rigorous keeping of the Mosaic Law.

The book of Exodus records the instructions that God gave the people of Israel regarding the “strangers” or non-Jews who had left Egypt with them.

“If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” – Exodus 12:48-49 ESV

While Gentiles could and did convert to Judaism in the Old Testament, such conversions were relatively rare. The requirements for conversion were rigorous and kept many Gentiles from becoming fully functioning members of the household of Israel.

That’s where the mystery comes in. Paul was commissioned by Jesus Himself to reveal to the Gentiles that they now had access to God. They could worship Yahweh, the God of the Jews, but it would not require conversion or circumcision. Any requirement to keep the Mosaic law had been eliminated. Paul, a former Pharisee and zealous defender of the law, had strong feelings about its inability to produce the righteousness God demands.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:3 NLT

If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. 22 But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. – Galatians 3:21-22 NLT

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul was not preaching or promoting conversion to Judaism, but entrance into the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He was sharing the good news of salvation made available to both Jews and Gentiles because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In his letter to the Romans, Paul described the gospel as “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV).

With the coming of Christ, access to God was made available to all men through one means: Faith. It is not that faith was a new concept, nor that, prior to Christ, men had to gain access to God through works or by keeping the law. The author of Hebrews makes this clear in Chapter 11. There, he describes the Old Testament saints who “by faith” believed God’s promises and were declared righteous.

For by it [faith] the people of old received their commendation. – Hebrews 11:2 ESV

He goes on to state that “without faith it is impossible to please him [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Ephesians 11:6 ESV). Faith has always been God’s means by which men draw near to Him, and He sent His Son to make the life of faith available to Jews and Gentiles alike.

Paul writes, “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6 ESV). From the day of Pentecost forward, the church became the home of God’s people; those who had placed their faith in His Son. The church of God became His holy temple, containing people from every tribe, nation, and tongue.

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? – 1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT

As Paul expressed this same idea to the believers in Ephesus.

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. – Ephesians 2:19-22 NLT.

The church of Jesus Christ is the dwelling place of God and contains those who worship Him as a result of the access provided to them by the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. It is their common faith in Christ’s atoning death on their behalf that provides them with the righteousness they need to come into God’s presence. No one earns their way into God’s throne room. No one merits God’s favor or escapes His judgment due to their own efforts. Paul has supported that promise throughout his letter to the Ephesians.

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. – Ephesians 2:18 NLT

Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. – Ephesians 3:12 NLT

None of this implies that God is done with the Jews or that the church has somehow replaced the people of Israel as God’s chosen people. We live in the church age, and this is part of God’s plan for this period of redemptive history. But the day is coming when God will fulfill all His promises to Israel. He is faithful and has not forgotten them. He will keep every promise He has made to them. But at the current time, we are experiencing the mystery of the church age, when Jews and Gentiles live together as the body of Christ, sharing a common faith in our crucified and resurrected Savior. We are all the beneficiaries of God’s amazing grace and mercy. He has made a way for us to be restored to a right relationship with Him, based solely on His grace as revealed in His Son and made possible by faith.

Father, Paul referred to the church as “the household of faith” (Glatians 6:10 ESV). Regardless of our ethnicity, social standing, former religious affiliation, or record of sinfulness, we all share the common bond of faith in Christ. None of us earned our way into Your good graces. There is no one who deserved Your favor and forgiveness. Even Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrew people, was not declared righteous because he kept the law. Paul reminds us, “Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. For the Scriptures tell us, ‘Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith’” (Romans 4:1-3 NLT). You declared him to be righteous long before You gave Moses the law at Mount Sinai. And his righteousness was based on faith, not works. That is the pathway for all who desire to be restored to a right relationship with You; faith alone in Christ alone. And Your marvelous, mysterious plan for mankind’s redemption was made available to all through the same pathway of faith. As Paul reminded the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT). Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Life-Time Guarantee.

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In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. – Ephesians 1:11-14 ESV

In these verses, it is essential that we pay close attention to the personal pronouns that Paul uses. For the first time, he begins to use the references, “we” and “you.” He is referring to believers, but to two different groups of believers. This will be important to understanding the text. His use of “we” indicates that he is speaking to the converted Jews in Ephesus. He is one of them. When he refers to “you”, he is speaking to the Gentile believers in the church, the non-Jews. So when Paul writes, “In him we have obtained an inheritance,” he is talking about the Jewish people. Jesus was born a Jew. He brought His message of the Kingdom to the Jewish people first and the initial converts to Christianity were Jews. In a sermon Peter gave right after the events of Pentecost, he said to the Jewish crowd, “God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness” (Acts 3:20 ESV). The Jewish disciples chosen by Jesus would be the very first converts. According to Paul, this was all predestined by God according to the counsel of His divine will. God had intended all along for the message of salvation to go to the Jews first, “so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12 ESV). But God had not left out the Gentiles.

He continues his letter by saying, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13 ESV). God had planned all along for the good news of Jesus Christ to begin with the Jews and then spread to the who world (the Gentiles). Jesus’ commission to His disciples, given just prior to His ascension into heaven, made it clear.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. – Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

Just prior to that occasion, Jesus had appeared to the disciples in His resurrected form and had told them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:46-49 ESV).

Luke records in the book of Acts that Jesus gave His disciples one last command before He left them. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 ESV). And that is exactly what happened. They went to Jerusalem and they waited. And on the day of the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came, just as Jesus had promised. One of the end results of that amazing event was that the disciples were suddenly endowed with the miraculous ability to speak in languages they did not know. As a result, they were able to witness to the tens of thousands of people from all over the world who had gathered for the feast. Luke records for us exactly what happened:

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” – Acts 2:5-12 ESV

Peter preached a sermon and 3,000 individuals came to Christ that day. The church age had begun. And the message of Jesus Christ would spread all throughout the known world as these new converts returned to their home towns at the end of the celebration of Pentecost.

Luke records that after Peter had finished his sermon that day, the people “were cut to the heart” and asked, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37 ESV). Peter told them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:38-39 ESV). By accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior, they would receive forgiveness of their sins and be made right with God. They would also receive the Holy Spirit, just as the disciples had. This was not tied to their baptism. Baptism was simply a part of their commitment to express to the world that they were aligning themselves with the cause of Christ. It was to be an outward expression of their internal transformation. But the key was that they would receive the same Holy Spirit the disciples had just received.

And Paul told the Gentile believers in Ephesus that they had been sealed by the very same Holy Spirit when they had believed. And, as a result, they could be assured of their future inheritance, just like Paul and the believing Jews in their congregation. Because the Holy Spirit “is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:14 ESV). The Holy Spirit is literally a “down payment” made by God to remind us that the promises He has made to us regarding our eternity are real and reliable. God’s Spirit never leaves us. He will also never let us go. His presence within us assures us of our eternal security. He will reside within us until the day that Christ comes to get us or God calls us home. Our inheritance is assured.

No I.O.U. From God.

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What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” – Romans 4:1-8 ESV

God does not owe us anything. Our well-intentioned acts of self-produced righteousness do not score us brownie points with God or put Him in our debt. Paul has tried to make it perfectly clear that God’s declaration of our righteousness is based solely on faith – faith in His gospel concerning His Son. No man or woman can earn or merit favor from God. And yet, because of sin and the death penalty it carries, they find themselves desperately needing to make things right with God. That explains man’s ongoing attempt to serve and satisfy the god of his choosing. Man is always attempting to gratify whatever god he has chosen to worship by sacrificing his time, talents, and treasures to that god. It could be the god of religious or recreation. Every day, countless men and women sacrifice themselves to the gods of entertainment, work, pleasure, popularity, wealth, beauty, and power. They give everything they have to get whatever it is they are expecting their “god” to deliver. But there is only one God, and all stand before Him in the same condition. Despite their best efforts, they have failed to measure up to His righteous standards and have fallen short of the glory He demands. It doesn’t matter how religious or morally-minded you are. It doesn’t matter if you worship the right God or the wrong god. It matters if you worship the right God in the right way. And Paul says that way is by faith.

In his gospel, John writes concerning Jesus, “ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:9-13 ESV). When Jesus came, the vast majority of the Gentiles didn’t recognize or accept Him. And even though He was a Jew and fulfilled all the prophecies concerning their coming Messiah, the Jews rejected Him. And in doing so, they rejected the gospel of God, “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV). Paul has already shown that it was not enough to be a Jew. Their privileged position as God’s chosen people gave them access to God’s law and insight into His holy standards, but it did not equip them with the ability to live up to those standards – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV).

And knowing that any Jews in his audience would automatically appeal to their unique status as descendants of Abraham, and attempt to use him as an example of works-based righteousness, Paul cuts the legs out from under their argument. He states, “if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God” (Romans 4:2 ESV). He could have bragged about his righteous accomplishments before men, but not before God. His best efforts on his best day would have scored him no points with God. But Paul, quoting from the Old Testament book of Genesis, writes, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” God reminds his Hebrews readers that God had promised to make of Abraham a mighty nation. And yet, Abraham was old and his wife was barren. Both Abraham and Sarah began to wonder about God’s promise. How could Abraham father a mighty nation if he didn’t have a son? So Abraham assumed his heir would have to be one of his household servants. But God told Abraham, “‘This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.’ And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be’” (Genesis 15:4-5 ESV). God repeated His original promise to Abraham. And the Genesis account records, “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6 ESV).

It was Abraham’s faith in the promise of God that resulted in God’s declaration of his righteous standing before Him. It had nothing to do with the works or efforts of Abraham. In fact, Paul makes it clear that when someone works, he receives his wages as a form of payment. It is not a gift. He has earned it. But “to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:5 ESV). Again, Paul turns to the Hebrew Scriptures to prove his point. Using Psalm 32:1-2, he writes, “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin” (Romans 4:7-8 NLT).

Our forgiveness from God is a gift, unearned and undeserved. Our salvation is made possible by His Son’s death, not by our good works. The only thing God owes man, according to Romans 6:23, is death. Our sins have earned us nothing but God’s wrath, and yet God chose to provide a way of escape, a solution to our sin problem. He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sins and, in doing so, Jesus satisfied the wrath of God. And when anyone places their faith in God’s provision for salvation – His Son – they receive His righteousness. Their disobedience is forgiven, their sins are put out of sight, and their record of rebellion against God is cleared – once and for all.

A Matter of the Heart.

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For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. – Romans 2:25-29 ESV

In this chapter, Paul has been dealing primarily with the Jews, those who had been chosen by God, commanded to keep His law and enjoyed a unique and privileged relationship with Him. They believed themselves to be spiritually superior and safe from God’s judgment, because they belonged to Him. But Paul, in his ongoing exposition of the “gospel of God,” is making it clear that the kind of righteousness God demands is impossible for both the Jew and the Gentile to provide. Even though the Jews did enjoy a one-of-a-kind relationship with God, they were no better off when it came to righteousness than their non-Jewish neighbors. Paul even accused them of passing judgment on the Gentiles, while practicing the very same sins. It wasn’t enough to have and to know the law, you had to keep it. Paul said it was “the doers of the law who will be justified” (Romans 2:13 ESV). In other words, those who wanted to be made right with God were going to have to keep His law perfectly and completely. Paul’s accusations against his own people were anything but mild. “While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law” (Romans 2:21-23 ESV).

Circumcision, the physical, outward sign of the covenant between the people of Israel and God, was to be a constant reminder and a permanent mark of their status as God’s people. But circumcision was not enough. They still had to obey Him. They were still required to be faithful and worship Him alone. Later on, when God gave the law to Moses, the people had a non-negotiable, unarguable outline of God’s righteous expectations. And Paul said, “circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision” (Romans 2:25 ESV). Being a Jew was directly tied to being obedient to God. The privilege of being God’s chosen people came with a heavy responsibility. It was not enough to have a mark on your body, an external sign of ownership. “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, not is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter” (Romans 2:28-29 ESV).

All the way back in the book of Deuteronomy, we have recorded the words of God spoken to the people of Israel. “Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn” (Deuteronomy 10:15-16 ESV). They were guilty of disobedience and unfaithfulness. While Moses had been on the mountain top receiving the Ten Commandments from God, the people had been busy worshiping the golden calf down in the valley. In his anger and disappointment, Moses had broken the original tablets, and was forced to return to the mountain to receive a second set. And in spite of their actions, God  made His expectations clear. “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13 ESV). God demanded obedience. He required faithfulness – from the heart. The problem with man has always been an inner one, not an outer one. Our sinfulness flows from within. Jesus Himself had said, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you” (Mark 7:20-23 NLT).

Circumcision is a matter of the heart. It has always been about the heart. And Paul makes it clear that the kind of heart that God is looking for is only available through a work of the Spirit, not the efforts of men. Keeping the law, as long as it was done through outward effort would fail, because man’s heart was inherently evil and unfaithful. The prophet, Jeremiah, had strong words from the Lord for the people of Judah. They had been repeatedly unfaithful and unable to keep the law of God. And that was not going to change. God told them, “Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you have always done evil” (Jeremiah 13:23 NLT). They had a heart problem. They were incapable of remaining faithful to God or refraining from sin against God.

So Paul wanted his readers to know that all men, whether Jews or Gentiles, stood before God as guilty. It wasn’t a matter of spiritual status or knowledge of God and His ways. It was about obedience, faithfulness, and perfect righteousness – something man was incapable of pulling off on his own. Paul was simply supporting his primary premise that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. The righteousness God demanded and expected was only available through faith in His Son. The kind of heart change required to remain faithful to God was only made possible through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. All men need the gospel.

The Self-Delusion of Self-Righteousness.

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 He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. – Romans 2:6-11 ESV

In chapter two of Romans, Paul is addressing the Jewish community. In the first chapter he talked about the non-Jew or pagan, who stands before God as without excuse and guilty. They have had God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20 ESV) clearly revealed to them and yet, they had refused to acknowledge Him as God. Instead, they had ended up worshiping the creation rather than the Creator, leading to God turning them over to their own foolish hearts, dishonorable passions, and debased minds. But as far as Paul was concerned, the Jews were no less culpable or free from guilt. In fact, they were so busy pointing their condemning fingers at he pagans, that they failed to see that they were guilty of the same sins they claimed not to commit. As descendants of Abraham and children of God, they considered themselves exempt from judgment. They somehow thought themselves to be immune from God’s wrath. But Paul warned them that, they too, were without excuse. They stood just as much condemned and guilty as the Gentiles who were outside the family of God. The self-righteous efforts of the Jews aimed at a holy God, were going to be no more helpful in the long run than the self-righteous actions of the Gentiles directed at their false gods. Paul accused the Jews of having hard and unrepentant hearts. They refused to admit their guilt and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. So Paul warned them that “you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5 ESV). Not only that, the day was coming when God was going to render to each of them according to his works.

Paul is using the Old Testament Scriptures to indict them. He quotes from two different passages. The first is from Psalm 62:11-12: “and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.” The second is from Proverbs 24:12: “Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?” The Hebrew Scriptures provided a strong understanding of the coming judgment of God. It would be based according to each man’s works. The expectation was righteousness – God’s brand of righteousness, not man’s. The requirement was perfection and nothing less. God had told the Israelites repeatedly, “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. ” (Leviticus 11:44 ESV). Jesus had told the Jews of His day, “unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Matthew 5:20 NLT). James put it in even more practical, if not demanding terms: “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws” (James 2:10 NLT).

And Paul seems to give only two options for life, and both end in judgment. One is to live satisfying the self and disobeying the truth regarding God and His gospel offer. Those individuals will end up obeying unrighteousness and earning God’s full wrath and fury on the day of judgment. The other option is to life self-righteously, attempting to obey God’s law and earn a right standing with Him through your own efforts. And if you happen to pull it off, your reward on judgment day will be glory, honor, peace and immortality, while everyone else gets tribulation and distress. But is Paul saying we can earn our salvation by doing good deeds? Certainly not. He is showing that those who are sinners will be judged and condemned, but so will those who consider themselves to be righteous because of their own efforts. In the very next chapter Paul will make it clear that “all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin” (Romans 3:9 NLT), and that “No one is righteous – not even one” (Romans 3:10 NLT). A little further on in that same chapter, Paul will introduce the sobering news, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NLT).

So self-righteousness is no better than sinfulness. Attempting to do good things for God puts you in no better position than those who do bad things against God. God shows no partiality. Nobody gets to earn their way into His good graces. There is one way and one way only for men to be made right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. Paul goes on in chapter three to say, “all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24 NLT). That includes the Jew and the Gentile, the pagan and the pious, the selfish and the self-righteous. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9  NLT).

We can’t earn our salvation. None of us deserve God’s grace and mercy. The Jews were no better off than the Gentiles. They were sinners, condemned and unclean. Paul reminds us that at the foot of the cross, we’ll all equals when it comes to our guiltiness and our need for forgiveness. Which is why he wrote, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV). The greatest danger men face is to fall under the delusion of man-made righteousness. We will never be able to achieve our way into God’s presence or earn out way into His good graces. Which is why He sent His Son to live among us, model holiness right in front us, and die on behalf of us. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT).