Treasures New and Old
Treasures New and OldRomans: What is the Rock of Offense?
Gentiles Can Be of the Seed of Abraham
This month we will look at the last part of Chapter 9 in Roman. I’ve titled this month’s articles: “What is the Rock of Offense?” – the stumbling stone that is talked about in Scripture in several places. If you recall, last month’s article included a discussion about the sovereignty of God as well as the fact that God claims to have loved Jacob and hated Esau (which frankly causes a whole lot of people difficulty as they try to grapple with God having the kind of sovereignty that lets Him make such choices).
So, let’s dig into Romans 9:30-33, which is a relatively small section, and examine this concept of the “rock of offense”.
What is the Rock of Offense?
Romans 9:30-33 (bold added): “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumblingstone and rock of offense: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
- I wish to emphasize three key points in this article, that of:
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- The righteousness of faith (Verses 30 & 31)
- The stumbling stone and rock of offense (Verses 32 & 33), and
- The call to not be ashamed (last part of Verse 33)
- As we look at these last few verses in Romans, Chapter 9, we will see how Paul summarizes the importance of God’s sovereignty to produce a method of salvation that not only works for the nation of Israel, but for the Gentile nations as well.
Verse 30 Notes: “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.”
- What shall we say then? – Paul is saying, “So what is the result of all this discussion? What is the heart of the matter?” We can conclude that those Gentiles who are called by God, of whom the apostle spoke of in the Romans 9:24, were not following after godly righteousness, but were involved in every kind of wickedness, sin, and idolatry. Yet they were able to obtain true righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith of Jesus Christ. Such is God’s perfect plan to redeem mankind. Those who were haters of God and guilty of all abominations, as Paul had shown in Chapters 1 and 2 of Romans, were made partakers of the righteousness in Christ that satisfies all the requirements of the law.
- Let’s zero in on the term “righteousness of faith.”
- As Abraham, the first Gentile convert (if you please), was justified by faith, so then all Gentiles (and Jews) who by faith trust in Jesus Christ alone are counted as righteous by God through faith.
Verse 31 Notes: “But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.”
- Using first the examples of Jacob and Esau in Verse 15 of Chapter 9, Paul goes on to make the point that God is sovereign, and the purposes of God, according to election as described in the Bible, are unchangeable. Additionally, salvation is not of works, but of Him that called us to salvation through faith.
- The additional example that Paul gives is of Israel as a whole nation. They had all the law, and had they followed all the law they would have been saved. But even given all the benefits of the law – the prophets, various miracles, God’s interventions, judgements and repentance periods, Israel was simply not able to meet the standard of the law; that is, they did not attain the goals of the law themselves.
- Unable to attain the righteousness of the law demanded by the law, they who had the law fell far short and, therefore, needed a means to attain to righteousness which we know is the righteousness found only in Christ.
- Here, then, is a wonderful instance of divine sovereignty by a holy, just, and merciful God. Even as the nation of Israel was trying to follow after righteousness and fell short, God granted it to those who were not even looking for it – to whit, the Gentiles who believed by faith.
- Therefore, the proud heart of the self-righteous legalist revolts at the plan of God! Man’s wisdom, logic, reasoning, and self-esteem cannot endure that God should in this sovereign way bestow salvation.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31:
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
- Paul is saying simply this: God has chosen the path of faith in Jesus Christ as the only means for salvation and bestowed righteousness which cannot be earned – the righteousness of faith.
Verse 32 Notes: “Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at the stumblingstone;”
- The wherefore – therefore connector in English which points us back to the previous statements and forward to a modifier (in this case an explanation) set of statements.
- Paul asks why Israel didn’t attain to the righteousness they were seeking. The answer is because they sought it in the strength of their own efforts. Man cannot succeed by his strength because we always fall short when we do so.
- You may, thus, say yourselves, “But that is not fair or even just. God setup a set of laws that He demands we must follow in order to be saved knowing ahead of time that we can’t keep them. God has set us up for certain failure!”
- That, beloved, is part of the very stumbling block or stumbling stone that Israel fell over which most folks stumble at today. How dare God set the bar for obtaining eternal life and salvation from our sin nature so high that no one can reach it. We say that God is not just, not fair. We simply don’t do that. No sport that we have conceived is designed that way. Goals are obtainable. I might not do very well in a pro-ball basketball game, but at least some can.
- For God to demand such a standard is part of the stumbling stone Paul is referring to.
- Another way that God’s ways were a stumbling stone was the Jews assigned an interpretation to the law that supposed if they could not keep the law perfectly, they could expect to make up for their deficiencies in one area of the law by abounding in others. In this way the Jews sought righteousness “as by works of law”.
- But by the works of the law, they could not obtain it. Unless they perfectly obeyed the law, and this they could never do.
- For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone – What is the other part of the stumbling stone referred to here by Paul? They stumbled at Jesus Christ.
- Had God provided only the law as a means of salvation and set the bar to “must be followed perfectly”, then I would agree that God has been unjust.
- But God provided a path way before the law, and that path is the path of righteousness by faith. The final provision of this faith path is belief in the work of the cross by Jesus Christ who kept the law perfectly. That, too, is part of the stumbling stone. What! You mean I must have faith in Jesus Christ and not in myself?
1 Corinthians 2:14: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can be know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Verse 33 Notes: “As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumblingstone and rock of offense: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
- Let’s dissect this last verse for some important parts:
- As it is written – Paul is confirming what he had just said concerning the stone of stumbling by quoting from two places of Scripture:
Isaiah 8:13-15: “Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”
Isaiah 28:16: “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.”
- The stumbling, then, of the Jews at Christ, the rock of offense, was predicted by the prophets. It should not, therefore, appear strange to those who lived in the times when it was accomplished.
- A stumblingstone and rock of offense – Paul has taken the words of Isaiah and applied it to our Lord Jesus Christ.
- As Paul ties Isaiah’s words to Christ, he is affirming that Jesus is God. He is the rock of the Old and the New Testament.
- The designations of a stone and a rock are given to Jesus Christ. Both present the idea that the great work of redemption rests solely on Him. He is its author, the foundation on which it rests, the center in which all its lines meet, and the origin from which they proceed. He is:
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- To be your fear
- To be your dread
- To be your sanctuary
- To be a foundation, a stone
- To be a tried stone
- To be a precious corner stone
- To be a sure foundation
- But He is also:
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- A stone of stumbling
- A rock of offense
- A gin
- A snare
- And many among them shall stumble, an fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
- He that believeth shall not make haste
Isaiah 42:1-8:
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgement in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison houses.
Isaiah 49:7-9:
Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.
Ashamed: (Wordsearch’s Strong’s G2617): ashamed, confound, dishonored, shame, confused. “From <G2596> (kata) and <G153> (aischunomai); to shame down, i.e. disgrace or (by implication) put to the blush :- confound, dishonour, (be a-, make a-) shame (-d).”
Here are several verses that illustrate the concept of not ashamed:
- Psalm 25:3: “Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.”
- Psalm 119:6: “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.”
- Psalm 119:46: “I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.”
- Psalm 119:116: “Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.”
- Isaiah 45:17: “But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.”
- Jeremiah 17:13: “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.”
- Joel 2:27: “And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.”
- Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
- Romans 5:5: “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
- Romans 10:11: “For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
- 2 Timothy 1:8: “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;”
- 2 Timothy 2:15: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
- 1 Peter 4:16: “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”
- 1 John 2:28: “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
- Mark 8:38: “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
As we close this article, there are three key points I’d like to leave you with:
1. To the world, the entire idea and concept of a holy God having made a way for sinful man to be reconciled to Himself is a stumbling block. They cannot accept that, first of all, they are hopelessly lost in sin and need to be redeemed before a holy God; therefore, the whole idea that they must come to God through Jesus Christ and Him alone is to them a serious stumbling block.
2. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we need not be ashamed of the relationship we have with that same holy God because we have been reconciled to Him through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m not referring to pride, but we should be honored and recognize how blessed we are to have that relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son. We are not ashamed, confounded, dishonored, or confused, before the holy throne of the Most High God.
3. The Bible also describes Jesus Christ as the cornerstone. To us, it is the stone that dictates the squareness and levelness of the spiritual building called the church. To the world, He’s a stumblingstone. To the church, He is our cornerstone from whom we get all our direction and from whom the whole body of the church is fitly joined and plumbed together. To the world, He is an anathema; to the church, He is our beloved groom and Savior.
May God Bless you!
Maranatha!
Bro. Joe
References
Strong, J. Strong’s Talking Greek_Hebrew Dictionary. Wordsearch. (2020). Wordsearch Bible. [computer software] . Nashville, TN: LifeWay Christian Resources. (Original work published 1890).