Dr. Cecil A. Fayard - 2001 Sermons
Sunday, October 21, 2001   

INTRODUCTION: We live in an age of tolerance, an age when anything goes, a time when folks are excusing themselves, excusing and justifying their wickedness, making their own rules, inventing their own little gods tailored to approve their sins. Do they not realize that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rages...” (Isaiah 64:6).

Folks today are ignorant of God’s righteousness, some willfully, others because of preaching that emphasizes the love and mercy of God while saying little about the perfect holiness and perfect righteousness of God. Preachers do not want to offend anyone or run anyone off. The desire of the true man of God is to point men to Christ, to preach the depravity of man and the righteousness of God, the righteousness that causes Him to be angry with sinners everyday, “...God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). Listen closely to the words of Psalm 5:4-5,” For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” Yes friend, God hates wickedness for He is a righteous and holy God.

1. VERSE I, PAUL PRAYS FOR ISRAEL
   1. This chapter begins as did the last chapter with the reference to Paul’s love and longing for Israel’s salvation.
      
      1. Paul desired to see Jews, his kinsmen according to the flesh, saved.
         
      2. Note that the verse begins “Brethren”. He reminds the saints about his longing to see Jews saved.
         
         1. We need to be constantly reminded that souls are lost and headed for hell, we need to be concerned, we need to be witnesses (Acts 1:8).
            
         2. This was Paul’s “heart’s desire.” It should be ours!
            
         3. Paul preached the Gospel to the Jews in the synagogues and in any place he could (Romans 1:16).
            
         4. We need to preach the Gospel to everyone knowing that God in His sovereignty will save some “Therefore I endure all things for the elects sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”(II Timothy 2:10).

   2. Paul’s desire should be our desire (Psalm 125:5-6).

2. VERSE 2, ISRAEL’S IGNORANT ZEAL
   1. Paul certainly knew what he was talking about here for he had been a radical and zealous Pharisee (Galatians 1:13-16).
      
      1. He had been religious, but oh so far from God.
         
         1. Religion and ritual cannot save (Philippians 3:5-8).
            
         2. Being straight and strict will not save you (Acts 26:4-5). Being saved will make you want to do right (II Corinthians 5:17).
            
      2. The Jews were sincere but sincerity is not enough for they were sincerely wrong.
         
      3. “Zeal without knowledge, commitment without reflection, or enthusiasm without understanding, is fanaticism and fanaticism is a horrid and dangerous state to be in.” (Stott 280)

   2. Yes, the Jews did have a knowledge of God, but it was not a spiritual knowledge.
      
      1. There are two Greek words that help us understand what Paul is saying here:
         
         1. Gnosis-an intellected knowledge, an awareness of God’s law and its outward demands.
            
         2. Epignosis-spiritual knowledge. This is the word that Paul uses here. They had zeal but not according to spiritual knowledge.
            
      2. They were religious but did not have a saving knowledge of God for they did not know His Son. Friend you can know a lot about God but you cannot know God without Christ.

3. VERSE 3, ISREAL’S IGNORANCE OF GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS
   1. They were ignorant of God’s righteousness.
      
      1. They had the scriptures yet, they were ignorant of God’s righteousness. They had the promises and prophecies yet they did not know God’s righteousness.
         
         1. They did not see that the law was meant to reveal their condition to them, to show them that they were sinners in need of a Savior.
            
         2. “The law was designed not to bring about self-righteousness, but contravive, self-despair.” (Nell 389).
            
      2. They failed to acknowledge, to believe, to accept, to welcome God’s righteousness, the righteousness that God gives to the believer.
         
         1. They failed to acknowledge Christ’s deity and His substitutionary death (3:21-24: 8:1; II Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53:4-6; I Timothy 2:4-6).
            
         2. They failed to acknowledge that salvation is by grace through faith (1:17; 4:3-5,16; 5:1).
            
         3. They failed to see God as the “justifier of the ungodly” (Romans 3:24-26).

   2. “Going about to establish their own righteousness...”
      
      1. Because they did not understand their own unrighteousness they went about to establish their own righteousness, self-righteousness.
         
         1. When a man sees the doctrine of total depravity he understands he has nothing to offer God, he has no ability to please God all he can do is rest on the Saviour.
            
         2. The man who goes about to establish his own righteousness does so by:
            
            1. Establishing his own standards of righteousness, failing to see that Christ is “made of God unto us righteousness”.
               
            2. Substituting works-righteousness for grace-righteousness (Ephesians 2:8-9).
               
      2. There is a way that seems right unto a man but the end is death.

   3. “Have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
      
      1. They rejected the Messiah (John 1:11).
         
      2. Because of their pride and self-righteousness they would not submit themselves to God’s righteousness.
         
         1. They did not see themselves as lost sinners.
            
         2. They did not see just how perfectly righteous God is.
            
            1. Isaiah saw God as Holy and himself a sinner (Isaiah 6:5).
               
            2. Peter saw the power of God when the fishing nets were filled with fish “he fell on his knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord” (Luke 5:8).

4. VERSE 4, ISREAL’S IGNORANCE OF CHRIST AS THE MESSIAH
   1. “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness...”
      
      1. Christ Himself is the righteousness of God.
         
         1. When He died on the cross the law’s demand for human perfection, human righteousness was over, it was ended, closed up and set aside.
            
         2. When Christ died He bore the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13).
            
      2. When Christ died He did so as the perfectly righteous Lamb of God without spot or blemish.

   2. “To every one that believeth.”
      
      1. All who believe the Gospel, Christ dead, buried and risen again, are justified, declared righteous in the sight of God.
         
      2. The law was our school master, it’s job was to show us our guilt, our unworthiness, and bring us to Christ the Saviour (Galatians 3:24). Jesus paid it all!