But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Israel pursued God's righteous law yet never reached it because they pursued it in the wrong way, not by faith but by works of the law. They tried to establish their own righteousness by outward observance and their own strength without a Saviour, instead of submitting to God's righteousness. In doing so they stumbled over Christ, rejecting Him who is the aim of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Righteousness cannot be earned by works but is received as God's free gift through faith, as the Gentiles who had not pursued it attained the righteousness which is of faith. The law demands righteousness but cannot give it, so it is honored only when sinners look to Christ in faith for the very righteousness the law requires and witnesses to.
Meaning of Law and Context
The law of righteousness that Israel pursued was God's law itself, right and truly righteous because all of God's commandments are righteousness, so deliverance from sin is never deliverance from righteousness. The law demands righteousness but cannot itself make sinners righteous, and to say that no one is made righteous by works of the law does not disparage the law but honors it by looking to Christ in faith for the very righteousness the law requires and witnesses to yet is too weak through the flesh to give. Israel did not attain to that law because they sought it not by faith, that is not through Christ who is the author and finisher of faith, but by works of the law, attempting to obey God without a Saviour and stumbling at that stumbling-stone. Christ alone is the Saviour who makes bondservants of sin free indeed, and even in failure their attempt to keep the law is more commendable than turning the only Saviour from sin into a licenser of sin, since every impulse of the truly converted person harmonizes with God's holy law.
Those who held it identified this law of righteousness as the law of sacrifices and offerings, under which an offering made for sin was counted for righteousness and sin was forgiven. In that understanding Israel pursued righteousness through the ceremonial law but failed to attain it because they sought it through works rather than faith, refusing to believe in Christ the Saviour who had come, stumbling over Him and missing the righteousness and salvation that believing Gentiles obtained.
The verse belongs to Paul's systematic teaching about the gospel and justification, with Romans as a whole teaching salvation and justification by faith. Its first eight chapters are doctrinal teaching, followed by the practical portion in which this verse falls, showing that those who walk in Christ have peace and that Christ is the personified law. Romans 9-11 continues the teaching about the heirs of the promise, so the question of Israel is part of the letter's instruction on who inherits God's promise and how it is obtained. In that argument salvation is open equally to Jews and Gentiles, while the Mosaic rites and ceremonies are abrogated under the gospel, and Israel is shown pursuing righteousness through the law without attaining it.
The chapter to which the verse belongs shows that God's decision to preserve or destroy an individual accords with that individual's fitness or unfitness for continued existence. The naming here of a law of righteousness, alongside the law of Christ, the law of the Spirit of life, and the law of faith, supports that law has continued to oppose every crime named in the Decalogue. That law of righteousness holds the life power people need, and it is attained by faith in the Righteous One.
Cause of Israel's Failure
Israel followed hard after the law of righteousness yet never attained it because they sought it not by faith but by works of the law, while the Gentiles who had not followed after righteousness attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith, simply by believing God like Abraham. The contrast stands in that Israel tried to work out the law themselves and would not work in the easy yoke of faith in Christ, refusing to trust what is not visible to the fleshly eye. Seeking to live in harmony with God's law was right, and the fault was not in following after it but in following after it in the wrong way by a method certain to fail, since bad works cannot produce good and good cannot come from evil. Only by faith can the law be kept and the works it requires be attained, for faith does not free from keeping the law but only from its transgression, and no good work is possible without faith.
They sought it by forced conformity to outward observances, depending on resolution, the exercise of the will, and the power of their own strength, trying to work out the law themselves without faith and without a Saviour, trusting what is visible and walking by sight. The righteousness of God does not come that way, for a changed heart must precede true Christian deportment, which is the very essence of the new covenant relationship, and every soul in every age who seeks to effect a change of heart by such means fails in the same way. They followed the law in their own wisdom and strength and in the light of their own traditions, following afar off like the faithless disciples who followed Jesus afar off after His arrest, so their following stayed too far behind ever to catch up to what they followed. They had no faith and tried to keep the law in their own strength, looking to the law for salvation while faith in the Saviour alone justifies, since the law only condemns and shows sin.
They pursued with zeal yet without understanding, ignorant of God's righteousness and refusing to submit to it, with a veil remaining on the heart. They perverted the very means God gave to make people holy and substituted something much akin with a false interpretation worked out according to their own ideal by good works and strict outward observance, even adding several hundred laws to the Sabbath commandment. The failure came from not discerning that the law is spiritual, searches the heart, and reveals God's righteousness in its precepts, so their zeal and outward observance did not bring comfort or righteousness. To them their righteousness seemed the true righteousness of God, but to the Lord it was as a soiled garment. They mistook signs like circumcision for the cause of salvation and made it a condition of salvation, when circumcision was given only as a sign of righteousness already received by faith as Abraham was already saved, so without faith the sign was empty.
Their attempt to become righteous by works was an attempt to establish their own righteousness instead of submitting to God's righteousness, and that own righteousness is nothing but unrighteousness which could not be acceptable to Him. The righteousness of God can only be obtained by receiving it by faith as a free gift and can never be obtained by works, for the law reveals sin but cannot justify or give power to obey. Meeting the law of righteousness requires perfect obedience to every precept from birth to death, which no man has done or can do, and even perfect obedience from now on could not make a life with past failures perfect. Every failed attempt to live perfectly without Christ and every heart condemnation declares that without a Saviour man is lost, as unable to save himself from sin as to save himself from death which came by sin.
They stumbled over Christ, the Stone of stumbling and stumbling-stone placed for a foundation, and would not believe in him who had come. They rejected what God set before them and stumbled over him instead of believing in him, and so failed to receive the righteousness and salvation that believing Gentiles obtained. Righteousness does not come from enforcing law or establishing one's own righteousness, but those who believe in him will not be ashamed. Since the fall the human heart seeks perfection apart from Christ, and Israel under the old covenant proves that attaining righteousness and life without a Saviour is impossible.
Righteousness Received by Faith
Righteousness cannot be obtained by works but is received as a free gift through faith in the Lord, who is our righteousness. Israel followed hard after the law of righteousness yet never attained it because they sought it not by faith but as by the works of the law, trying to work out the law themselves. They would not work in the easy yoke of faith in Christ and would not trust what is not visible to the fleshly eye, but walked by sight in their own wisdom and strength and in the light of their own traditions, following afar off like the faithless disciples who followed Jesus afar off after His arrest, so their following stayed too far behind ever to catch up to what they followed. They were ignorant of God's righteousness and tried to establish their own righteousness instead of submitting to God's righteousness, which is nothing but unrighteousness, stumbling over Christ; and their failure stands in contrast to the Gentiles, who had not followed after righteousness yet attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith, simply believing God like Abraham and being accredited with what they had not attempted to do themselves when the gospel was presented. To rely on works instead of faith in this way is to reject the way of grace.
God imputes His righteousness to the believer without works, and Christ also dwells in the heart and imparts righteousness. Christ fulfilled the law's purpose and revealed the righteousness it required, and righteousness is received by faith in Jesus. Keeping that faith enables God's people to keep the commandments faultlessly and stand without fault before God. Deeds follow as the seal and fruit of righteousness already received, not its cause. Faith does not free from keeping the law but only from its transgression, and only by faith can the law be kept and the works it requires be attained, since bad works cannot produce good and good cannot come from evil. Good works are not discounted but are most necessary as the result of keeping the law by faith, and no good work is possible without faith.
Seeking righteousness by faith is more than agreeing that one is a sinner and Christ is Savior: it includes forsaking sin and placing the will on God's side. Seeking to make oneself worthy of God's blessing cannot produce righteousness, for God's blessing comes through Christ, who turns people away from their sins. Righteousness attained by faith also purifies the heart. Christ is the aim of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, and the only Saviour who makes bondservants of sin free indeed, so that being saved from sin never means being saved from righteousness. They tried to establish their own righteousness instead of submitting to God's righteousness in Christ.
The law demands righteousness but cannot make sinners righteous; it reveals sin, condemns sin, and shows sin, but cannot justify or give life or power to obey. The law committed to them is perfect, yet sinners can get no righteousness out of it, only condemnation, because its design is to drive sinners to Christ in whom alone the perfect righteousness the law requires is found, so that to rest in the law is to rest in sin, trusting in self as righteous. Declaring that no one is made righteous by the works of the law does not disparage the law but honors it highly by looking to Christ in faith for the very righteousness the law requires and witnesses to but is weak through the flesh to give. Faith in the Saviour alone justifies, not the law, for the law only condemns and shows sin; condemned by it, sinners needed God's grace in Christ, who bore its curse and opened salvation to the lost. The law is not separate from Christ: God's law was in Christ's heart, and His life perfectly expressed it, so stumbling over a commandment is also stumbling over Christ, coming from stubborn hearts that rejected what God set before them. In Jesus every commandment is a promise, but outside of Christ every commandment is condemnation and death.
The law's righteousness is necessary for inheriting the promised land, but it is received through faith, not achieved by human efforts to keep the law. Trying to meet the law's perfect requirements by human effort cannot produce the righteousness God requires. The law therefore reveals the greatness of God's promise to give that righteousness to everyone who trusts Him, and God's own righteousness satisfies the law.
Who Are True Israel
Not all who come from Israel belong to true Israel, for Israel is not defined only by physical descent and descent according to the flesh does not secure a place among God's people. By nature the Jews were never any more the people of God than any other people and have no advantage over others, but stand on an equality with them. God's people are those who believe His promises, including believing Gentiles and the believing remnant of Israel, and a person enters this gospel people through faith in Christ. The promised seed is God's true people gathered from all nations in the gospel, and Israel's promised unity is fulfilled in Christ, not by restoring the tribes according to the flesh.
In the gospel faithful Gentiles who believe God's promises and have faith in Jesus are counted among Abraham's seed and as citizens of Israel and belong to spiritual Israel. Unbelieving descendants of Abraham are broken off because of unbelief, are not counted as his seed or as part of that body, and apart from Christ are as accursed as the heathen. Since real circumcision consists in keeping the law, the Jews professed to keep the law but did not keep it whereas believing Gentiles, though not associated with the law, met its requirements by faith, so their places are changed and the believing Gentiles are really Jews. Every person in every nation has been chosen in Christ and in no other way, chosen to adoption as sons, and Israel's failure to attain shows that natural descent gives no special standing in that choice. Another manner of people may become Israel by faith, while those seeking righteousness by birth and law do not attain it.
The choice of Jacob over Esau was not God condemning Esau as an individual before birth but God speaking of two nations and two manner of people. The promises of the kingdom to the descendants of Jacob were conditional on obeying God's voice and keeping His covenant, the Ten Commandments, and they forfeited all those promises under the old covenant. God has no special regard for the literal descendants of Jacob that would again build up the middle wall that Christ in His gospel has broken down, and His purposes and promises will all be fulfilled without it. The kingdom of God was therefore taken from them and is to be given to a nation bringing forth its fruits, and the forfeited promises can only be regained by obtaining an interest in Jesus, now Prince and soon to be crowned King, with heirship of the kingdom belonging to the poor of this world rich in faith who love Him.
The Gentiles gained precedence over Israel according to the flesh because they sought righteousness in the right way, by faith, while Israel sought it not by faith but by works and are accursed from Christ. Thus were fulfilled the words that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before the self-righteous Jews, and that the kingdom shall be taken away and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. The Lord did not cast off His people because they stumbled at the Stone He had placed for a foundation, but endured with much long-suffering even the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. The righteous life Christ offers as a free gift is still offered to each person, and rejecting the Redeemer now is as disastrous as the Jews' rejection of Him in Paul's time.
Law Kept and Applied
Romans 9:31 does not condemn keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, nor does it teach that the holy law was abolished. Those who keep it do not expect salvation through keeping the Sabbath or any other of the Ten Commandments, but rest all hope of righteousness and salvation on Christ alone. Condemned by the law, sinful people needed God's grace in Christ, who bore its curse and opened salvation to the lost. Justification from past transgression of the commandments requires turning from that transgression and endeavoring to keep those commandments in the future. To claim to be justified from sin while considering oneself under no obligation to refrain from sin is presumption and an insult to God and to Jesus Christ.
The righteousness of God does not come by forced conformity to outward observances, depending on resolution, the exercise of the will, and the power of one's own strength. Israel fell short of God's standard by seeking in that way, and a changed heart must precede true Christian deportment, which is the very essence of the new covenant relationship. Every soul in every age who seeks to effect a change of heart by such means fails in the same way. Israel's attempt to obey God without a Saviour, without faith through Christ who is the author and finisher of faith, stumbled at the stumbling-stone, yet even in failure that attempt to keep the law is more commendable than perverting the only Saviour from sin into a licenser of sin. The truly converted person's every impulse harmonizes with the holy law of God.
Israel did not attain to true Sabbath-keeping though following after the law of righteousness with ardent effort, even adding several hundred laws to the Sabbath commandment. The failure came from not discerning that the law is spiritual and from being ignorant of the spiritual righteousness of God while going about to establish their own righteousness by works of the law. True Sabbath-keeping is possible only when the soul is so submitted to Christ that He dwells there and introduces His own rest by His blessed Peace, be still. Israel's failure is likewise illustrated by making national life and character the highest goal, which is self-salvation rather than reliance on Christ.
Israel pursued God's righteous law yet never reached it because they pursued it in the wrong way, not by faith but by works of the law. They tried to establish their own righteousness by outward observance and their own strength without a Saviour, instead of submitting to God's righteousness. In doing so they stumbled over Christ, rejecting Him who is the aim of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Righteousness cannot be earned by works but is received as God's free gift through faith, as the Gentiles who had not pursued it attained the righteousness which is of faith. The law demands righteousness but cannot give it, so it is honored only when sinners look to Christ in faith for the very righteousness the law requires and witnesses to.
Meaning of Law and Context
The law of righteousness that Israel pursued was God's law itself, right and truly righteous because all of God's commandments are righteousness, so deliverance from sin is never deliverance from righteousness. The law demands righteousness but cannot itself make sinners righteous, and to say that no one is made righteous by works of the law does not disparage the law but honors it by looking to Christ in faith for the very righteousness the law requires and witnesses to yet is too weak through the flesh to give. Israel did not attain to that law because they sought it not by faith, that is not through Christ who is the author and finisher of faith, but by works of the law, attempting to obey God without a Saviour and stumbling at that stumbling-stone. Christ alone is the Saviour who makes bondservants of sin free indeed, and even in failure their attempt to keep the law is more commendable than turning the only Saviour from sin into a licenser of sin, since every impulse of the truly converted person harmonizes with God's holy law.
Those who held it identified this law of righteousness as the law of sacrifices and offerings, under which an offering made for sin was counted for righteousness and sin was forgiven. In that understanding Israel pursued righteousness through the ceremonial law but failed to attain it because they sought it through works rather than faith, refusing to believe in Christ the Saviour who had come, stumbling over Him and missing the righteousness and salvation that believing Gentiles obtained.
The verse belongs to Paul's systematic teaching about the gospel and justification, with Romans as a whole teaching salvation and justification by faith. Its first eight chapters are doctrinal teaching, followed by the practical portion in which this verse falls, showing that those who walk in Christ have peace and that Christ is the personified law. Romans 9-11 continues the teaching about the heirs of the promise, so the question of Israel is part of the letter's instruction on who inherits God's promise and how it is obtained. In that argument salvation is open equally to Jews and Gentiles, while the Mosaic rites and ceremonies are abrogated under the gospel, and Israel is shown pursuing righteousness through the law without attaining it.
The chapter to which the verse belongs shows that God's decision to preserve or destroy an individual accords with that individual's fitness or unfitness for continued existence. The naming here of a law of righteousness, alongside the law of Christ, the law of the Spirit of life, and the law of faith, supports that law has continued to oppose every crime named in the Decalogue. That law of righteousness holds the life power people need, and it is attained by faith in the Righteous One.
Cause of Israel's Failure
Israel followed hard after the law of righteousness yet never attained it because they sought it not by faith but by works of the law, while the Gentiles who had not followed after righteousness attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith, simply by believing God like Abraham. The contrast stands in that Israel tried to work out the law themselves and would not work in the easy yoke of faith in Christ, refusing to trust what is not visible to the fleshly eye. Seeking to live in harmony with God's law was right, and the fault was not in following after it but in following after it in the wrong way by a method certain to fail, since bad works cannot produce good and good cannot come from evil. Only by faith can the law be kept and the works it requires be attained, for faith does not free from keeping the law but only from its transgression, and no good work is possible without faith.
They sought it by forced conformity to outward observances, depending on resolution, the exercise of the will, and the power of their own strength, trying to work out the law themselves without faith and without a Saviour, trusting what is visible and walking by sight. The righteousness of God does not come that way, for a changed heart must precede true Christian deportment, which is the very essence of the new covenant relationship, and every soul in every age who seeks to effect a change of heart by such means fails in the same way. They followed the law in their own wisdom and strength and in the light of their own traditions, following afar off like the faithless disciples who followed Jesus afar off after His arrest, so their following stayed too far behind ever to catch up to what they followed. They had no faith and tried to keep the law in their own strength, looking to the law for salvation while faith in the Saviour alone justifies, since the law only condemns and shows sin.
They pursued with zeal yet without understanding, ignorant of God's righteousness and refusing to submit to it, with a veil remaining on the heart. They perverted the very means God gave to make people holy and substituted something much akin with a false interpretation worked out according to their own ideal by good works and strict outward observance, even adding several hundred laws to the Sabbath commandment. The failure came from not discerning that the law is spiritual, searches the heart, and reveals God's righteousness in its precepts, so their zeal and outward observance did not bring comfort or righteousness. To them their righteousness seemed the true righteousness of God, but to the Lord it was as a soiled garment. They mistook signs like circumcision for the cause of salvation and made it a condition of salvation, when circumcision was given only as a sign of righteousness already received by faith as Abraham was already saved, so without faith the sign was empty.
Their attempt to become righteous by works was an attempt to establish their own righteousness instead of submitting to God's righteousness, and that own righteousness is nothing but unrighteousness which could not be acceptable to Him. The righteousness of God can only be obtained by receiving it by faith as a free gift and can never be obtained by works, for the law reveals sin but cannot justify or give power to obey. Meeting the law of righteousness requires perfect obedience to every precept from birth to death, which no man has done or can do, and even perfect obedience from now on could not make a life with past failures perfect. Every failed attempt to live perfectly without Christ and every heart condemnation declares that without a Saviour man is lost, as unable to save himself from sin as to save himself from death which came by sin.
They stumbled over Christ, the Stone of stumbling and stumbling-stone placed for a foundation, and would not believe in him who had come. They rejected what God set before them and stumbled over him instead of believing in him, and so failed to receive the righteousness and salvation that believing Gentiles obtained. Righteousness does not come from enforcing law or establishing one's own righteousness, but those who believe in him will not be ashamed. Since the fall the human heart seeks perfection apart from Christ, and Israel under the old covenant proves that attaining righteousness and life without a Saviour is impossible.
Righteousness Received by Faith
Righteousness cannot be obtained by works but is received as a free gift through faith in the Lord, who is our righteousness. Israel followed hard after the law of righteousness yet never attained it because they sought it not by faith but as by the works of the law, trying to work out the law themselves. They would not work in the easy yoke of faith in Christ and would not trust what is not visible to the fleshly eye, but walked by sight in their own wisdom and strength and in the light of their own traditions, following afar off like the faithless disciples who followed Jesus afar off after His arrest, so their following stayed too far behind ever to catch up to what they followed. They were ignorant of God's righteousness and tried to establish their own righteousness instead of submitting to God's righteousness, which is nothing but unrighteousness, stumbling over Christ; and their failure stands in contrast to the Gentiles, who had not followed after righteousness yet attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith, simply believing God like Abraham and being accredited with what they had not attempted to do themselves when the gospel was presented. To rely on works instead of faith in this way is to reject the way of grace.
God imputes His righteousness to the believer without works, and Christ also dwells in the heart and imparts righteousness. Christ fulfilled the law's purpose and revealed the righteousness it required, and righteousness is received by faith in Jesus. Keeping that faith enables God's people to keep the commandments faultlessly and stand without fault before God. Deeds follow as the seal and fruit of righteousness already received, not its cause. Faith does not free from keeping the law but only from its transgression, and only by faith can the law be kept and the works it requires be attained, since bad works cannot produce good and good cannot come from evil. Good works are not discounted but are most necessary as the result of keeping the law by faith, and no good work is possible without faith.
Seeking righteousness by faith is more than agreeing that one is a sinner and Christ is Savior: it includes forsaking sin and placing the will on God's side. Seeking to make oneself worthy of God's blessing cannot produce righteousness, for God's blessing comes through Christ, who turns people away from their sins. Righteousness attained by faith also purifies the heart. Christ is the aim of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, and the only Saviour who makes bondservants of sin free indeed, so that being saved from sin never means being saved from righteousness. They tried to establish their own righteousness instead of submitting to God's righteousness in Christ.
The law demands righteousness but cannot make sinners righteous; it reveals sin, condemns sin, and shows sin, but cannot justify or give life or power to obey. The law committed to them is perfect, yet sinners can get no righteousness out of it, only condemnation, because its design is to drive sinners to Christ in whom alone the perfect righteousness the law requires is found, so that to rest in the law is to rest in sin, trusting in self as righteous. Declaring that no one is made righteous by the works of the law does not disparage the law but honors it highly by looking to Christ in faith for the very righteousness the law requires and witnesses to but is weak through the flesh to give. Faith in the Saviour alone justifies, not the law, for the law only condemns and shows sin; condemned by it, sinners needed God's grace in Christ, who bore its curse and opened salvation to the lost. The law is not separate from Christ: God's law was in Christ's heart, and His life perfectly expressed it, so stumbling over a commandment is also stumbling over Christ, coming from stubborn hearts that rejected what God set before them. In Jesus every commandment is a promise, but outside of Christ every commandment is condemnation and death.
The law's righteousness is necessary for inheriting the promised land, but it is received through faith, not achieved by human efforts to keep the law. Trying to meet the law's perfect requirements by human effort cannot produce the righteousness God requires. The law therefore reveals the greatness of God's promise to give that righteousness to everyone who trusts Him, and God's own righteousness satisfies the law.
Who Are True Israel
Not all who come from Israel belong to true Israel, for Israel is not defined only by physical descent and descent according to the flesh does not secure a place among God's people. By nature the Jews were never any more the people of God than any other people and have no advantage over others, but stand on an equality with them. God's people are those who believe His promises, including believing Gentiles and the believing remnant of Israel, and a person enters this gospel people through faith in Christ. The promised seed is God's true people gathered from all nations in the gospel, and Israel's promised unity is fulfilled in Christ, not by restoring the tribes according to the flesh.
In the gospel faithful Gentiles who believe God's promises and have faith in Jesus are counted among Abraham's seed and as citizens of Israel and belong to spiritual Israel. Unbelieving descendants of Abraham are broken off because of unbelief, are not counted as his seed or as part of that body, and apart from Christ are as accursed as the heathen. Since real circumcision consists in keeping the law, the Jews professed to keep the law but did not keep it whereas believing Gentiles, though not associated with the law, met its requirements by faith, so their places are changed and the believing Gentiles are really Jews. Every person in every nation has been chosen in Christ and in no other way, chosen to adoption as sons, and Israel's failure to attain shows that natural descent gives no special standing in that choice. Another manner of people may become Israel by faith, while those seeking righteousness by birth and law do not attain it.
The choice of Jacob over Esau was not God condemning Esau as an individual before birth but God speaking of two nations and two manner of people. The promises of the kingdom to the descendants of Jacob were conditional on obeying God's voice and keeping His covenant, the Ten Commandments, and they forfeited all those promises under the old covenant. God has no special regard for the literal descendants of Jacob that would again build up the middle wall that Christ in His gospel has broken down, and His purposes and promises will all be fulfilled without it. The kingdom of God was therefore taken from them and is to be given to a nation bringing forth its fruits, and the forfeited promises can only be regained by obtaining an interest in Jesus, now Prince and soon to be crowned King, with heirship of the kingdom belonging to the poor of this world rich in faith who love Him.
The Gentiles gained precedence over Israel according to the flesh because they sought righteousness in the right way, by faith, while Israel sought it not by faith but by works and are accursed from Christ. Thus were fulfilled the words that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before the self-righteous Jews, and that the kingdom shall be taken away and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. The Lord did not cast off His people because they stumbled at the Stone He had placed for a foundation, but endured with much long-suffering even the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. The righteous life Christ offers as a free gift is still offered to each person, and rejecting the Redeemer now is as disastrous as the Jews' rejection of Him in Paul's time.
Law Kept and Applied
Romans 9:31 does not condemn keeping the seventh-day Sabbath, nor does it teach that the holy law was abolished. Those who keep it do not expect salvation through keeping the Sabbath or any other of the Ten Commandments, but rest all hope of righteousness and salvation on Christ alone. Condemned by the law, sinful people needed God's grace in Christ, who bore its curse and opened salvation to the lost. Justification from past transgression of the commandments requires turning from that transgression and endeavoring to keep those commandments in the future. To claim to be justified from sin while considering oneself under no obligation to refrain from sin is presumption and an insult to God and to Jesus Christ.
The righteousness of God does not come by forced conformity to outward observances, depending on resolution, the exercise of the will, and the power of one's own strength. Israel fell short of God's standard by seeking in that way, and a changed heart must precede true Christian deportment, which is the very essence of the new covenant relationship. Every soul in every age who seeks to effect a change of heart by such means fails in the same way. Israel's attempt to obey God without a Saviour, without faith through Christ who is the author and finisher of faith, stumbled at the stumbling-stone, yet even in failure that attempt to keep the law is more commendable than perverting the only Saviour from sin into a licenser of sin. The truly converted person's every impulse harmonizes with the holy law of God.
Israel did not attain to true Sabbath-keeping though following after the law of righteousness with ardent effort, even adding several hundred laws to the Sabbath commandment. The failure came from not discerning that the law is spiritual and from being ignorant of the spiritual righteousness of God while going about to establish their own righteousness by works of the law. True Sabbath-keeping is possible only when the soul is so submitted to Christ that He dwells there and introduces His own rest by His blessed Peace, be still. Israel's failure is likewise illustrated by making national life and character the highest goal, which is self-salvation rather than reliance on Christ.