In the sermon 'Whose Righteousness?' by Jason Dohm, the speaker explores the theme of righteousness through faith versus righteousness through the law, as discussed by Paul in Romans chapters 9 and 10. Paul contrasts the Gentiles, who attained righteousness through faith, with the Israelites, who failed to achieve it by pursuing the law. The sermon emphasizes that true righteousness cannot be achieved by human efforts but only through faith in Christ. Paul expresses deep sorrow for his fellow Israelites, who, despite their zeal for God, lack the knowledge of God's righteousness. He highlights how his own past ignorance was transformed by Christ's intervention. The sermon underscores that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to all who believe, marking a shift from law-based righteousness to faith-based righteousness. Believers are encouraged to embrace Christ's righteousness rather than striving to establish their own, and to understand that zeal must be coupled with knowledge to be ethically sound. The sermon concludes with a call to submit to God's righteousness and a reminder of the importance of responding to the Gospel.

What shall we say then, that Gentiles who do not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith? But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at the stumbling stone.

As it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. And whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. The title of the sermon this morning is, Whose Righteousness? Whose righteousness will be on your behalf on the day when we stand to give an account. Will it be your own righteousness? I perish the thought that It would be our own righteousness.

This is really about what Paul has been instructing us on. We have a chapter break here. We're beginning chapter 10. This is a continuation of the thought from chapter 9. A complete continuation of the thought.

Paul is right on the heels of it. In last week's text, the Gentiles were not pursuing righteousness at all. They were minding their own business and their business was sin and rebellion against God. God didn't leave them there. He is a God of grace and because of His grace they attained to righteousness by faith.

Meanwhile the Jews pursued the law of righteousness. What is the law of righteousness? It's the system by which you're righteous because you always do right. And they did not attain to the righteousness of God because they pursued it as if it were by the works of the law. And it's not by the works of the law, unless you do the law all the time, unbroken, from your first breath to your last.

And they fell so, so, so, so far short of that. Now Paul continues right on that theme of the futility of pursuing righteousness by law keeping instead of by faith. So that's where we are. Let's ask God to help us. God, we do ask for help.

We feel the need of Help every time we come to your word. Some things are plain, some things are a struggle. Some things are hard to understand and some things are hard to accept. So God I pray that you would help us with both. Things that are hard to understand that you would make clear, throw light on them.

Things that are hard to accept, you would humble us. Help us to embrace them, even to learn to love them. Pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Let's begin in our subdivision by looking at verses 1 and 2. Again, we're in Romans chapter 10.

Let's look at verses 1 and 2 together. Follow along as I reread those two verses. Paul writes, Brethren, My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." In these two verses, Paul gives us his disposition towards Israel. How does he feel towards his family tree and his nation?

He tells us. Now, if we were reading this letter, it would be ten minutes between the beginning of chapter 9 and the beginning of chapter 10, but since we're unpacking this section by section, and we only meet once a week, it's been seven weeks. So, what we should do is flip back to chapter 9 and look at what he said at the beginning of chapter 9, because it's been seven weeks and not ten minutes. So please flip back to chapter 9. Follow along as I reread chapter 9, verses 1 through 5.

Because it's very, very closely related. He's really picking back up on this at the beginning of chapter 10. The beginning of chapter 9. I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises.

Of whom are the fathers, and from whom, according to the flesh, came Christ, who was over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. So Paul is looking out over the expanse of his family tree and his nation, his brethren according to the flesh, and even though they had all of these privileges, God had been so good to them, they were in unbelief. They did not receive their Messiah and it grieves Paul. He had this continual grief and this great sorrow in his heart.

So here we have both sides of the coin when we set the beginning of verse chapter 9 against the beginning of verse chapter 10. On one side of the coin, the beginning of chapter 9, Paul has great sorrow of heart for the Jews in their current unbelieving condition. On the other side of the same coin, the beginning of chapter 10, the desire of Paul's heart, a desire which drives him to regularly seek God in prayer for this desire, is that Israel might be saved. On one side you have the sorrow over Israel and unbelief, on the other side you have prayer and hope for the salvation of his family tree and his nation. But look at the opening word of chapter 10.

So now we just isolate on a single word. The opening word of chapter 10. Brethren, who was Paul writing to, the believers in Jesus who are in Rome, many of whom, probably most of whom, are Gentiles, not Jews. What does he call them? Brethren.

Who is Paul writing about? His flesh and blood brethren, his countrymen according to the flesh. But remember what Paul said in chapter 9 verse 6, they are not all Israel who are of Israel. Israel as a physical nation, as family tree and nation, is a picture that points to and teaches about a greater spiritual reality, those who have the faith of Abraham not just the blood in their veins of Abraham. So the physical picture is this family that has the blood of Abraham flowing through their veins, but it's pointing to and teaching about a greater spirituality, a greater spiritual reality, which is those, some Gentiles, some Jews, who have the faith of Abraham.

It was always really about the saving faith of Abraham. So, Paul still has a heart for his flesh and blood brethren, his family tree and his nation, but all believers, including Gentiles, are now Paul's brethren at a more fundamental level than his flesh and blood brethren. That has to be what he's saying here when he addresses the Roman believers as brethren. They are his brethren at an even more fundamental brethren than his mom and dad, than his aunts and uncles, than his cousins, than his great grandparents and great great grandparents. Friends, brethren, this should inform us about what we are to each other.

Some of us are brethren at a much more fundamental level than we are with our moms and dads. Our brothers and sisters, our aunts and uncles, our cousins, our grandparents and great grandparents. How do we know that? Because that's what Roman believers, whether they were Gentiles or Jews, were to the Apostle Paul. He calls them brethren.

Verse 2. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. So he looks out on his family tree and his nation, and he sees people who are zealous, but who lack knowledge. This is how he describes them. To me, this explains how Paul's heart could still be with his flesh and blood brethren.

Why do I say that? Because it is the Jews that were Paul's worst persecutors wherever he went. Wherever in the world he went, who were his worst persecutors? The Jews. So they are his family tree.

They are his nation, but they are the ones who have hated him the most, opposed him the most, persecuted him the most. But what is his feeling towards them? What is his disposition towards them? It breaks his heart that he is estranged from them. His heart's desire.

And the subject of his prayers is that God would save them. What explains this? Verse 2 explains this. So, why didn't Paul just disown them? Isn't that what you do to your family who are mean to you for decades?

Who are nothing but trouble for decades? You just wipe the dust off of your feet. Why didn't Paul just wipe the dust off of his feet? How could his heart still be with them? Because it is not lost on Paul that he was exactly as they are before Jesus took direct radical steps to save him.

The only difference between Paul and the people who persecuted him all over the known world was that Jesus himself took direct radical steps to save him. He was not on the path to salvation when he was on the path to Damascus until Jesus showed up in a blinding light and took direct radical steps to save him. Listen to what Paul says of himself in 1 Timothy 1.13. This is 1 Timothy 1, so again Paul writing to Timothy, describing himself in 1 Timothy 1.13. He says, I was formerly a blasphemer.

A blasphemer is someone who speaks against God, who rails against God. I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. Paul describes this past. Paul, what were you formerly?

Oh, I was a blasphemer. I was a persecutor. I was an insolent man. I was ignorant. God had mercy on me.

I didn't know what I was doing. I did those things in ignorance. Paul gets that he was formerly the poster boy of the ignorant zealot. Alright, We need a poster boy. We need a representative of the ignorant zealot.

Who should it be? Paul said, it was me. I was the poster boy for ignorant zeal. Tons of zeal, no knowledge. Instead of being embittered against the Jews, his worst persecutors, Paul is able to maintain a very tender heart towards them.

His heart's desire and his prayer to God is that they may be saved. That they would be saved. And you actually see him in the books of Acts over and over and over and over again going to the synagogues. Going to the synagogues. Going to the synagogues.

He's still the apostle to the Gentiles. When he goes to a new city, where does he go? To the synagogue. At one point he's so fed up with the persecution of the Jews, he does wipe the dust off of his feet and says, from now on I'm going to the Gentiles. Then he goes to another city.

Where does he go? The synagogue. He can't stop. His heart won't stop beating for his family tree and his nation. Let me say two things here.

One, zeal is neutral. Zeal is neutral. Listen to John Murray. Found this very helpful. John Murray says, zeal is a neutral quality that can be the greatest vice.

It is that to which it is directed that determines its ethical character. Zeal, good or bad, character. Zeal, good or bad, depends. Zeal for what? Zeal for knowing Christ, walking with Christ, good.

Zeal for religion? Zeal for religion has produced some of the greatest genocides in the history of the world. It was the object of the zeal that determined its ethical character. So apathy, the opposite of zeal, apathy, not caring about something important is bad. But that doesn't mean that zeal is of necessity good.

Zeal with knowledge is good. Zeal without knowledge is terrible. It just makes you go in the wrong direction faster. You want to go in the wrong direction faster? All you need is a little zeal without knowledge.

Two, it is possible to be over the top in enthusiasm and to read and study and memorize your Bible and read and study and memorize your Bible and read and study and memorize your Bible and not be born again. Easy point to prove. Question. Who read the scriptures more? You to this point in your life or Paul before he was born again?

Paul before he was born again. Who studied the scriptures more? You to this point in your life or Paul before he was born again? Paul before he was born again. Who memorized more scripture?

You to this point in your life or Paul before he was born again? Paul before he was born again. Listen to what Paul says of the Jews in 2 Corinthians 3 14-16. He nails it here in 2 Corinthians 3 verses 14-16. He says, But their minds, the minds of the Jews, were blinded, for until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament.

Do they know their Bibles? Yes. They're reading, rereading, studying, memorizing the Old Testament. Because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.

Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. So, they know the Scriptures. Paul knew the Scriptures before the road to Damascus, but he didn't know the Scriptures. They knew the Scriptures without knowing the Scriptures. How can we make sense of that?

That doesn't make sense. How do you know without knowing? By embracing this proposition. The Scriptures are about Jesus Christ. Period.

The histories are about Jesus Christ. The law is about Jesus Christ. The prophets are about Jesus Christ. The Gospels are about Jesus Christ. The Epistles are about Jesus Christ.

Revelation is about Jesus Christ. The Scriptures are about Jesus Christ. If your understanding of scripture has brought you to that understanding, then you have ceased to be ignorant of the scriptures. You can read them and re-read them. Study them and re-study them.

Memorize them and go over your memorization of them and not understand that Christ is the subject of the Scriptures. Old Testament in there. Verse 3. Back to Romans chapter 10, verse 3. Paul continues, For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

In verse 3 Paul speaks of the necessity of submitting to the righteousness of God. Taking notes on the handout submitting fills in the blank. The necessity of submitting to the righteousness of God. If you are taking notes on the handout, submitting fills in the blank. The necessity of submitting to the righteousness of God.

The ignorance of the Jews was rooted in their ignorance of the righteousness of God. That's what they didn't get. What is God's righteousness? Perfect righteousness. He is perfectly righteous.

He demands perfect righteousness. And so it cannot be sought through law keeping unless you keep it perfectly across the course of an entire lifetime. I said that a bunch of times last week. Say it again this week. Perfect righteousness cannot be sought through law keeping unless you keep the law perfectly not more often than not, not some, not others across the course of an entire lifetime.

Paul just said it in chapter 932, the Jews did not seek righteousness by faith as it were, but as it were by the works of the law. If you want God's righteousness, perfect righteousness, you have to seek it by faith. You can only seek it by faith. You cannot seek it by the works of the law. Because that ship has sailed.

Hasn't it? In doing that, the Jews sought to establish their own righteousness, and when you seek to establish your own righteousness, you are rejecting God's righteousness. The seeking to establish another kind of righteousness is a rejection of God's righteousness. There is no other way. One has to mean the other.

God's righteousness is Jesus' righteousness accounted to the sinner by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. That's God's righteousness. Perfect righteousness. You find it in Jesus. It is available to the sinner only by trusting in who Jesus is and what He did.

God will accept that. God will not accept anything else. These things, I'm a simple man. I like binary, ones and zeros. A or B, one or two.

God will accept the righteousness of His Son. You can lay hold of it by faith, he will not accept anything else. You submit to that righteousness now. You damn yourself to hell. God provided the perfect righteousness that he will accept through faith in the person and work of his son.

But that was too humbling, and so it was a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense instead of a sure foundation. Remember we saw that in his quotations from Isaiah last week. It's either a rock of stumbling, you can swallow the gospel pill, what the Bible says about you and the only remedy for it, or you can't. You stumble and fall over it, or Jesus Christ instead of a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense is the precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He will be one of these things to you or the other.

We must obey the gospel. The good news of Jesus demands a response. No response is a response. And no response is a response. I'll think about it tomorrow, is a response to the Gospel.

You know that. Verse 4. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. In this verse, Paul teaches that the matter of righteousness is settled to everyone who believes. It's a settled matter.

How can the matter of righteousness be settled for me? Only my past and my present is eligible for review. The future hasn't happened yet. You have no idea what my future holds. That's true.

But when I believed on Jesus, I swapped records, law-keeping records with Him. And that was forever settled at the cross. My law-keeping record, even the future part of it, became His. And he dealt with it on the cross. The penalty for all of my sins, the past ones, yes.

The present ones, yes. The future ones, yes. He dealt with them all at the cross. My law keeping record, he's bearing it as you watch him bleed and die on the cross. His law keeping record, perfect, pristine, spotless.

It is mine. Mine becomes his. His becomes mine. And so Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Paul does not say Christ is the end of the law, period.

Paul says Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. That is no longer the system I am functioning under. Before trusting in Christ, that was the system. You do right, you're righteous. You don't do right, you stand condemned.

Not under that system anymore. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. I'm under a different system. What's the system? I swapped law-keeping records.

His is mine and mine is His. Does the law continue to restrain evil in the world? Yes, it does. The law of God is written on our hearts. It tells us it's wrong to steal.

It fortifies that and strengthens that. To have it in writing, it's wrong to steal, and if you steal we're doing this to you. I restrained evil in the world to be a lot more theft, even though we have right and wrong written on our hearts to be a lot more theft if you didn't have it in writing with a penalty. Does the law continue to be a standard for my conduct, pointing me to Christ-likeness? Of course.

How do you know what Christ-likeness is without the law? The law is a reflection of the perfections of God. It tells us how to honor Jesus, how to live like Jesus. Does the law hang over me as an instrument of condemnation because I'm a lawbreaker? Never again.

Does the law hang over me as an instrument of condemnation because I'm a lawbreaker. Never again. Never again. Wait, doesn't that mean that I have a sin all you want card? The implications of this are not lost on me.

Now I can send all I want. You just said, even my future sins were dealt with at the cross. I can send all I want. I fear for you, you're probably not born again. People who are born again have been given new hearts with new affections.

Do they still sin? Yes they still sin every day, every hour of every day. They're still selfish and prideful. There's so many remaining corruptions, but they don't love sin like they used to love sin. They can't sin freely like they used to be able to sin freely.

They have a new heart with new affections. They are permanently indwelled by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit produces fruit and the Holy Spirit produces conviction of sin and the Holy Spirit brings discipline into the life of the believer when it is needed. You show me a true believer who is abandoning themselves to sin, and I'll show you a believer who will only be that way for a period of time and is in for a whooping. An unbeliever might be able to abandon themselves to sin for decades with God abandoning them to sin for decades. But his children, he's not abandoning to sin.

He's not giving up that ground. He has claimed that ground. He claimed that ground. So, you can put yourself in line for a whooping, believers. But if you're a real believer, you can't just go on abandoning yourself to sin.

That's not how this works. You do not have a sin all you want card. Applications, I'll give you two. I'm at the 30 minute mark. This is not water to wine, but it's not far.

Applications, I'll give you two. Number one, if the doctrine of election, wasn't that chapter nine? The doctrine of election? About choosing some, passing over others? If the doctrine of election has cooled your heart towards unbelievers, something is terribly wrong.

You didn't really understand Romans chapter 9 if the doctrine of election has cooled your heart towards unbelievers. It didn't for Paul. Brother, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for the Jews is that they may be saved. It didn't for Jesus. Jesus was there for the election.

You have compassion for sinners. If the doctrine of election has cooled your heart towards unbelievers, you have a Calvinism unknown to Calvin. Did you know that Calvin's Geneva was a missionary factory? I'm not sure you can find me a rival for a church in a city that raised up and sent out so many missionaries. So don't tell me Calvin's Calvinism dampens zeal for evangelizing the world.

Calvin missed that memo. Our hearts desires should be for them to be saved and that should drive our prayers. This drove Paul's prayer life. His grief over their unbelieving condition and his hope that God would reach in and save them drove his prayer life. I'm pretty sure Paul thought who was actually elect was none of his business.

His business was to love and pray for his brethren and tell them about Jesus. I think the cooling of our hearts comes from trying to step on turf that doesn't belong to us. That's God's turf over there knowing who's elect. Our turf's over here, given the great commission to go to the world and make disciples and baptize disciples and teach them to obey what God commanded. In Matthew 5, 44 and 45, Jesus says, pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." That's Paul!

Did he or did he not pray for those who spikedfully used him and persecuted him? He did! He was the son of his Father in Heaven. We should be like that. Not only should we be warm-hearted towards unbelievers, even the ones, especially the ones who spitefully use us and persecute us.

This is not American. I don't want to be a good American anymore. I want to be a good Christian. Two, If you haven't given up, give up today. Stop trying to establish your own righteousness.

It's just a rejection of the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is a righteousness that you can actually have. God looks at our righteousness and says, all of your righteousness is like filthy rags. You think that's righteous? That is filth.

A righteousness that you can actually have is Jesus' righteousness. It's a perfect righteousness. It's an acceptable righteousness. Submit to the righteousness of God. The good news is exceedingly good, but it demands a response.

It's a fool who waits to think about it tomorrow. Because today you have rejected it. Someday one of us is going to die. Which day? I don't know, do you know?

Who will it be? I don't know, do you know? Who will it be? I don't know, do you know? God, I thank you for the sweetness of these words.

Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. What will it be like to stand before you To give an account when you have provided a perfect righteousness that you will accept for the having, for the taking, just by faith. And it was rejected and put off. God I pray that you would spare all of us from that future. Thank you for your mercy.

Thank you for your goodness. I thank you that it is on display in our text. We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.