Chapter # 10 Paragraph # 2 Study # 2
July 15, 2018
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: The righteousness that is by faith says to refrain from turning inward for either fulfillment or expectation.
Introduction: In our last study we considered Paul's description of that "righteousness" that is "out of Law". His declaration, at its most fundamental level, is that there is no such thing. The demand of Moses is that if a man is to expect to "Live" by keeping the Law, he must "accomplish" all of the commandments and statutes therein without fail. With the exception of the Man, Jesus Christ, no man has ever achieved this accomplishment. It is interesting that in one of David's psalms (Psalm 40), this man described as "a man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22), wrote, "My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head; and my heart has failed me" (Psalm 40:12). Thus we may conclude that the concept of "righteousness out of Law" is only hypothetical when it is turned into a "method of accomplishment" in view of being accepted by God. This is why Paul is so adamant that the theology of his generation of the leadership of Israel is fatal to anyone/everyone, who embraces it. This is also why Paul said in our context that Israel, pursuing a righteousness rooted in their own behavior, failed to achieve it (9:31).
Now we are prepared to begin to look into Paul's concept of a "righteousness" that is "out of faith". This is the "righteousness" that the Gentiles, not pursuing righteousness, came to possess.
- I. The Larger Setting of This Concept.
- A. In Romans 1:17, Paul made "righteousness by faith" the touchstone of the Gospel.
- 1. In respect to the question of a man's acceptance by God so that God shares His "Life" with that man, there is no more critical truth.
- 2. In respect to the establishment of this truth as most crucial, there is not a more critical text than Habakkuk 2:4.
- B. In Galatians 3:11, Paul made Habakkuk 2:4 the proof that "no man is justified by the law in the sight of God".
- 1. He said, in effect, that "being justified in the sight of God" is the critical truth that stands between man and the accursedness that comes to all sinners from the wrath of God.
- 2. He said that Habakkuk 2:4 made this "evident" [But this obviousness only exists by a proper translation of the declaration].
- C. In Hebrews 10:38, the author of that text adds his declaration of the meaning of Habakkuk 2:4 by his insistence that the "faith" that justifies is one which disallows "casting away your confidence" and "drawing back ... unto perdition".
- 1. He makes this possibility "real", but not actually applicable to "those who believe unto the saving of the soul" (10:39).
- 2. This author is not attempting to create insecurity, but is insisting that we do not reduce "faith" to mere "profession" and "convenience".
- D. Thus, Habakkuk 2:4, properly understood, is the key to a proper understanding of the Gospel.
- II. The Instruction of the Apostle.
- A. Romans 10:6-7 addresses one half of the message of this "out-of-faith righteousness".
- 1. Paul says in these verses that such righteousness "says", "Do not say...".
- 2. Then, in the next series of verses that such righteousness "says", "The word [of faith] is...".
- B. The insistence that we "do not say" something.
- 1. The realm wherein this speech is to not take place.
- a. Paul, using Moses' words in Deuteronomy 30:12, claims that "faith righteousness" is a "heart" matter.
- b. This is in complete harmony with the totality of biblical revelation regarding the "heart" as the umpire of life: "...out of it are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23); and Jesus' own "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45); and Luke's record of Jesus' explanation that "the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience" (Luke 8:15).
- c. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4:6, claims that the difference between those "of faith" and those who are blind consists of God's illumination "in our hearts".
- 2. The content of the speech that is forbidden.
- a. On the one hand, it is forbidden to ask who will ascend into heaven to bring Christ down.
- b. On the other hand, it is forbidden to ask who will descend into the Abyss to raise Christ from the dead.
- 3. The point: "faith" is forbidden to look to "humanity", or any power of man, to bring the promises of God to pass.
- a. Anyone who makes "faith" a matter of human capacity or endeavor is twisting "faith" into unbelief.
- b. It is forbidden to twist "faith" into a "human" responsibility so that the promises of God are the responsibility of man.