Romans 9:30-33 – The Stone They Stumbled Over

Romans 9:30 asks the question:
“What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.”

The question is rhetorical; in other words, it’s not asked in order to get information but to confirm something.
After everything he’s taught about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Pharaoh, the potter and the clay, God’s mercy and God’s promises, what have we learned?

The conclusion is quite surprising.
The Gentiles attained righteousness.
Now think about how shocking that would sound to a Jew. The Gentiles didn’t have the law. The Gentiles weren’t given the covenants. They didn’t have the temple, and they weren’t pursuing righteousness through Moses.

Yet somehow they attained righteousness? How? Paul says:
“even the righteousness which is of faith.”

They received righteousness by faith, nothing else. Not by works, not by law, not by heritage, but by faith. And this wasn’t something new, and that’s one of Paul’s main points.
People often read Romans 9 and think Paul’s introducing a brand-new idea. He’s not. He’s explaining what the Scriptures had always taught.
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness as we see in Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3, Romans 11:30, Galatians 3:6, and James 2:23.

Then the prophet Habakkuk states in Habakkuk 2:4,
“The just shall live by faith.”

The Old Testament consistently pointed toward faith.
Even the promises given to Israel had to be received by faith.
The law never saved anybody. It only taught people that they needed mercy, that they needed a Saviour and that they couldn’t justify themselves.
So when Paul says Gentiles attained righteousness by faith, he’s not introducing a new doctrine. He’s showing how God always worked.

Now look at Romans 9:31.
“But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.”

This is the shocking contrast.
The Gentiles weren’t pursuing righteousness and received it, while Israel did pursue righteousness and didn’t receive it.
How could that happen?
Israel had every advantage. They had the Scriptures, the prophets, and the priesthood.
They also had the covenants, the law and God’s promises, yet they didn’t attain righteousness.
Why?
Because they tried to get it the wrong way, and in so doing they made a fatal mistake.

Romans 9:32 gives the full answer,
“Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.”

Paul says, “Wherefore” or because. See, he’s answering why this about-turn, this topsy-turvy situation has happened: that the Gentiles received while not seeking, while Israel sought but didn’t attain. And the answer is because Israel sought it not by faith, but by the works of the law. There it is. That’s the issue.

Paul’s spent the entire chapter preparing us for that conclusion.
Israel thought the promises would come through law-keeping. They thought the kingdom would come through their performance and that their standing before God rested upon them being Israel in the flesh, descendants of Abraham. They were dreadfully wrong!
God’s promises were never guaranteed simply because someone was born an Israelite.
Throughout Israel’s history, God repeatedly separated believing Israelites from unbelieving Israelites.
There was always a remnant, a believing seed, and there was always a distinction between faith and unbelief.

When Jesus came, the dividing line became even clearer.
Remember who Jesus came to and for. In Matthew 15:24, we see Jesus conversing with a gentile woman, saying,
“But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

He came to Israel as their long-promised Messiah, to bring the long-promised kingdom, and He would divide the nation. Jesus says this most directly in Luke 12:51-53:
“Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:”

He then explains in Luke 12:52:
“For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.”

He describes family members being divided against one another because of their response to Him.
Also, He says in Matthew 10:34-36:
“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.”

Then He explains that this “sword” would bring division even within families because some would believe Him and others would reject Him.
Jesus’ earthly ministry divided Israel into two groups:
Those who believed Him (the remnant), and those who rejected Him (unbelieving Israel)’

This fits Paul’s argument throughout Romans 9 that not all Israel is of Israel (Romans 9:6). Christ became the dividing line. The nation was no longer divided simply by geography (Israel and Judah), but by faith and unbelief.
He came as Israel’s promised Messiah, offering them their promised salvation.
He came fulfilling the promises made to the fathers, but He brought something with Him that many in Israel would not end up accepting, even today.
He brought the requirement of faith.
He said: “Believe on me.” “If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” “If ye believe on me, ye have everlasting life.”

Suddenly the issue was no longer Israel’s ancestry from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The issue was faith. It was no longer simply being part of Israel; the issue was believing Israel’s Messiah, and many would not do it.

Paul goes on to say in Romans 9:32:
“For they [Israel] stumbled at that stumblingstone.”

Notice carefully that Israel didn’t stumble over the law; they stumbled over Christ.
The law wasn’t the problem; Jesus was, or more accurately, Jesus exposed the problem. He revealed who really believed God and who didn’t.
Those who trusted God received Him, while those who trusted themselves rejected Him.
The stone that exposed their unbelief was Jesus Christ Himself.
To explain this stone, Paul immediately quotes the Old Testament in Romans 9:33,
As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

As it is written!
Scripture testified, with the prophets foretelling this stone over which Israel would stumble. It wasn’t a surprise.
Isaiah had already spoken about it in Isaiah 8, which Paul’s quoting here, specifically Isaiah 8:14-15,
And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin [or a trap] 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.

The Lord Himself would become a stone of stumbling to both houses of Israel.
For some He’d be a sanctuary, but for others He’d be an offense.
It was the same Lord, the same truth, the same message, but one group would receive Him while the other would reject Him.
Paul says that prophecy was exactly fulfilled in what happened with Jesus.

Why Did They Stumble?
The answer’s simple. They stumbled because they wouldn’t believe.
Jesus came teaching. He came calling; He came healing, and He came offering salvation, but Israel’s leaders rejected Him.

Isaiah 28 prophesied it.
The Lord would come teaching line upon line and precept upon precept.
This is the way that spiritual truth’s imparted. God doesn’t impart it in a flash of lightning to a lazy and lethargic soul.
As people drift further from God, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to hear, understand, and receive spiritual truth.
The drunken, ungodly, self-righteous leaders and priests mocked Isaiah’s teaching. “It is too simple. It is simply precept upon precept… line upon line… here a little, there a little. We are so smart and spiritually sophisticated and advanced that we can go on to deeper things.”
However, it’s a beautiful thing for God’s truth to be presented precept upon precept… line upon line… here a little, there a little.
When the word of God is properly presented, there’s something for everybody to receive, from the simple and immature to the greatest scholar and even for you and me.

Many of the Christians today who’re not satisfied with their Christian lives are ignorant of the Word of God. They hear about a wonderful two–week course that will give them the answers to all their problems. They long to have an emotional stroking or back scratching. But neither a little course nor some great emotional experience will solve our problems. There’s no shortcut to success in the Christian life. There’s only one way to grow as a Christian, and that’s by the Word of the Lord that was given to Israel precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, and there a little.
Israel rejected it and fell.
Many Christians are the same today. It’s not that they’re weaker or have less grace, mercy or spiritual blessings than anybody else; it’s simply that they don’t spend enough time in the Word of God learning who they are and what they have as members of the new creature, the Body of Christ.
Line upon line and precept upon precept is the only way we’re going to grow spiritually.
Israel refused to hear. They refused God’s words. They rejected His message, and because of that, they’d stumble and fall.

Jesus explained this Himself in Matthew 21, where He told the parable of the vineyard.
The owner sent servants.
The husbandmen, the farmer, the one who cultivates crops and manages livestock, rejected him.
So then the owner sent his son. What did they do? They killed him too.
Then, in the parable, in Matthew 21:42, Jesus quoted the same prophecy:
“The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.”

Jesus identified Himself as the stone. Israel’s rulers rejected Him. The builders rejected the cornerstone, and because they rejected Him, they stumbled.

Notice something important.
Paul’s point is not that Gentiles are better than Jews; they weren’t!
Neither is his point that God abandoned Israel, and certainly not that Gentiles became Israel. His point is much simpler.
The issue has always been faith!
Gentiles received righteousness through faith, just as the vilest sinner can be saved through faith and the most Godly person can be condemned through their lack of faith.
Israel failed because they sought righteousness through law, through their own efforts, while the Gentiles simply believed.
The contrast is not Jew versus Gentile. The contrast is faith versus works and that’s the point.
Think about everything Paul’s taught in Romans 9.
God gives promises. Those promises must be believed.
God gives mercy, but mercy must be received.
God offers glory, but glory must be received by faith.

A promise means nothing if it isn’t believed, and mercy and glory mean nothing if they aren’t received.
The problem was never that God failed Israel.
The problem was that Israel would not receive what God was offering because they did not believe.

So, who is the Stone today?
The same stone that ancient Israel stumbled over remains before every person today.
We don’t stumble over Moses and the law, and we don’t stumble over Isaiah and the prophets, or over Abraham.
We stumble over Christ.
The question is still the same today:
Will we believe Him? Will we trust His work rather than our own?
Will we rest in what He accomplished rather than what we can accomplish?
That’s still where people stumble.

Religion wants works and human pride wants achievement. The flesh wants credit, the medal, the pat on the back to affirm our greatness.
But true faith says: “I can’t do it, but Christ did it for me.”

So, Romans 9 ends with a powerful lesson. The Gentiles attained righteousness while Israel did not. Why?
Not because Gentiles were better, and not because God abandoned Israel. Not because God’s promises failed, but because one received by faith and the other sought it by works.
Israel stumbled at the stumbling stone, and that stone was Jesus Christ.
Paul ends with wonderful hope:
“Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”

Not whoever works. Not whoever tries harder or whoever keeps enough laws or whoever belongs to the right nation, but whosoever believeth on him.

That’s the lesson of Romans 9. God’s Word has not failed. God’s promises remain true. God’s mercy is still available, but His blessings are received the same way they’ve always been received: By faith in the One He has sent.

Until the next episode, when we step into Romans chapter 10, may God bless you through the knowledge of His wonderful word.