Did God reject the Jews?
The Jews believed that if they fulfilled, in the flesh, the requirements of the law of Moses and performed the Temple rituals, they would be without sin. Accordingly, they could not see the need for justification by removing sin. There was nothing to remove because they were without sin, they reasoned. Therefore, the fact that the Messiah was coming to remove the sin from the Jews did not make sense to the Jewish leaders. The Jewish experts in the law were self-deceived by believing that righteousness could be achieved by carefully performing works of the law. Therefore, their chief goal was the best possible performance of the works of the law. The Jews did not see the need to change one’s mind if they fulfilled, in the flesh, all the requirements of the law. Accordingly, they could not accept that the Gentiles who did not have the law could be justified and made righteous. Therefore, the Jews could not accept the visible demonstration of the Holy Spirit when the Gentiles accepted Jesus Christ.
“What shall we say then? – That the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.” Romans 9:30 – 32, NET. Therefore, the Jews did not obtain the righteousness they pursued, not because God rejected them but because they rejected the righteousness from God, Jesus Christ. The Jews did not understand the righteousness they pursued. Sinners could not become righteous despite their good efforts. The Creator must grant righteousness to the sinners. God made sinful humankind righteous. He did not only show them how they could attain it. The righteousness from God is not an entitlement but an undeserved gift from God, who loves humankind selflessly.
Even the best works Jesus could do through us could not make us righteous. This realization is necessary. Only what God accomplished on our behalf through the body of Jesus on the cross at Golgotha could make us righteous in his eyes. Jesus Christ IS our righteousness. He did not make it only available. We are righteous in Jesus, not like Jesus. “…in his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” Jeremiah 23:5 – 6, NIV. The Jews relied more on their interpretation of the prophecy than on the prophecy. This form of self-deception exists in Christianity today.
Continued in the next blog.
