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Last week Paul laid down some big theology. Many of you shared that my post felt a bit lacking… like I need to go deeper with the doctrine. Trust me, I originally did, but then I listened to the entire letter on an audio book (The ESV with Max McLean narrating-the best ever…) Remembering this letter was to be read in a sitting, helped me focus back into Paul’s main message, and not the sub-plot. Paul doesn’t overdo his theology, so I didn’t want to either.

Paul continues his three chapter theology clinic by driving home the point that religion not only doesn’t make a person right with God (righteousness/justification –dikaiosunen), but actually never has (more on this next week). This is proven by the fact that God is justifying non-religious people apart from religion…a truth that nearly got Paul murdered (Acts 22:22).

³⁰ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

We’ll cover verses 30-32 next week. In the second par, Paul is quoting Isaiah, and I’d like to offer a contextual detour.

¹² “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³ But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴ And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” (Isaiah 8:12-15)

And from David we read:

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” (Psalm 118:22

Jesus also quoted this during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem before his arrest and crucifixion.

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. ⁴⁴ And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” ⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. (Matthew 21:43-45)

I share these perspectives from Isaiah, David, Jesus and Paul to show you that the Gospel as FREEDOM FROM RELIGION is not a little nuance in a random text, but IS the thrust of the biblical narrative. This is why I say that Christianity should never have become an institutionalized world religion. Instead, Christianity (faith in Christ, Christ following) is not a religion, but the ONLY non-religion.

This idea offends the religious mind. The word (skandelon– offense, cause of sin, trap)(v.33) The Gospel is a scandal to the religious. Our modern world doesn’t really understand this. People assume one only has a religious mind if they are part of a typical religion. While true for devout Jews, Muslims, Hindi’s, Buddhists, Catholics, Mormons, and so on, we fail to view science as a religion. Or business, academics, the arts, sports, and just about anything else in the world. A religion is any institution that gives us an identity in exchange for our service. Religion enslaves people in trade for a false version of oneself…a Fake ID.

I’ll now apply Paul’s Gospel into a modern frame to help you see this.

1. Tell a professional athlete, musician, or actor who has made it to the top that their success doesn’t justify them, that they are not who they think they are, because they identify with fame instead of Christ.
2. Tell the billionaire executive that their wealth doesn’t define who they truly are and never will, because they have identified with wealth instead of Christ.
3. Tell a devout religious person that that their religion might have history, and beauty, and the semblance of God, but unfortunately is powerless at bringing anyone to God, because those identify with religion instead of Christ.
4. Tell the modern “spiritual” person that the latest guru, or diet, or practice doesn’t actually manifest anything, or heal anything or mean anything when our biology goes back to becoming geology, because they have identified with the creation instead of the creator.

Paul knows how disruptive this big Gospel message is. He knows it’s offensive. He tried to stop it. To this day, people go to great lengths to possess spirituality that rejects Christ. The fact that the Christ comes from a religion other than Christianity (9:5) should indicate that the Christian religion got it wrong. The Gospel means NO RELIGION can lay claim to Christ, and anyone who follows Christ will ultimately follow him out of religion and into faith.

Paul addressed this with Jews, with the pantheon of deities in Athens, with all the temples in the places he visited. Christ is the end of religion and the billion ways people seek to ascend, because Christ reveals the journey to God is a descent.

Paul starts chapter 10 like this:

“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they (Jews) may be saved. ² For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³ For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:1-4)

Paul’s experience profoundly resonates with mine. People try so hard, especially those deeply sincere religious followers. Regardless of one’s religion (modern or traditional) I cans see the zeal for the truth, I can see the efforts people put forth, I recognize study, austerity, discipline, and engagement that is required for their religious fidelity. I perceive all they sacrifice to seemingly make it all work. But it doesn’t really work. Christ is the end of the law…the end of religion for those who believe. Religion and the law are about overcoming, Christ is about becoming. Religion makes us who we want to be, Christ is the end of all that. Religion increases performance through effort and output, which seems helpful and even necessary, but is only establishing our own righteousness, our sense of being just a bit better than everyone else. Christ freely gave us his righteousness, it offends our work ethic.

Christ is the end of the law. The Greek renders it like this: “Christ is the end of religion…so that there is righteousness for everyone…the believing ones.” This means Christ is the only place free of religion. Faith in Christ is the end of our pseudonym and everything that goes into fortifying it. Faith is following Christ out from the herd which names us and into the wilderness of self discovery in solitude with God. Christ is the rock of offense. The trap. The Scandal. Not because following Christ is politically incorrect or unpopular by those around us (as preachers like to say), but because a part within us despises him and resents our dependence upon him. Christ is a stumbling block that doesn’t move when we kick it.. and that just frustrates our pride. Christ is the rock that crushes us, leaving nothing left of our falsehood, and only that true part of us to emerge at the end of our pseudo self.

That true part that is rescued from all our life of illusion…we’ll see that is Paul’s definition of salvation.