Ignorant of God’s Righteousness

Key Passage: Romans 10:1–4

Romans VerseQuest Commentary
Essay 66: Ignorant of God’s Righteousness
Text: Romans 10:1–4

Introduction

Romans 10:1–4 says, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Romans 9 ended with Israel stumbling at the stumblingstone because they sought righteousness not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. Romans 10 opens with Paul’s heart still burning for Israel’s salvation. He has not become cold, bitter, or detached. He has not turned doctrine into an excuse to quit praying. He does not say, “Well, election is settled, so why care?” He says, “my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” That one sentence blows the dust off a hundred dead theological systems. Paul believed God’s sovereignty, God’s purpose, God’s calling, God’s mercy, and God’s hardening, and he still prayed for Israel to be saved.

This passage gives one of the clearest diagnoses of religious lostness in the Bible. Israel had zeal, but not according to knowledge. That is a terrifying phrase. Zeal can burn hot and still burn wrong. A man can be sincere and sincerely lost. He can pray, fast, argue, study, tithe, sacrifice, defend tradition, honor heritage, and still miss God’s righteousness because he is busy establishing his own. Religious zeal without truth is not a virtue; it is gasoline on the wrong fire. The world often imagines that if a man is passionate enough, devoted enough, disciplined enough, or traditional enough, God must be impressed. Romans 10 says otherwise. God does not save a man because his religion has a fever. He saves sinners by the righteousness of God received through faith in Christ.

Romans 10:4 is the blade that cuts through every religious system that tries to establish righteousness apart from Christ: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Christ is not a decorative addition to Moses. He is not one more religious improvement in the long climb of human effort. He is the end of the law for righteousness. The law exposed sin, condemned guilt, shut the mouth, and pointed to the need for a righteousness the sinner could not produce. Christ fulfilled its righteous demands, bore the curse, accomplished redemption, and provides righteousness to every one that believeth. Therefore every system that tries to establish its own righteousness—Jewish legalism, Roman sacramentalism, Protestant moralism, cultic commandment-keeping, modern self-improvement religion, or the private religion of the decent man congratulating himself in the mirror—runs headfirst into Romans 10:4 and breaks its nose on Christ.

Chapter One: Paul’s Heart’s Desire

Paul begins, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” He calls them “Brethren,” speaking with warmth to his readers, and then opens his heart about Israel. The apostle who has just dealt with election, mercy, hardening, vessels of wrath, vessels of mercy, Gentile inclusion, and Israel’s stumbling now speaks of desire and prayer. That is biblical balance. Deep doctrine did not dry up Paul’s compassion. Right division did not make him indifferent. His theology had bone, but it still had blood in it. He could contend fiercely for truth and still carry a burden for lost men. Any doctrine that makes a man proud, cold, prayerless, and careless about souls did not come from Paul’s pen, even if it borrows Paul’s vocabulary.

“My heart’s desire” shows that Paul’s burden for Israel was not a passing religious mood. He wanted Israel saved. This is the same apostle who had “great heaviness and continual sorrow” in Romans 9:2. His burden continued into Romans 10. Israel had persecuted him, resisted his preaching, stirred up opposition, and treated him as an enemy. Yet Paul did not respond with hatred. He prayed for their salvation. That is grace operating in a servant of Christ. He did not confuse Israel’s unbelief with God’s failure, and he did not confuse Israel’s opposition with a reason to stop loving them. Truth without charity becomes a club in the hand of a bully. Charity without truth becomes a wet rag over the mouth of the gospel. Paul had both.

This also shows that Israel, in its unbelieving condition, needed salvation. Paul does not pray that they might be recognized as already saved because of covenant privilege. He does not say, “My prayer for Israel is that Christians will realize Jews are automatically right with God by heritage.” He says, “that they might be saved.” That one phrase destroys every sentimental theory that gives Israel salvation apart from Christ. Israel has privileges, promises, fathers, covenants, and Christ according to the flesh, but individual Israelites still need to be saved. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” No man includes the religious man. No man includes the Jewish man. No man includes the Gentile man. There is no side door into God’s righteousness.

Chapter Two: Prayer to God for Israel

Paul’s desire becomes “prayer to God for Israel.” He does not merely sigh about Israel’s condition; he prays. He carries the burden to God. That matters because prayer confesses dependence. Paul preached to Jews, reasoned from Scripture, disputed in synagogues, testified of Christ, and suffered for the gospel, but he knew salvation is not produced by human persuasion alone. The preacher sows. The preacher waters. God gives the increase. Paul’s prayer acknowledges that Israel’s salvation requires divine mercy, light, conviction, and the opening of blind eyes. A man can win an argument and still not win a soul. The truth must be preached, and God must work.

This also proves Paul did not interpret God’s sovereignty in a way that made prayer meaningless. Romans 9 spoke of God’s purpose, mercy, and calling. Romans 10 opens with prayer. Let the theological machines sputter and smoke; Paul has no problem holding both truths. God is sovereign, and prayer matters. God has a purpose, and preaching matters. God shows mercy, and sinners must believe. God hardens rebels, and Paul prays for Israel to be saved. The Bible does not bow before systems that cannot keep up. A man who says sovereignty makes prayer unnecessary is not more Pauline than Paul. He is merely more mechanical.

The object of the prayer is “Israel.” Again, Paul preserves the name and identity. Romans 10 is not written as though Israel has vanished into the Church. He has already named Israel’s privileges, described their stumbling, and now prays for Israel’s salvation. The distinction remains. Israel is not saved by being Israel, but Israel remains Israel in the argument. That is the balance replacement theology never manages to hold. It either sentimentalizes Israel into salvation apart from Christ or erases Israel into the Church. Paul does neither. He prays for Israel because Israel needs salvation, and he names Israel because Israel is still Israel. The Bible’s nouns do not need Gentile permission slips.

Chapter Three: A Zeal of God

Paul says, “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God.” He gives Israel credit where credit is due. They were not lazy about religion. They had zeal. They had intensity, fervor, devotion, energy, seriousness, and religious heat. Paul knew this personally because he had lived it. Before salvation, he was exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers. He persecuted the church, thinking he was serving God. He knew what religious zeal looked like when it was divorced from truth. He did not diagnose Israel from a distance like a critic throwing stones from a balcony. He had once been the man running with that same fire in his bones.

Zeal can be impressive to men. A zealous man looks committed. He sacrifices. He studies. He argues. He shows up early and leaves late. He has strong opinions, strict practices, visible devotion, and enough heat to make halfhearted people feel ashamed. But zeal by itself is morally neutral until truth governs it. The prophets of Baal were zealous on Carmel. They cried aloud and cut themselves with knives. The Pharisees compassed sea and land to make one proselyte. Saul of Tarsus breathed out threatenings and slaughter in zeal for his religion. A man can have zeal enough to set the building on fire and still be burning down the wrong house.

Paul says Israel’s zeal was “of God” in the sense that it was directed toward God, concerned with God, religiously framed around God, and tied to the things of God. This makes the danger sharper. He is not talking about pagan indifference or open atheism. He is talking about Bible-associated, law-conscious, tradition-filled, God-directed zeal that still missed righteousness. That is frightening. The most dangerous religion is not always the one that openly denies God. Sometimes it is the one that talks about God constantly while rejecting His righteousness in Christ. Religious zeal can decorate unbelief so well that men mistake the coffin for a sanctuary.

Chapter Four: Not According to Knowledge

Paul’s diagnosis continues: “but not according to knowledge.” There is the fatal defect. Zeal without knowledge is a hot engine with no steering wheel. It moves, roars, shakes, and impresses the crowd, but it crashes because it is not governed by truth. Israel’s zeal was real, but it was not according to the knowledge of God’s righteousness in Christ. They had Scripture, but missed the point. They had law, but missed its purpose. They had sacrifices, but missed the Lamb. They had temple service, but missed the One greater than the temple. They had prophetic promises, but stumbled over the promised Stone.

Knowledge in Scripture is not mere information stacked in the head like books in a dead library. It is truth received from God and understood rightly. Israel had many facts. They could read Moses. They could cite prophets. They could argue tradition. But facts mishandled become weapons against the truth. The Lord Jesus said in John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” They searched, but they missed Him. That is zeal without knowledge: a man studying the map while refusing the destination, polishing the signpost while rejecting the road.

This rebukes every generation that confuses intensity with truth. Modern religion is full of zeal without knowledge. Some have missionary zeal for false gospels. Some have sacramental zeal that places sinners under priestcraft. Some have charismatic zeal that mistakes noise for the Holy Ghost. Some have moralistic zeal that preaches behavior without regeneration. Some have political zeal that treats the kingdom of God like an election campaign. Some have academic zeal that dissects the Bible while denying the God who wrote it. Zeal is not enough. If a man is wrong about Christ and wrong about righteousness, his zeal only gets him lost faster. A fast train on the wrong track is not progress; it is a scheduled wreck.

Chapter Five: Ignorant of God’s Righteousness

Paul says, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness.” That is the central ignorance. Not ignorance of religion. Not ignorance of law. Not ignorance of ceremony. Not ignorance of tradition. Ignorance of God’s righteousness. God’s righteousness is the righteousness He possesses, reveals, requires, and provides. Romans 1:17 says, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” Romans 3:21 says, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.” Israel’s tragedy was that they had the witnesses but missed the righteousness witnessed. They had the courtroom documents but rejected the verdict God provided in Christ.

To be ignorant of God’s righteousness is to misunderstand both God’s holiness and man’s ruin. A man who thinks he can establish his own righteousness does not yet understand God’s standard. He imagines righteousness as comparative decency, religious observance, cultural respectability, or sincere effort. God’s righteousness is absolute, holy, perfect, and unbending. One sin condemns. One transgression makes a man guilty. The law does not grade on a curve because the neighbor down the street is worse. God’s righteousness does not lower itself to accommodate human pride. The sinner who thinks he can produce righteousness before God is like a mud puddle bragging that it can reflect the sun without distortion.

Ignorance of God’s righteousness also means ignorance of Christ’s necessity. If man could establish righteousness, Christ died in vain. If law could justify, Calvary was unnecessary. If zeal could save, the cross was excessive. But Scripture says Christ died for our sins. He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. God’s righteousness is not a vague moral atmosphere. It is revealed in the gospel, centered in Christ, satisfied by His blood, and imputed to the believer. The man ignorant of that righteousness may be deeply religious, but he is spiritually blind where it matters most.

Chapter Six: Establishing Their Own Righteousness

Paul says Israel was “going about to establish their own righteousness.” That phrase is one of the clearest descriptions of religion without salvation in the Bible. “Going about” suggests activity, effort, movement, labor, and enterprise. They were busy. They were not sitting still. They were establishing, building, defending, arranging, and presenting their own righteousness. That is what fallen religion always does. It tries to construct a righteousness fit for God out of materials God has already condemned. It builds with law-keeping, rituals, sacrifices, prayers, fastings, traditions, family heritage, moral reforms, and religious identity, then asks God to admire the structure. God calls it unbelief.

Their “own righteousness” is the problem. Not righteousness in a practical, fruit-bearing sense after salvation, but a righteousness of their own as a basis before God. Isaiah 64:6 says, “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Not just our sins. Our righteousnesses. The best the flesh produces for justification is unclean before God. The religious man hates that because he thinks his good works should at least give him a discount at the gate. But heaven does not run on coupons from Adam’s department store. If the righteousness is “their own,” it is the wrong currency. God accepts the righteousness of Christ, not the counterfeit bills of self-effort.

This same sin runs through every works-based system in the world. Rome establishes righteousness through sacraments, priesthood, penance, and infused grace managed by a religious machine. Cults establish righteousness through commandment-keeping, organizational loyalty, temple works, or submission to their prophets. Liberal religion establishes righteousness through social virtue and moral sentiment. Evangelical moralism establishes righteousness through decency, church attendance, conservative values, and respectable living. The private sinner establishes righteousness by saying, “I’m a good person.” Different uniforms, same corpse. Any righteousness established by man is not the righteousness of God.

Chapter Seven: Christ Is the End of the Law for Righteousness

Paul delivers the final answer: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” This verse is a mountain peak. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. The law reaches its goal, fulfillment, conclusion, and termination as a righteousness-seeking system in Him. He fulfilled the law perfectly, magnified it, satisfied its righteous demands, bore its curse for sinners, and brought in righteousness received by faith. Galatians 3:24 says, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Once Christ has come, the schoolmaster does not become the Saviour. It points to Him and steps aside.

Christ being the end of the law for righteousness does not mean the law was evil. God forbid. The law is holy, just, and good. It revealed sin, governed Israel, displayed God’s standard, and pointed to Christ through types, shadows, sacrifices, priesthood, and prophecy. But it was never able to justify sinners by their works. Its righteous demands found their fulfillment in Christ. Its curse was borne by Christ. Its shadows met their substance in Christ. Its condemnation against the believer was answered by Christ. To return to law as a means of righteousness after Christ is like bringing a candle to sunrise and bragging that you improved the morning.

The promise is “to every one that believeth.” Not to every one that works. Not to every one that boasts in heritage. Not to every one that joins a system. Not to every one that keeps ceremonies. Every one that believeth. Jew or Gentile, near or far, religious or pagan, moral or ruined, the righteousness issue is settled in Christ by faith. This verse cuts through every religious system because it places Christ where man wants to place himself. Christ is the end. Christ is the righteousness. Christ is the answer. Christ is the fulfillment. Christ is the line where law-pursuit dies and faith rests. A man either submits to God’s righteousness in Christ or keeps dragging his homemade righteousness to judgment like a dead animal on a leash.

Conclusion

Romans 10:1–4 opens with Paul’s heart’s desire and prayer for Israel’s salvation. That alone teaches us to hold doctrine and burden together. Paul believed God’s purpose and still prayed. He understood Israel’s privileges and still said they needed to be saved. He loved his kinsmen according to the flesh and still told the truth about their condition. Biblical love does not flatter men into hell. It prays, preaches, grieves, warns, and points them to Christ. Israel’s zeal could not save them because zeal without knowledge is still blindness with a torch in its hand.

Paul’s diagnosis is exact: Israel was ignorant of God’s righteousness and went about to establish their own righteousness. That is the disease of religion in every age. The sinner does not want to submit. He wants to establish. He wants to build a righteousness, display it, defend it, and demand that God accept it. But God’s righteousness is not negotiated by human effort. It is revealed in the gospel and received by faith. The man who insists on bringing his own righteousness proves he has not understood either God’s holiness or Christ’s sufficiency. Self-righteousness is not a harmless mistake. It is rebellion dressed for church.

The answer is Romans 10:4: “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” The law points, exposes, condemns, and leads to Christ, but Christ is the end for righteousness. He fulfilled what man could not fulfill. He bore what sinners could not bear. He provides what religion cannot produce. Every works-based system, every sacramental machine, every moral ladder, every heritage boast, and every private self-righteous excuse crashes into this verse. The righteousness God accepts is in Christ, and the sinner receives it by faith. Stop establishing. Start submitting. The law has met its end for righteousness in Jesus Christ, and every one that believeth stands where self-righteous religion can never climb.