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.”
—Romans 9:30-33, ESV

According to Paul in Romans 9, there is a great difference between God’s people and those who are not.  One group is chosen, redeemed, and saved.  The others are passed over, punished for their sin, and lost.  What makes the difference?

Consider how different Abraham was from his ancestors, Isaac from Ishmael, Jacob from Esau, Moses from Pharaoh.  Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and Moses are beloved of God, while God’s love holds no attraction for the likes of Ishmael, Esau, and the Egyptian Prince.  What makes the difference?

Some receive God’s mercy and compassion, while others’ hearts are hardened.  Some lumps of clay are molded and made into disciples of Christ, while other lumps from the same clay are destined for destruction.  What makes the difference?

Different outcomes are determined by different choices.  

So far in this chapter we have thoroughly discussed “God’s purpose in election” (vs. 11).  Election is God’s choice of certain persons to receive salvation by grace through faith in His Son and our Savior Jesus Christ.  If you are a Christian, it is because God chose you, and it has made all the difference in the world, and in the world to come.

While there should be no denying God’s right to choose His own via the doctrine of election, there is also no refuting that human beings make choices on this matter as well.  The sovereignty of God does not negate the responsibility of man.  We make free and willing choices all the time, and the ones we make about God and salvation will matter for all time. 

This text points out the difference between Christians and non-Christians, the difference that different choices make.  The difference is not only the choice that God has made before the creation of the world, a choice deep, dark, and too mysterious for our perfect understanding.  The difference also lies in the choices we make, choices that are as plain and obvious as the light of day. 

Christians Choose Faith

In this context, Paul uses “Gentiles” to speak of Christians, perhaps because at this point in history new members of Christ’s church were coming largely from non-Jewish populations.  He returns to using “Israel” as he did at the beginning of the chapter, to represent all unsaved, lost people.  Obviously there is a decided difference between Christians and non-Christians.

The difference revolves around “righteousness,” a key word in Romans.  Righteousness is synonymous with salvation.  Righteousness is a right relationship with God, wherein sins are forgiven, His Spirit lives within, and life is abundant and eternal.  Righteousness is what we need, but people choose different paths to “pursue” or “attain” it.  

Christians make the right choice concerning righteousness.  Christians choose “faith” as the means of grace whereby we are right with God.  When a Christian “attained,” or reaches out to take saving faith, we are making at least three choices.

We choose to accept a gift.  That salvation is a gift of God’s sovereign grace is an indisputable truth, and we do well to emphasize it.  But the emphasis here is on “attained,” the taking and receiving of the gift, through deliberate choice.  Illustrations abound in our Christmas and birthday gifts, which are not fully ours unless we receive and open them.  

We choose to trust and obey God.  The noun “faith” spawns the verb “believe,” and modern, pseudo-Christianity has watered down what it really means to believe.  To choose faith is to accept forgiveness and eternal life from God, while at the same time extending forgiveness to others and giving your life to God.  It is a choice, in the words of the old hymn, to “Trust and obey.”  There really is no other way to be saved, than the choice of total commitment.   

We choose our religion.  Christianity is much more than a religion, but it is not less.  Christianity is doctrine and duty, blessings and responsibilities, a tangible new life resulting in a new way of living, according to the Christian “faith.”  Christians who choose the Christian faith choose to worship, publicly and privately.  They choose to learn and obey the Bible.  They choose to share the faith, hope, and love they have received from God with others.  

Christians are right with God because God has chosen them, and they have chosen God, by faith.  Non-Christians have refused God’s gift, dishonored and disobeyed God, and practice nominal or hypocritical forms of Christianity, other religions, or no religion at all other than the cult of self.  

Non-Christians roll the dice and at the end of the day think their “works” are somehow going to stand up before God and earn them a pleasing afterlife, if afterlife exists.  How do you think that’s going to “work” out for them?  God declares the non-Christian way “did not succeed.”  

Choose faith.  Take the gift.  Trust and obey the Lord.  Express yourself as a member of the church.  Make sure your faith is in Christ, your gift is the Christ, you are following Jesus as Lord and Christ, and you are part of the church, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Non-Christians Choose to Stumble

Christians choose Jesus, while non-Christians “stumble” over Him.  

Stumbling is not an accident.   It is the result of a choice, a choice not to look where you are going.  It is choosing not to contemplate the complexities of sin and simplicity of the gospel.  It is not just that non-Christians choose not to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the vast majority of them do not even want to look at Him, or hear about Him, including many who have made a superficial profession of faith in Him.

Note the portrait of Jesus picked by Paul for this passage is taken from one of the messianic promises made by the prophet Isaiah.  Isaiah looked at the Lord Jesus Christ as the promised and peculiar Messiah, who comes into the world the first time as a lamb, then returns as lion, to demonstrate the He is Lord.  These are pictures a non-Christian chooses not to see.

Non-Christians stumble, or look away, from Jesus because of Christ’s humility.  Jesus is just not flashy or famous enough for most lost people.  This explains why the pseudo-churches driven by the prosperity gospel or the marketing/entertainment paradigm actually do so well, because it is worldly wealth and excitement lost people really want.  What they cannot find in the pseudo-churches can be had in any number of worldly pursuits.  But those who look away from Jesus for what the world has to offer are going to one day stumble and fall.  

Non-Christians stumble, or look away, from Jesus because of Christ’s sacrifice.  Paul often promotes the cross as a “rock of offense.”  If a sinless savior died to save sinners, then the first choice a sinner must make to be saved is admit they have sinned against God and man.  Most people, lost people, are simply unwilling to make that choice.  They look away from the cross, from the blood, and claim they don’t need it, until that day comes when they stumble and fall.

Non-Christians stumble, or look away, from Jesus because of Christ’s commands.  The religious rulers of His day scoffed at Jesus’ claims of deity.  People walked away in droves when He demanded they die to self and follow Him.  Only those who call Him “Lord” will be saved.  Still today they walk away, desiring to be their own God, rejecting Christ and true Christianity.  They work and play and sleep on Sundays, looking away from Christ’s church, God’s word, a celebration of the gospel in word and sacrament.  They are stumbling towards a hellacious fall.  

Christians Choose the Gospel

Christians, however, make a different choice.  We choose to declare with Paul, “I am not ashamed of the gospel;” therefore, we will “not to be put to shame.”  

We are not ashamed of the meek and lowly Jesus, born to a poor virgin and her carpenter husband, living in anonymity in what others considered God-forsaken-Galilee.  We are not ashamed that few truly followed Him, that He died almost alone, and that when He rose again and ascended He commanded a church of only a hundred and twenty or so.  We choose to believe in Him!

We are not ashamed of the cross, of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, of the old hymns like “Nothing But the Blood.”  We readily confess our sins, rejoice in our forgiveness, and remember Him in his way every Lord’s Day with the Lord’s Supper.  We choose to find true churches where the word of God is revered, the gospel is preached, and the members proved to be true followers of Christ.  We choose to believer in Him!

We are not ashamed of God’s word, Christ’s commands, or yielding to the Holy Spirit’s leadership in our lives.  We go where God wants us to go, we live how Christ would have us live, and we temper our lives and share the gospel through the power of the Spirit.  We live and we worship this way because we choose to believe in Him!

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
— Romans 1:16-17

There is a big difference between Christians and non-Christians.  If you look closely enough it is evident now, in this life.  It will be even more conspicuous in the life to come, when the difference results in the great division between Heaven and Hell.  

The difference, indeed, is a choice.  God has made His.  You will never really know what His is until you make yours.  Choose salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  Or, choose to go your own way.  

The choice you make will make all the difference in the world, and in the world to come.