He who believes in Jesus will be satisfied.

Romans 9:32-33 (Paul had just written that Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law) Now he asks, “Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.’” This past March, I made a new friend in South Africa, who grew up in a Jewish home where the name of Jesus was not to be spoken. He became a believer in Jesus when someone read this verse of Scripture to him. Immediately, the Holy Spirit revealed to him that Jesus was the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense. God had put Jesus in Zion, the place of salvation on the earth, and he, his parents, and his relatives had all stumbled over Him. He told me that He has believed in Jesus and has not been disappointed. The reason the Jews stumbled over Jesus was and is that He ushered in a new covenant based on His righteousness and work instead of a covenant based on man’s righteousness and work. What is implied in Paul’s conclusion is that people who trust in themselves and their efforts to live for God will be disappointed. They will not achieve right standing with God and have nothing to show for their pursuit of a self-made righteousness except guilt, condemnation, and bitterness. I hope you have discovered what my friend in South Africa discovered: satisfaction and fullness from believing in Jesus Christ, trusting in His work on your behalf in dying for your sins, and being raised for your justification. I hope you have pursued righteousness before God by faith rather than by works. If so, your heart has been filled with the love of God. You know He loves you because He wants to, because He’s chosen to. And having known such an enduring and steadfast love, you have the privilege today to testify to His grace by loving others through Christ. I’m sure you will not be disappointed in believing in Jesus. His love has satisfied your soul for the glory of God. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com