“What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith. But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law. Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it is written, ‘Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)
One of the dangers of successfully creating a church where everyone feels welcome is that anyone starts to come. And, when anyone starts coming, you never know who might be there. They might generally fit the mold, or they might shatter it, leaving the group trying to figure out hours to successfully integrate someone new. But what happens when so many new people who don’t fit the mold start to come that the entire mold starts to be remolded? Well, usually a church split. But sometimes all the new people connect because they’ve bought into the vision at about the same time that the old people have moved on from it. That’s the story of the church from the beginning. Let’s talk about it as we wrap up chapter 9 today.
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