Q167_102626 Rom. 10:3 Don't Fall Trap To Moralism. JESUS Is Our RighteousnessQ167_102626 Rom. 10:3 Don't Fall Trap To Moralism. JESUS Is Our Righteousness
How it Happens with Colin Cook
Colin Cook reflects on Romans 10–11, contrasting Israel’s legalism with God’s grace and highlighting Jesus as the true source of righteousness. The episode questions moralism and points those struggling with sin or addiction towards faith in Christ rather than self-effort.
14:39•26 Oct 2026
Jesus, Moralism and Why Our Own Goodness Isn’t Enough
Episode Overview
- Paul contrasts Israel’s zeal for God with their lack of true knowledge, showing how this mirrors common human attitudes today.
- Legalism and strict rule-keeping, even when religious, can become a form of idolatry towards law and religious structures.
- Jesus as the "stumbling stone" challenges the belief that people must prove their sincerity and perfection to be forgiven.
- Without a clear focus on Jesus, church life easily turns into moralism, centred on appearing virtuous rather than trusting grace.
- The righteousness of faith is described as near and accessible, pointing people away from self-effort and towards Jesus as their righteousness.
“"Without an understanding of Jesus, the church is moralism."”
How do people find hope in the darkest times? This conversation from *How it Happens with Colin Cook* turns to Romans Chapters 9–11 to answer that question by focusing on one core message: "JESUS is our righteousness," not our own moral performance. The episode looks at how Paul explains Israel’s story – their zeal for God, their stumble, and God’s ongoing faithfulness – and then points out how eerily similar their mindset is to ours.
Colin highlights the line, "For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God," and shows how this tendency toward self-justification lies at the heart of human pride. You’ll hear a sharp contrast between legalism and grace. Colin traces how Israel moved from idolatry before the Babylonian exile to intense rule-keeping afterwards, building 613 laws around the Ten Commandments.
By the time of Jesus, this had turned into "idolatry towards the temple and idolatry towards the law" among Pharisees and Sadducees. The idea that Jesus could actually carry the sins of Israel – and the world – was, as he puts it, "a rock of offence." Connecting this to today, Colin suggests that without a living understanding of Jesus, church life easily becomes "moralism" – trying to look virtuous, respectable, and decent, while still driven by self-interest.
He repeatedly presses the question of whether people resist submitting to God’s righteousness because "there's nothing in it for us." For anyone wrestling with addiction, shame, or the urge to clean themselves up by sheer willpower, this episode points back to the simplicity of faith: "The word is near you in your mouth" and Jesus himself is the righteousness they cannot earn.
It’s a gentle reminder that recovery, like salvation, doesn’t start with moral perfection but with trusting the One who has already done what they cannot. So where might moralism still be running the show in your own journey, and what would it look like to let Jesus be your righteousness instead?
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