Romans 9:32-33 : Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling; even as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense: and he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame. The law could not make righteous the one who had transgressed it. The only hope, therefore, of the Jew, as well as of the Gentile, is to attain righteousness through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; but because he was not what they expected in the Messiah, the Jews rejected him--to them he was a stone of stumbling. "We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block" (1 Corinthians 1:23). But those who did believe in Christ were not put to shame, as men are when they find that they have been deceived into following a false leader. "And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me" (Matthew 11:6). Jesus fails no one who puts his trust in him; he is not slack concerning his promises.