Rom. 10:5-21 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: “The man who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” 19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.” 20 And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” 21 But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
Explanation:
Paul has affirmed that God's right to choose his people is absolute and unconditioned. It is sovereign grace. But that does not mean that God did not and does not use a means to that grace, which is faith in his word, a God-given faith that produces a faith-righteousness.
It is not that the Jews of OT times and of Paul's day didn't have access to this kind of faith righteousness. It was always available and at hand to them. In ch. 4 Paul has already indicated that Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”.
Furthermore, Hebrews 11 gives a roll of honor of OT persons who showed faith in God.
But Paul says here that Moses himself made a distinction between two kinds of righteousness: that through the law (v. 5) and that through faith (vv. 6-7).
Righteousness by the law (Lev. 18:5=Rom 10:5) seeks by carrying out the duties prescribed in the law to bring the messiah and the promised eschatological kingdom. The one who pursues that kind of righteousness depends entirely on his own efforts and is doomed to failure.
But he who seeks the righteousness by faith recognizes his inability to bring in the kingdom of God by good deeds and enforcing moral law (Deut. 30:12-14 =Rom 10:6-8). He recognizes that would be like ascending to heaven to bring the messiah down or descending into the depths of the earth to bring him up from the dead. No human could do such things. By not depending upon themselves those who pursue faith righteousness will find it.
About the means of acquiring this faith righteousness, scripture says: “The word is near you, in your mouth and heart” (v. 8 = Deut 30:14). That is what Moses wrote.
But Paul asks, “What is this word that is in our mouths and heart that can save?” And his answer is (v. 8) “the word of faith that we are proclaiming.”
Then he explains what that "word of faith" is and how it relates to one's heart and mouth.
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (10:9-10).
Application:
“Mouth” is for confession; “heart” (that is, mind) is for belief. The ancient OT Jewish remnant—the "Israel within Israel"—believed and confessed their faith in the one true and living God, revealed to them in the name Yahweh. They also obeyed the one whom they believed and confessed.
The larger "Israel" that was not the real Israel may have confessed, but neither believed nor obeyed out of that belief.
But once the messiah had come in the person of Jesus, had not been recognized, had been rejected, executed, and risen again, the content of required faith was significantly changed. Now a true Israel that showed itself true by faith needed to believe that Jesus was Lord. And the Greek word for 'Lord”, kyrios, in this context implied deity. A re-defined monotheism was required, a plurality not equivalent to pagan polytheism, but one within the parameters of OT monotheism.
As in the Old Testament period when new layers of divine revelation were given and required of the true Israel of faith, so now redefinitions and adjustments based upon faith in God's unfolding revelation were required. To refuse the new truths meant to cease to be believing Israel.
And the center of the newest revelation of God was the person of Jesus and his victory over death. It was the resurrection of Jesus more than anything else that he did or said that showed him to be Deity. True Israel, if she would remain the true Israel, must now believe God's final revelation.
Many of you already believe the gospel and have trusted Jesus as your Savior. In Sunday services you also confess that faith. I hope that you do this not as routine, but with heart as well as mouth. It is easy to go on auto-pilot and just let the familiar words come out. We can easily fall into that mode in our singing too. It takes a special effort not to do that, but to focus on what we say.
But confessing Christ with our mouths is meant for more than gatherings of believers. The confession of faith that “Jesus is Lord”. Meant more than merely Jesus' deity. When pagan Romans heard a Christian say “Jesus is Lord,” they thought of a “lord” claiming one's allegiance. To a Roman, the chief of all “lords” was the Roman emperor, Caesar. The Roman provincial governor Pliny wrote to the emperor for guidance as to how to handle the trials of persons in his district accused by neighbors of being Christians. They were accused of treason because they claimed that Jesus was their lord, not Caesar. Until the reign of Constantine no Roman emperor ever relaxed the rule that only he was “lord” of his subjects.
We do not use the term “lord” for our heads of state today, and God help us if we ever do! When we confess to our friends and associates that Jesus is our Lord, we need to make it clear that by his being our Lord, we mean that no one or no institution will ever take precedence in our lives over loyalty to him, honoring him in our speech and behavior, and obeying his commands in scripture.
Is it clear to your own inner person that Jesus is Lord in your life? Is it clear to your family, friends and associates? Are you sending conflicting messages to them by inconsistent behavior?
If Jesus is Lord of your time, how do you use it? Primarily for entertainment and pleasures, or for service?
If Jesus is Lord of your resources, how do you use them? Is most of your money spent on unnecessary items? Or is it invested in God by being invested in serving others?
If Jesus is Lord of your body and your mind, how do you use them? Keeping healthy doesn't have to be sculpting your body into something to impress others. Nor do we kid ourselves into thinking we can significantly delay death. But curbing overindulgence in food is part of the discipline that Paul urges upon believers, even if it adds not an hour to our life expectancy. And sharpening one's mind by healthy reading, above all the scriptures, is a spiritual discipline required of us, even if it doesn't increase our earning powers or delay the onset of senility. Are you memorizing scripture, so that it can play a constant role in guiding your life and enriching your prayers?
All these things are implicit in the confession we make that Jesus is LORD. To believe anything less is to kid ourselves and risk not really knowing what it is to be a believer.
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