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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
March 29
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Today's Pathway:
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Romans 10:5-9
- For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
- But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
- Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
- But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
- That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
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Paul begins today's passages with a comparison between the righteousness of the Law and the righteousness of faith. He opens by giving a primary teaching concerning the Law,
"the man which doeth those things shall live by them".
This refers back to Leviticus 18:5, which states
"Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD."
This idea is repeated in Ezekiel 20:11:
"And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them."
Ezekiel 20:13 uses this expression again in speaking about Israel's sinfulness:
"But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them."
The principle of the righteousness of the Law is this: if a man keeps the entirety of the Law for the entirety of his life then he will live. However, we know that this is an unattainable goal, and thus no one can ever achieve that righteousness.
In contrast to the futility of obtaining righteousness by the law, in verses 6-8 Paul speaks of the availability of the righteousness that comes by faith. These verses refer back to Deuteronomy 30:11-14. The Law required doing the impossible. Faith does not ask that. Faith does not require a man to go to Heaven and bring Christ down to earth, nor does it require a man to go into the "deep" (the abode of the dead) to bring Christ up from the dead. John MacArthur commented,
"His point is that the righteousness of faith does not require some impossible odyssey through the universe to find Christ."
Keeping the Law is impossible. Finding Christ through faith is not. It is interesting to note that the two things that Paul references in verses 6-7 are the two doctrines that the Jews struggled with the most concerning Jesus: His incarnation (coming down from Heaven) and His resurrection (coming up from the dead). During His lifetime they did not believe that He was God in the flesh, and after He rose from the dead they denied His resurrection. Both of these truths must be, and can be, accepted by faith.
Verse 8 says that the "word", which Paul then calls the "word of faith" is near them. What is the Word? It is the Bible, the Word of God. The Bible is easily accessible. They didn't have to go on a long journey to find it. In fact, Paul states that the Scriptures were in their mouths and in their hearts! Charles Feinberg wrote,
"How can this be? The answer is that when entering a town to preach, Paul immediately proceeded to the synagogue. Whether the Jews believed his message or not, when he left, they remained behind to discuss what Paul had taught. The very message of the gospel of Christ had been in their mouths and in their hearts, but they did not believe. The truth of righteousness was as close to them as it could possibly be, but they failed in their responsibility to receive that truth."
Not only did they hear Paul's preaching, but certainly the Jews knew the Old Testament Scriptures which spoke not only of the coming of Jesus, but also of the necessity of faith. They had everything they needed to receive God's righteousness - they just had to choose to believe it.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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