THE WORD IS NEAR YOU
Romans 10:5–13
Paul has just explained why so many Israelites failed to attain righteousness.
They had zeal for God.
But their zeal was:
“Not according to knowledge.”
They pursued righteousness, but:
“They did not pursue it by faith.”
Instead of submitting to God's righteousness, they sought to establish their own.
Then Paul said:
“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Now Paul contrasts two ways of seeking righteousness.
MOSES WROTE ABOUT RIGHTEOUSNESS
Paul begins:
“For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law...”
— Romans 10:5
Then he quotes Leviticus 18:5:
“The person who does the commandments shall live by them.”
The Law required obedience.
But Paul has already established something about every human being:
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
— Romans 3:23
The problem was not that God's Law was bad.
Paul already told us:
“The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”
— Romans 7:12
The problem was sin.
The Law could identify righteousness.
It could expose sin.
But sinners could not establish their own righteousness through perfect obedience to Law.
BUT RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH SPEAKS DIFFERENTLY
Paul continues:
“But the righteousness based on faith says...”
— Romans 10:6
Then something interesting happens.
Paul quotes Deuteronomy 30:11–14.
That should make us stop and look back at the original passage.
Moses had told Israel that God's command was not somewhere impossibly distant.
They did not need someone to go up to heaven to get it.
They did not need someone to cross the sea to bring it back.
Moses said:
“The word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart.”
Paul takes that language and applies it to Christ and the gospel.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BRING CHRIST DOWN
Paul writes:
“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”
— Romans 10:6
Then Paul explains:
“That is, to bring Christ down.”
You don't have to climb into heaven to find Christ.
God has already sent Him.
Then:
“Who will descend into the abyss?”
— Romans 10:7
Paul explains:
“That is, to bring Christ up from the dead.”
You don't have to descend into the realm of the dead to retrieve Christ.
God has already raised Him.
Notice who is doing the saving work.
God sent Christ.
God raised Christ.
Human beings don't accomplish salvation by some heroic religious achievement.
God has acted.
THE WORD IS NEAR
Then Paul asks:
“But what does it say?”
His answer:
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.”
— Romans 10:8
Then Paul identifies that word:
“That is, the word of faith that we proclaim.”
The message isn't hidden.
It isn't inaccessible.
It isn't reserved for people capable of accomplishing some impossible religious task.
The gospel has been proclaimed.
Christ has come.
Christ has been raised.
The word is near.
Now comes the response.
“IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH”
Paul says:
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord...”
— Romans 10:9
This is more than acknowledging that Jesus existed.
The confession is:
Jesus is Lord.
That was an enormous confession.
The crucified Jesus whom Israel had stumbled over is Lord.
But Paul doesn't stop with the mouth.
“AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART”
Paul continues:
“And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Notice again the resurrection.
Paul's gospel is not merely:
Jesus died.
It includes:
God raised Him from the dead.
This takes us right back to the opening of Romans where Paul spoke of Jesus Christ:
“Declared to be the Son of God in power...by his resurrection from the dead.”
The resurrection is at the heart of Paul's gospel.
HEART AND MOUTH
Paul explains:
“For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
— Romans 10:10
Paul isn't describing two unrelated acts.
The heart believes.
The mouth confesses what the heart believes.
Faith is not merely private agreement hidden inside a person.
The believer openly identifies Jesus as:
Lord.
But we need to be careful about what we do with these verses.
IS PAUL GIVING A COMPLETE LIST OF EVERYTHING INVOLVED IN CONVERSION?
Romans 10:9–10 is sometimes treated as though Paul were answering:
“What are all the steps a person must take to become a Christian?”
But that isn't the question Paul is answering here.
His question is why Israel failed to attain righteousness.
His answer has emphasized:
faith in Christ rather than confidence in Law.
So we should not force Romans 10:9–10 to answer a question Paul wasn't specifically asking.
That becomes especially important when we remember what Paul himself has already written in this same letter.
DON'T MAKE ROMANS 10 CONTRADICT ROMANS 6
Paul has already said:
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”
— Romans 6:3
And:
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.”
— Romans 6:4
Paul didn't forget Romans 6 when he wrote Romans 10.
Nor did he suddenly decide baptism no longer mattered.
Likewise, Romans 6 didn't eliminate faith.
Paul has been talking about faith throughout Romans.
The mistake comes when we take one paragraph and demand that it contain everything Paul believes about salvation.
Romans 10 emphasizes faith and confession because that is what Paul's argument requires at this point.
Romans 6 emphasizes baptism because that is what his argument requires there.
Let Paul say everything Paul says.
PAUL RETURNS TO SCRIPTURE
Paul continues:
“For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’”
— Romans 10:11
We have just seen that quotation.
Paul used it in Romans 9:33.
Again the emphasis is:
believes.
But now notice the next sentence.
THERE IS NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN JEW AND GREEK
Paul says:
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.”
— Romans 10:12
We've heard this before.
Back in Romans 3 Paul said:
“There is no distinction: for all have sinned.”
Now there is no distinction in another sense.
The same Lord is:
“Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.”
Jew and Gentile have the same problem.
And Jew and Gentile have the same Lord.
There isn't one way of salvation for Israel and another for Gentiles.
“EVERYONE WHO CALLS”
Then Paul gives his conclusion:
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
— Romans 10:13
Everyone.
Jew.
Gentile.
The distinction that dominated so much of Israel's history does not create two ways of salvation.
There is one Lord.
And:
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
But once again, Paul is quoting Scripture.
Where?
Joel 2:32.
And that creates a fascinating connection.
WHO IS “THE LORD”?
In Joel 2, the statement:
“Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved”
refers to the LORD—the God of Israel.
Paul takes that passage and places it into an argument centered on confessing:
“Jesus is Lord.”
We shouldn't hurry past that.
Paul is not presenting Jesus merely as another religious teacher.
The language Scripture used of the Lord in Joel is now used in Paul's proclamation centered upon Jesus.
That tells us something enormous about Paul's understanding of who Jesus is.
SOMETHING ELSE WE SHOULD NOTICE
Romans 10:13 is sometimes separated from verses 9–10.
But watch Paul's progression:
“Confess...Jesus is Lord.”
Then:
“The same Lord is Lord of all.”
Then:
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The repeated word is:
Lord.
The confession isn't simply reciting a formula.
It is acknowledging the identity and authority of Jesus Christ.
DON'T BUILD A “PLAN OF SALVATION” FROM ONE VERSE
This is a good place to practice careful Bible study.
Someone may quote Romans 10:9 and say:
“See? All anyone has to do is believe and confess.”
Someone else may quote Acts 2:38 and say:
“See? All anyone has to do is repent and be baptized.”
Someone else might quote John 3:16.
Another might quote Acts 16:31.
But that's not how we should build doctrine.
We shouldn't make one passage compete with another.
We should ask what each author is addressing in context and then allow all the relevant texts to speak.
Paul says salvation is by grace.
Paul says justification is by faith.
Paul says we are justified by Christ's blood.
Paul says we are baptized into Christ's death.
Paul says we confess Jesus as Lord.
None of those statements needs to cancel the others.
The problem begins when we decide that one verse must say everything.
READ PAUL BEFORE READING A SYSTEM INTO PAUL
Romans 10:5–13 isn't an isolated tract about how to become a Christian.
It belongs to Paul's continuing discussion of:
Israel.
The Law.
Righteousness.
Christ.
Faith.
Jew and Gentile.
Israel pursued righteousness but stumbled because they did not pursue it by faith.
Christ has come.
Christ has been raised.
The word has been proclaimed.
And God's promise reaches beyond ethnic boundaries:
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
That is Paul's point.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE
Ask the text:
Does someone have to ascend to heaven to bring Christ down?
No. God already sent Him.
Does someone have to descend into the abyss to bring Christ back?
No. God raised Him.
Where is the word?
“Near you, in your mouth and in your heart.”
What does the heart do?
Believes.
What does the mouth do?
Confesses Jesus as Lord.
Does Romans 10:9–10 claim to give an exhaustive list of everything Paul teaches about conversion?
No. The context does not ask that question.
Is there one way for Jews and another for Gentiles?
No.
“The same Lord is Lord of all.”
And who may call upon Him?
“Everyone.”
But Paul's next question is unavoidable.
If people must call upon the Lord, how can they call if they have not believed?
How can they believe if they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching?
That is exactly where Paul goes next.
NEXT: HOW WILL THEY HEAR?
Romans 10:14–21
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
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