Romans 10

Romans 10:1-21

Subdivision 2. (Romans 10:1-21.)The contrast between law and the faith of the gospel. The contrast is now drawn between the law and the faith of the gospel. This might seem to have been sufficiently discussed; but the law is so thoroughly according to man’s mind, that it is hard indeed to divorce one from it. After all the treatment which is given to it in this epistle we shall find, in that to the Galatians, how the soul even that has learned to rejoice in the grace of the gospel may still go back to what is the entire opposite of this, and we shall have to take up again the question of this opposition there, though from a different point of view to that which we have at present. Yet the very word “salvation,” in the sense in which the gospel has made us to know it, is not found in connection with the law; which, at best, puts it on the wicked man to save himself, and that by turning from his wickedness and doing what is lawful and right, a thing which all his past has proved impracticable.

1. Here it is for the salvation of Israel that the apostle longs and prays. He testifies that they have a zeal for God, a thing which reminds us of the terrible fact that there is a way which seemeth right to a man, where yet the end may be the ways of death. This is a thing which men would gladly forget. The open ways of death are many enough, and every one recognizes that men do not get to heaven by drunkenness or violence; but that there should be a way seeming right to a man and in following which, therefore, he may be perfectly sincere, yet proving in result to be the way of death, this is indeed a startling matter to face. Let all consider, therefore, that the “broad way which leadeth to destruction, and many they are which go in at it,” is not of necessity a way of open wickedness; on the contrary, while sinful self is indeed and necessarily against God, yet righteous self is a more universal and a worse antagonist.

The publicans and sinners followed Christ. The Pharisees and religious people could not believe in Him. The apostle reminds us here that the whole effort of the heart characteristically in Israel was to establish their own righteousness, and thus the righteousness of God was ignored. The effort proves that men have not measured themselves in the presence of God. Christ is now proclaimed for righteousness “to every one that believeth,” and that is the opposite of law. The law says: “He that doeth”; the gospel says: “He that heareth.” “Christ is the end of the law,” replacing and setting it aside, and bringing in a totally contrastive principle. 2. The contrast with living by doing is plain. That is not faith, nor is it salvation. For the righteousness of faith, the apostle quotes, however, in what many seem a very strange fashion, Moses too. He puts into his words clearly what is not in Moses; and the language of Deuteronomy the thirtieth, which he uses, unquestionably speaks of the law itself. “This commandment which I command thee this day” could be nothing else but this. It was of this commandment that Moses says: “It is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off; it is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go up for us to heaven to bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it; neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for it and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it; but the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” Yet, in principle at least, the apostle seems to find the gospel in this.

Can it be implied, where not expressed? The beginning of the chapter shows that Moses has been speaking of the time when the predicted blessing and the curse shall have been alike fulfilled, and when, scattered in every land, Israel will return in heart to what was then commanded them.

This explains the words “not in the heavens.” The law had been given them in the first place from heaven, God speaking to them thence; and again, “not beyond the sea” refers to their scattered condition far away from their land, and yet with the word in their hands, and now through grace in their hearts also, for through grace it is. When they return in heart to God at that time, God will have compassion on them. They will be no more able to keep the impossible terms of the law than they ever have been, and if God takes them up at the end of their wanderings, it can only be in grace after all, although by that grace itself the law is now written in their hearts. This reminds us at once of the new covenant, for the terms of the new covenant are: “I will write My laws in their hearts”; yet how different is this “I will write” from the legal compact, “thou shalt do” so and so! Thus the light dawns on us. The apostle really makes explicit what is implicit in Moses, words; but then again, for this, Christ must come in.

With Moses that is yet a secret thing which at least does not come into the passage quoted, but the apostle puts it in as, in fact, indispensable. There could be no grace apart from Christ.

There could be no salvation apart from grace, and we are familiar with the new covenant as that which, of necessity, must have Christ for its fulfilment. When once we see this, we need have no difficulty about what is said here; and for us “Who shall ascend into heaven, and who shall descend to the abyss?” can only refer to Him. It seems strange at first sight that he should put it, “Say ye not in thy heart, who shall ascend into heaven,” and for the purpose named; who ever did say that? No one, assuredly, ever thought of bringing Christ from heaven, as no one ever thought of raising Him from the dead. These are things outside of the range of man’s natural expectation, much more of any accomplishment on his part; but this is, nevertheless, what was absolutely needed, and thus the hopelessness of any effort on man’s part is confessed at once. If we cannot ask, even, Who shall do this? this after all is what has secured salvation for us and nothing else could secure it.

Thank God, it is an accomplished thing; and therefore still more, no one could need to ask the question. Only the word of it remains, the report which awakens faith and of which faith lays hold.

There is simply the word in the mouth and the heart, a word of confession for the mouth, and of faith for the heart. The apostle does not hesitate to put these together. He does not think of the possibility of a faith without confession. He does not own such a thing to be faith. “Faith if it have not works, is dead, being alone.” It is, of course, the basis of all, necessarily. One must believe that God has raised Christ from the dead or there will be no confession of Him as the Lord of all, and the apostle joins confession with salvation surely, as looking on to that time when Christ will confess in His turn those who have confessed Him upon earth. That is the time when salvation will be complete.

The calling on Him as to which he quotes from Joel, in the same way as Peter at Pentecost, necessarily implies this. “Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” Notice how fully the deity of Christ is recognized here, for “the Lord” in Joel is Jehovah; and notice, too, that by the words of Joel himself the Gentile cannot be excluded. If it be “whosoever believes” and “whosoever confesses,” the Gentile, of necessity, may come in here upon the same footing as Israelites themselves. 3. Here then is the gospel. To fulfil its purpose, it must be published, sent out. Here is the wide-spread mission call of Christianity, and of such a call the law knew nothing. It had a special priesthood, but no recognized ministry outside the bounds of Israel itself. That special priesthood proved, in fact, that those who were outwardly nigh were still, as to the mass, far off, and the priesthood themselves, as we know, could not really draw near to God.

How little, therefore, was there for a gospel to the world! The exclusive position of Israel, of which Pharisaism boasted so much, was, in fact, the confession that the time was not yet come for the proper revelation of God. God was not yet in the light, the way into the holiest was not manifested. When this takes place, immediately the question is raised which the apostle puts in this epistle: “Is He the God of the Jews only? is He not also of the Gentiles?” Could He possibly reveal Himself, and yet hide that revelation from any of His creatures? On the contrary, it must now everywhere be pressed that God has drawn near to man, and the claim for answer must he pressed along with it. There is still an obedience requisite, an obedience of faith, without which there can be no blessing; and this comes nearer home to every man than any call under the law could possibly do; for let a man hear the law as he might, it was not the man that heard, but the man that did, that was accepted.

Now, on the other hand, if a man hears, truly hears, he is accepted at once, and thus the question of obedience to such a call is urged at once. There is no reservation of it to a possible future, when he shall have fulfilled impracticable conditions. 4. The apostle goes on now to Israel’s rejection. The call had been given her. The apostle quotes for this the words of the nineteenth psalm. The voice of the heavens in creation, of which it speaks, is that which corresponds to the world-wide call, now that the heavens are indeed speaking; but the prophets had foretold what, in fact, has now taken place. God had said that He would anger Israel by a foolish nation, that is, by an idolatrous one, for this is the thought of “foolish” constantly in the Old Testament. “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God,” or, at any rate, has wandered from the right One.

Thus Israel’s rejection was not only a present fact, but a fact that had been long before announced. If there was a remnant at all, it was a remnant according to the election of grace.