Romans 10:5-15
(NRSV)
5 Moses writes
concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does
these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that comes
from 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
abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what
does it say?
“The word is near you,
on your lips and in your heart”
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);9 because if
you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.10 For one believes
with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is
saved. 11 The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be
put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13 For,
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
14 But how are
they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe
in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone
to proclaim him? 15 And how are they to proclaim him unless they are
sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good
news!”
In Romans 10:5-13,
Paul discusses the righteousness from the Law and the righteousness from faith.
Even in our secular age, we may have a deep and disturbing sense that something
is terribly wrong with our lives. We seem to have an infinite desire that has
no path toward fulfillment. Many of us want to lead healthy lives, and have a
vague sense that we are breaking an unwritten code every day. We follow the
safe road of quite respectability, suspicious that we need to take a risk so
that we might have the happiness of reaching our fullest potential. Even when
we consciously affirm moral relativity, we feel the guilt of abandoning honored
moral codes. Writers as diverse as Kafka ,
Dostoyevsky, T.S. Eliot Paul discusses the meaning of faith, as he explains
this new mode of acquiring peace with God.
Paul contrasts the ease of this
mode with the arduous task of observing the deeds of the law. Thus, we could
approach this passage with the theme of salvation by faith. After all, the
passage contains the well-known “Romans Road” plan for witnessing. While that
is an important part of the message, it will miss the important part this
passage plays in the way Paul is laying out the plan of God for incorporating
the Gentiles into the people of God. An event has occurred that has ended the
salvific importance of the Torah. Of course, Christ is the content of that
event. At this point in the argument, Paul is pondering how the Jewish people
have largely rejected the way of faith. We find that even though the Torah had
its time in the plan of God, the way of faith makes the Lord God of Moses
available to all. While law and faith represents differing events in the
history of salvation, the character of God has remained the same.[2]
Paul observes in verse 5 that if we approach right living with God through the
Torah, then we are saying that we will find life through obeying it. In
Galatians 3:10-14, Paul will also assert that a curse rests upon those who seek
to find life in this way. The reason is that one must obey everything taught in
the Torah or else one lives under a curse. Even the Jewish people could not
accomplish this, so God opened up a new way through the cross. Christ received
the curse of our failure to live by the Law, whether the Torah or the principle
embedded in humanity to live by Law. His death frees us from the curse of not
following the Law. The Torah showed its ineffectiveness by the fact that no one
could obey it fully. Its ineffectiveness has led to the opening up of the way
of faith in Christ, which means that Jew and Gentile have the opportunity to be
together as the people of God. The way of faith opens when we have our
encounter with Christ. The event that Christ is in the history of salvation
must have a corresponding event of faith in our lives. Such an event binds Jew
and Gentile together and has the potential to erase all other boundaries of
human construction.
In verses 6-8, Paul refers to Leviticus 18:5 and
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 as he offers his midrash upon these portions of the Torah.
In making this appeal, Paul is affirming that God has not changed. The Lord God
of Moses is the same God who is the Father of Jesus Christ and the one
Christians call upon as “Abba, Father.” However, Paul shows little regard for
the original meaning of the Old Testament passage, which actually praised the
Torah as a word from the Lord that has come close to us in Torah rather than be
far away in heaven or the abyss. Thus, in its Old Testament context, Israel
cannot complain that it did not have access to Torah. Instead, Paul applies the
passage to the word of faith, which truly is as close as the heart and mouth. His
claim is that Gentiles have access to rightly relating to God through faith
rather than a law no one can obey fully. Paul is trying to move the people of
God from the burden of a religious life based upon Law to the joy of the life
of offering personal assent to what God has done in Christ.
Free from the law -- oh, happy
condition!
Jesus hath bled, and there is
remission;
Cursed by the law and bruised by
the fall,
Christ hath redeemed us once for
all.[3]
Paul might find some sympathy with the view of Thomas
Aquinas that three things are necessary for the salvation of human beings: to
know what they ought to believe, to know what they ought to desire, and to know
what they ought to do. The people of God can no longer look upon this
Torah as the expression of the eternal will and purpose of God. The way of Torah
must give way to faith in the new saving event of God in Jesus Christ. This act
of God opens the door for good news to the world.[4]
In verses 9-10, the first basic confession or profession of faith in the early
church was simple: Jesus is Lord. It was an affirmation developed before Paul
began his public ministry. The confession of Jesus as Lord was a fundamental
article of belief in the early church.
I Corinthians 12:3
no one can say "Jesus is
Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
II Corinthians 4:5
For we do not proclaim ourselves; we
proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake.
Philippians 2:11
every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Colossians 2:6
As you therefore have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him …
It was one of the earliest and most
widespread Christian confessions of faith in most Greek-speaking areas of
Christianity.[5]
The confession of Jesus as Lord was likely required, perhaps in creedal
formulation, for admission to baptism, membership in the church and access to
the Eucharist. Today, Christology must provide the basis for this
confession.[6]
The cause of this public
profession is the prior internal event of believing that God raised Jesus from
the dead. Such conviction resides authentically in the heart and issues
faithfully from the mouth. Inner faith forthrightly receives voice. We see this
pattern in Romans 1:1, 3-4 as well, which affirms the resurrection of Jesus
from the dead first, and then affirms that Jesus is Lord. Philippians 2
stresses that Jesus humbled himself to the point of death before God exalted
him. Hebrews 2:9 has a similar emphasis. I Corinthians 15 reveals the basis of
the gospel he preached in Corinth, including the death and resurrection of
Jesus that he finds especially affirmed in the appearances to the disciples and
to a larger group soon after the death of Jesus. He admits that the event of faith
is empty if God did not raise Jesus from the dead. Yet, this internal belief
was more than intellectual assent. It was the sign of sharing in the life of
the new community of the people of God. In I Corinthians 1:23, Paul admits this
internal belief is an obstacle to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. Paul will
stress that he has no shame in proclaiming it in Romans 1:16. The logic of this
pattern of spiritual awakening is that one first believes in the heart, thereby
receiving a right relationship with God through the pardon we have received in
the event of the death of Jesus for our failure to live in a way that honors
God. One can understand the joy many have found in recognizing that their
standing with God did not rest upon their ability to do everything some perceived
law might require.[7]
The mouth affirms what the heart confirms. The result is that God saves a
person who believes in the heart and publicly testifies to the truth discerned in
the heart. Such salvation primarily refers to the eschatological fulfillment of
the plan of God for the redemption of humanity. We can see this emphasis in
Romans 5:9-10, where salvation involves freedom from receiving the anger and
judgment of God upon sin. In I Thessalonians 2:16, those who resist bringing
this saving message to Gentiles will be at the receiving end of the anger of
God. In I Thessalonians 5:8-9, to receive salvation is to avoid the anger of
God. In I Corinthians 3:15, everyone will be at the receiving end of the fire
of judgment, but the fire is a cleansing fire. What remains will receive the
benefit of the saving action of God. In I Corinthians 5:5, he even hopes that
as a matter of church discipline handing someone over to Satan now will lead to
his or her salvation on the Day of the Lord. This notion of salvation shows the
theological indebtedness of early Christian teaching to Israel and to Jewish apocalyptic
writings. Going to the prophetic witness, Paul refers in verse 11 to Isaiah
28:16. He has already used this passage in 9:33. The one who believes in the heart
and confesses with the lips will have nothing about which to worry in the final
judgment. Such a person will receive honor rather than shame. Romans 1:16
stresses says that Paul has no shame now, in this life, in preaching the
gospel, because he has seen the effect of the saving message of the gospel
spreading among the Gentile world. He also refers to another prophet in Joel
2:32. He has stressed that the same Lord of Moses, the prophets, and Jesus is
Lord of all and is generous to all who call upon the Lord. The Lord is so
generous that the Lord will save such persons. Paul has stressed this in Romans
3:26-29, I Corinthians 12:12-13, and Colossians 3:11. Paul stresses that this
path of rightly relating to God through faith fulfills the universalist thrust
of the message of the Israelite prophets.
The purpose of God through the
covenant with Israel finds its fulfillment in the divine saving purpose
revealed in the event of Christ. What Paul has done is explain how Israel is
accountable for its rejection of the word of faith. It already had the word of
faith contained in the Law! It already had the universalizing thrust of the
prophets! He uses the words of Joel and Isaiah to say that Israel has heard the
call of God and failed to respond with faith. Paul seems to argue that the
election of Israel by God finds its confirmation in the election of the church.
The reason for this is that the mission of Israel finds its fulfillment in the
church. The honor of God dwells among the people of God. The community serves
the divine promise that awaits a humanity that will hear and respond with
faith. The community lives as a witness to the saving action of God in Christ.
It hears the call of God and serves that call. A church that would cut itself
off from this connection to Israel will lose its mission. Israel will always
have a special place of service within the people of God and the church must do
all it can to make sure nothing interrupts that service. Israel reminds us all
that God chooses to make humanity hear the word, follow the leadership God
provides, subject itself to God, and listen to God. This will always be the
privilege of humanity. As we find revealed in the Jewish Messiah, the people of
God are servants above all. Israel reaches its goal in its church form! All of
this would be clearer if Israel had received the word of faith. It fails to
hear properly its destiny in Jesus Christ. It jeopardizes its existence by
rejecting the one community in the world that cannot do without this relation
to Israel and Judaism. Its rigid rejection does not remove it from the people
of God. It continues to serve its purpose within the people of God.[8]
Paul suggests that those who
receive this good news have the faithful responsibility to share it publicly
with all persons. The point of the rhetorical questions in verses 14-15 is to
persuade us to become active participants in proclaiming the good news. The
news is neither good nor news if one does not share it. If the event of faith
has occurred in our hearts and we have professed it with our words, then we
will want to become active participants in sharing that word with the others. We
will want others to call upon the Lord that will arise out of their believing
in the Lord. Such belief will come because they have heard, recognizing that If
faith comes through hearing, then it comes with some understanding.[9] If
they hear, it will becomes someone has sent them. Paul connects this good news activity with the
tradition of the prophets calling attention to God’s manifest and emerging
purposes. Thought (heart) and word (mouth) in 10:8-10 set the stage for deed
(feet) in 10:15, connecting with Isaiah
52:7 . To proclaim good news is to confess the profoundly held
conviction that Jesus is Lord. Thus,
our actions are beautiful — vigorously mature — only insofar as they unfold
from our inner faith and the forthright voice we give to that faith. Paul
is providing inspiration for a view of spiritual growth as well. Living things
grow. The same must be true of spiritual life. As we work through this passage,
we need to remember that the life of Paul backed up these words. He had an
extraordinary personal involvement in announcing the gospel. The event of faith
in his heart led to courageous profession in the world. He dedicated his life
to Christ, despite problems and persecutions. His life is a lesson for us. One
wonders what would happen if the action of the church backed up its words in
the way Paul backed up his words. The credibility and effectiveness of the
church would undoubtedly expand. He was willing to pay personally for his faith
in Christ in every situation. The appeal of the gospel is weaker when this is
not the case.
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