The Word. Romans 10:5-10 As I consider the impact of the Gospel on the Jews as a people chosen by God who wanted them to be a kingdom of priests, I wondered why the law that condemned them had such a hold on them. They knew they were incapable of keeping it to the letter. They knew it did not give them life. It seems like there is something in us that no matter how plainly a matter is explained to us, we want "to feel good about ourselves" and "do things our way."
V.5. The purpose of the law, even laws made by men, is to let people know what is right and wrong and warn them of the consequences of wrong choices. Knowing what we can do within ourselves, the law warns of judgment that follows sin. By giving the Jews a written law that made clear who they really were, God had given them a special method to look in faith to the coming Messiah so that they would put their faith in Him, not in themselves. But they got sidetracked by their own ideas of the holiness of God and what kind of worship they wanted.
V.6. Righteousness before God by following the law meant that it must be kept perfectly, which is impossible for sinful humans. Righteousness by faith in the Gospel introduces us to Jesus Christ, our Lord. That means salvation is here available by faith. Faith in the scripture is spoken of in three ways. Faith in testimony means we receive what is spoken or written. Faith in a person is confidence in that person because of what he or she is, what he or she has done, and what he or she is willing and able to do. Faith in a thing or object is trust and assurance because of its value and capability for a certain purpose. Saving faith involves all of these.
The Holy God, who gave evidence of Himself in lightning, thunder, and earthquake, followed by the giving of the law on tables of stone, impressed the Jews with the law's holiness, not the law's purpose. Instead of the words written on the stone, they paid attention to the signs. They wanted the same evidence of signs from the Lord Jesus when He was here to prove He was the Christ. The only one He gave was the sign of Jonah: the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ proclaimed in the Gospel. They wanted someone like Moses to go up to God and bring Christ down with him. They wouldn't accept the fact that the Lord Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, already here in the flesh to save them.
V.7. The quotation Paul adapted from Moses’ farewell address to the nation to emphasize "the word" made the point that what has been done doesn’t have to be done again. To those who were using the law almost like a national "good luck" charm, the written word of the law was always near each one of them, in their mouth and heart, to point them to Christ. Salvation is here, available by faith. We don’t have to get Christ to come down from heaven again or rise from the grave again. The Gospel message is near everyone, and everyone is responsible for believing it. The answer to their questions is right where it always has been - "the word is nigh thee." Any Jew who would confess Jesus to be his or her Lord publicly and would personally believe God has raised Him from the dead - would be saved.
V.8. It seems to me that an explanation of salvation is appropriate here. In the scripture, the word “salvation” has several uses. When a sinner believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, that person is justified before the just and holy God and saved from the punishment of sin. They are saved at that moment. It happened in the past and is realized in the present by faith. The saved person is pardoned and accepted in Christ. We are saved by the power of God through faith while passing through dangers and trials and from enemies in the world. The saved person is not fully perfected until the soul and body are reunited at the resurrection. We will then know the full salvation of spirit, soul, and body, which began when we were first saved.
The deity and authority of Christ, even over death, was the important thing for a Jew to confess. They would have known of the "miracle worker" from Nazareth, but more than that was needed to show evidence of saving faith. The cross-work of Christ accomplished atonement for sin. Forgiveness is possible because of what He did on our behalf and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Atonement for sin forever has been made to God’s entire satisfaction.
The message of salvation by grace through faith is as near as believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. This is true also of us all, but to the Jews, it drew a line between them and the law and put them on the side of the faith principle God had always wanted from them. Jews knew the way of righteousness through the law—the word was near them. Now, they had to confess that Jesus was Lord to receive salvation.
V.9-10. The order of salvation being real to a person is the preached good news. An effective witness must be more than an example. The Gospel has to be explained as to what it is and why we need to believe it. Living the Gospel is important, and confronting people with it must go together. Second, it is heard and believed. In Bible terms, the heart is not only emotions and affections but also includes the intellect and the will. Salvation involves inward belief and outward confession. Then, when a person calls upon the name of the Lord, God saves them.
God sends a preacher; the message of the Gospel is clearly proclaimed; the message is heard and believed. The Gospel preached to all of us goes directly from being awakened to our need and repentance of sin to the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. That is the Gospel message. The Jews were asked by Christ Himself to confess Him publicly before men, and He would confess them before the angels in heaven. The Holy Spirit in these verses makes the same point for them now. Confession with the mouth follows the exercise of faith by those elected by God.