Romans 10:1
Ἀδελφοί, ἡ μὲν εὐδοκία τῆς ἐμῆς καρδίας καὶ ἡ δέησις πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν εἰς σωτηρίαν.
Brothers, the pleasure of my heart and my prayer to God on behalf of them to salvation.
Paraphrase: Brothers, please don’t misunderstand me. Just because I have been saying that God makes His promises to those whom He has chosen and not to ethnic Jews, does not mean I have no concern for the salvation of my people. I said it before (Romans 9:1-3), and I’ll say it again. Nothing gives me greater joy than to see my own countrymen turning to Christ and finding righteousness in Him and not in the law. Every day, I pray earnestly that God would call them out of this futile pursuit of righteousness by the law and to bring them to Christ.
Comments:
I took the article on δέησις to be a possessive pronoun; see principle 18.
Romans 10:2
μαρτυρῶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὅτι ζῆλον θεοῦ ἔχουσιν· ἀλλ’ οὐ κατ’ ἐπίγνωσιν,
For I testify to them that a zeal of God they have but not according to knowledge.
Paraphrase: It breaks my heart to see the zeal of my people. They certainly are a very religious people; no question about that. How I wish I could get them to understand that it’s one thing to be religious and quite another to be exercised with true religion. It’s not mere religious zeal that pleases God. Remember that our Lord taught us that God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) The Jewish people are so zealous, but the road they are on will not bring them to the place where they want to go.
Comments:
Romans 10:3
ἀγνοοῦντες γὰρ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ζητοῦντες στῆσαι, τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν·
For not knowing the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
Paraphrase: Here’s the problem with my beloved kinfolk. They are working hard to build a righteousness for themselves by their own righteous living. They practice a very strict and precise obedience to all God’s laws. Then, they expect that this will meet with God’s approval. They hope to earn God’s favor; and because of their efforts, to be admitted into His kingdom. All the while, God is holding out to them (Romans 1:17; 10:21) a righteousness that is absolutely perfect and without the slightest flaw. In fact, this righteousness which God offers them is the only perfect righteousness; and therefore, the only righteousness which He will accept. My people, however, simply can’t see the gift which God has for them. My heart is broken (Romans 9:1-3) to see their blindness. (2 Corinthians 3:14)
Comments:
Ewald calls (p43) the Jewish study of the law “a legislative mania.” His comments are quite interesting; see more details of this in Schurer §28.
Romans 10:4
τέλος γὰρ νόμου Χριστὸς εἰς δικαιοσύνην παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι.
For the end of the law, Christ for righteousness to all who are believing.
Paraphrase: My prayer is that my people will reach the end of their own law-keeping; and when they look up exhausted and weary with their own efforts (Acts 9:5; 26:14), they will see Christ standing before them with His holy hands stretched out to them. In those hands, is a righteousness perfect in every respect; there’s not the slightest flaw in it. It’s like a perfect, flawless robe (Revelation 7:13-14) which any person can put on. This gift of righteousness is received simply by putting one’s full trust and confidence in Jesus. Truth be told, this righteousness is perfect because it is the righteousness of the second Adam, Himself. (Romans 5:19) Now, this is the righteousness which God will accept. He will surely pronounce all who have it, “Not Guilty!”
Comments:
See Liddon (p179) on “end” or τέλος; also Schriener. Scholars used to regard an articular νομος as referring specifically to the Mosaic law and if anarthrous, a reference to law in general; see Headlam (p58). This is no longer the case; see Moo p75.
Romans 10:5
Μωϋσῆς γὰρ γράφει ὅτι τὴν δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου ὁ ποιήσας ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτῇ.
For Moses writes that righteousness, i.e. the righteousness which is of the law, the man who is doing it, he will live by it.
Paraphrase: My dear countrymen are still under law (Romans 6:14-15; Galatians 4:21) which is being under a covenant of works. This covenant requires perfect and constant obedience to all of God’s commands; it knows no mercy or softening of its demands. If they could keep God’s law perfectly, then they would live forever in God’s presence and favor. This is just like what God told the nation of Israel. “You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes,” YHWH said, “To live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 18:4-5) By this, God did not intend to teach His people that they could actually obtain righteousness by law keeping. His goal was actually to teach them the opposite (Galatians 3:19); i.e. that they could never reach a level righteousness (Romans 3:20), no matter how hard they tried (Hebrews 10:1-4), which God would accept and find satisfactory.
Comments:
Chalmers argues (p43) that “law” here does not refer merely to the ceremonial law.
Whitby boldly says (p168) with regards to Matthew 19:17, “It is therefore certain that all pious persons under the Old Testament obtained a right to life eternal by this observance of the moral precepts of the law.” Wardlaw rejects (p328) any idea that the obedience Moses required in Leviticus 18:5 was simply to retain their hold on the land of Canaan.
But it is a great mistake to suppose that Canaan ever was obtained or held on terms of law. The supposition is contrary to the express affirmations of this inspired Apostle, by whom the earthly inheritance, like the heavenly, is placed on an entirely different footing, and is thus rendered the more remarkably and closely typical. See Gal. 3:18; Rom. 4:13, 14. Language cannot be more explicit. The earthly inheritance is primarily meant. It was obtained on the ground of promise—free and gracious promise. It was subsequently held, as it had been obtained, by faith in the promise; and when obedience is spoken of as a condition of continued possession, it is to be understood of the obedience of faith, and as being a condition in the same sense in which the New Testament represents it as a condition of the final inheritance of the promised blessings of the New Covenant; when it enjoins on believers that they “follow holiness,” and assures them that “without it no man shall see the Lord.” It must, indeed, be obvious to every considerate reader, that the words of Moses here quoted must be understood by the Apostle as expressing perfect obedience; else they would evidently be nothing at all to his purpose. Yet it is not less obvious, that in this sense they never could express the condition on which Canaan was held; for on such a condition, Canaan never could be held,—no, not for an hour.
Watts disagrees (p122):
This life which is here promised in these texts [Leviticus 18:5; Ezekiel 20:11; 30:15] to the Jews, in a literal sense, chiefly means long life in their own land, and peace and freedom from sorrows and miseries in this world: And though the freedom or preservation from death, which is promised by Moses to those who keep the statutes, laws and ordinances enjoined to Israel, does not mean an entire preservation from temporal death; so neither in the obvious and literal sense does it mean a security from eternal death, but rather a freedom from death, as it is a general term used to include all temporal and painful evils, and particularly from sudden and violent death, from cruel, lingering and shameful death, from death in foreign countries, and untimely death in the midst of their years. This is very evident, if you read those expressions of Moses; Deuteronomy 6:24, 25; 30:15-20; Ezekiel 33:10–15. So Solomon, in his prayer; 1 Kings 8:31-50 and Nehemiah, in his prayer; Nehemiah 9:29–31 teach us to explain it. Life is put for all that is good, and death for all that is evil. It is evident that God governed the Jews with regard to temporal blessings and temporal curses, in the way of a covenant of works. As to the external and temporal state of their persons, their church, and their nation, they were under a covenant works; and God, who was their king or political head, dealt with them from time to time in saving them, or in punishing them, according to their works: And it is very observable, that it is this very promise of life, upon condition of doing the works of the law which the apostle takes to describe that covenant of works, by which the Jews could not be saved as to their eternal state, see Romans 10:3–5; 9:31. The man that doth them shall live in them.
In another footnote, Watts writes (p125):
And here, by the way, I would take occasion to relieve or explain one great difficulty, which occurs in reading of St. Paul’s epistles; especially those to the Romans and Galatians. It is evident that when St. Paul designs to represent the terms of the covenant of works, viz. Do this and live; Rom. 10:5. and cursed is every one that continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do them; (Galatians 3:10, 12) he doth it by citations out of the Old Testament, or the, Jewish scriptures, because the language of the political covenant which God made with the Jews, as he was their king, and they were his nation or people, was the language of the covenant of works, and God governed them very much is that way with regard to their temporal rewards and punishments.
On the other hand, when St. Paul gives us the terms of the covenant of grace or the gospel, viz. “Faith in the grace of God through a Savior,” he also cites the Old Testament or the Jewish scriptures. So Rom. 3:21. Rom. 4:3, 6, 7. Rom. 10:6–11. Gal. 3:8, 11. Because the covenant of grace, or the way of salvation and eternal life, was also prescribed, though in a more obscure manner in the Old Testament, partly by promises made to repentance and trust in the mercy of God, and a Messiah that was to come, and partly by sacrifices and washings, which were types and figures of repentance and pardon, through the blood of Christ, and sanctification of the Spirit. Thus the righteousness of God was witnessed by the law and the prophets; Rom. 3:21. I think without this clue it is impossible to read and understand the great apostle’s way of arguing in those epistles.
Witsius gives (p86) this summary:
I. The law of works
And hence we must judge what Paul understands by the law of works, what by the works of the law, and what by faith. The law of works is that which demands works to be done by man himself, as the condition of life, or the cause of claiming the reward: the tenor of which is this, The man who doeth these things shall live in them, Rom. 10:5. Such a law was given to Adam of old, who, if he had persevered in his integrity, would have obtained a right to eternal life by his works of righteousness.
II. Repea[t]ed by Moses
The same doctrine Moses repeated in his ministry. For he also inculcated the same precepts upon which the covenant of works had been built: he both repeated the same solemn saying, He who doeth these things shall live in them, Lev. 18:5 and also added another, Cursed be he who shall not perform the words of this law in doing them, Deut. 27:26. That this is the curse of the law, as it stands opposed to the covenant of grace, Paul teacheth, Gal. 3:10. which, however, is not so to be understood, as if God had intended, by the ministry of Moses, to make a new covenant of works with Israel, with a view to obtain righteousness and salvation by such a covenant. But that repetition of the covenant of works was designed to convince the Israelites of their sin and misery, to drive them out of themselves, to teach them the necessity of a satisfaction, and to compel them to cleave to Christ: and thus it was subservient to the covenant of grace, Rom. 10:4.14
III. Misunderstood by the Israelites
Meanwhile, the carnal Israelites, not attending to the purpose of God, mistook the true sense of this covenant, embraced it as a covenant of works, and sought their righteousness by it. See Rom. 9:31, 32. For the most part of them invited to the covenant of God, rashly bound themselves to observe all that he should say; neither considering rightly the spiritual perfection of the law, nor their own inability: thinking indeed, that both parties behooved to act equally by their own powers, that it might be an equal covenant; and that they would stand no less to their promises, than God to his. And thus they made the whole law of Moses a covenant of works to themselves; while, by an unwary promise, they bound themselves to obey it, that they might obtain the life promised by God.
The question that remains is this; if you don’t take Watts’ position on this, how then can you avoid Whitby’s doctrine that God expected Israel to be saved by their obedience to the law?
Romans 10:6
ἡ δὲ ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοσύνη οὕτως λέγει· Μὴ εἴπῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου· Τίς ἀναβήσεται εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν; τοῦτ’ ἔστιν Χριστὸν καταγαγεῖν·
But the by-faith righteousness in this manner speaks: “Do not say in your heart, whoever will ascend into heaven? This is to bring Christ down.
Paraphrase: Now, we know and confess that this way of obtaining God’s favor by a covenant of works is no longer available to us. Under that covenant, we have nothing left to expect but God’s fiery judgment. (Hebrews 10:26-31) What a glorious thing the covenant of grace is! It says something completely different. Again, I think of the words of Moses when he said that the commandment which God gave Israel was not something so difficult and demanding that few of them could ever hope to obtain it. “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14) Moses was speaking about God’s law, but the words apply all the more to the gospel which we preach. Our gospel proclaims God’s righteousness offered freely to all who are willing to come to Jesus and to receive it as a free gift of His abounding grace. This new covenant teaches us that we do not need to work our way into God’s favor by climbing up into heaven by a perfect performance of all the exhausting rituals and ceremonies of the Mosaic law. (Acts 15:10) Otherwise, what need was there for Christ to come down from heaven and to bring in a new and better covenant in His blood? (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; Hebrews 9:15; 12:24) If we could obtain righteousness by our own efforts, then there was no need for the mission of Jesus to this earth.
Comments:
Tholuck (p291):
What Paul means to say then is: When, now-a-days, a sinner attains to the knowledge of himself, and sighs for enlightenment and justification, he requires not to look far and wide around him for help. If even Moses has commended the revelation of God’s law, because it brings the way of salvation so near to man, the Christian has still more occasion to congratulate himself on the same account; All that he wants is faith, and for its attainment, he does not require to have even once seen Christ. He needs not more than simply “to believe with the heart, and to confess with the mouth.”
Romans 10:7
ἤ· Τίς καταβήσεται εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον; τοῦτ’ ἔστιν Χριστὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναγαγεῖν.
or who will descend into the abyss? This is to raise Christ from the dead.
Paraphrase: Nor do we obtain righteousness by digging down into the depths of the earth as if we were seeking to find some hidden treasure. No, this kind of effort is not what God’s new covenant of grace requires of us. If such effort were required and possible, then again we ask for what purpose did Jesus die for our sin and rise again for our justification? (Romans 4:25)
Comments:
Romans 10:8
ἀλλὰ τί λέγει; Ἐγγύς σου τὸ ῥῆμά ἐστιν, ἐν τῷ στόματί σου καὶ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς πίστεως ὃ κηρύσσομεν.
but what does it say? Near you is the word, in your mouth and in your heart; this is the word of faith which we preach.
Paraphrase: So what are the terms of the covenant of grace which we proclaim to the ends of the earth? What is the good news which God has called us to preach and which He calls you to accept? Well again, to use the same words as Moses, the requirement is easy (Matthew 11:30) and not difficult. In fact, it’s just a word in your mouth and a trusting in your heart.
Comments:
τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς πίστεως = objective genitive
Romans 10:9
ὅτι ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃς ἐν τῷ στόματί σου κύριον Ἰησοῦν, καὶ πιστεύσῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου ὅτι ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, σωθήσῃ·
that when you might confess with your mouth Lord Jesus and you might believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Paraphrase: This is what I mean by a word in your mouth. It is a sincere confession made publicly and visibly before all the people of God that Jesus is Lord. (1 Corinthians 12:3; 2 Corinthians 4:5; Philippians 2:11) It is a declaration, before all God’s people, that you reject any competing claims by any man or emperor to be Lord. (John 12:42–43)
Then, is the trusting in our heart; what does this mean? It is a sincere acceptance of the glorious truth about Jesus, that God really and truly raised Him from the dead as proof of His divine person and mission and that His death is a sin offering covering my sin. His death and resurrection represent the victory over sin and death; and therefore, He is the One who rules over heaven and earth.
Comments:
Here “being saved” σωθήσῃ is the equivalent of “live” in v5.
“Jesus” is the object of the verb “confess”; Lord is an object complement. See p108 for a detailed discussion.
On the Roman emperors assuming the title Lord, see Diessmann p355.
In terms of the resurrection being set forth here as the object of faith, Barnes writes (p217): If this [the resurrection] be true, then all [the entire Christian system] is true.
Romans 10:10
καρδίᾳ γὰρ πιστεύεται εἰς δικαιοσύνην, στόματι δὲ ὁμολογεῖται εἰς σωτηρίαν·
For with the heart, he believes for righteousness; and with the mouth, he confesses for salvation.
Paraphrase: Now these are the conditions of the covenant of grace, and this is the gospel which we preach. Internally and invisibly, a person’s heart believes the truth of the gospel message and seeks forgiveness in the sacrifice of Christ. By this, they receive the gift of righteousness and are justified. Externally and visibly, the same person comes before the church, makes a public profession of his faith, comes under the waters of baptism, and participates in our Lord’s meal of remembrance. What a change is here worked! All of heaven and earth stand amazed at what God does when He calls a soul out of death and into life. The unrighteous and sinful person is declared righteous in the court of heaven. He is joined to Jesus Christ, cleansed and baptized by the Holy Spirit, and received into the family of God, and given all the rights and privileges of a son. It is a new creation (Galatians 6:15); a new birth (John 3:3); the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Truly, this is the LORD’S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. (Psalm 118:23)
Comments:
Romans 10:11
λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή· Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ’ αὐτῷ οὐ καταισχυνθήσεται.
For the Scripture says, “Everyone believing in Him will not be ashamed.”
Paraphrase:
Comments:
Romans 10:12
οὐ γάρ ἐστιν διαστολὴ Ἰουδαίου τε καὶ Ἕλληνος, ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς κύριος πάντων, πλουτῶν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἐπικαλουμένους αὐτόν·
Romans 10:13
Πᾶς γὰρ ὃς ἂν ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου σωθήσεται.
Romans10:14
Πῶς οὖν ἐπικαλέσωνται εἰς ὃν οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν; πῶς δὲ πιστεύσωσιν οὗ οὐκ ἤκουσαν; πῶς δὲ ἀκούσωσιν χωρὶς κηρύσσοντος;
Rom 10:15
πῶς δὲ κηρύξωσιν ἐὰν μὴ ἀποσταλῶσιν; καθὼς γέγραπται· Ὡς ὡραῖοι οἱ πόδες τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων τὰ ἀγαθά.
Rom 10:16
ἀλλ’ οὐ πάντες ὑπήκουσαν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ· Ἠσαΐας γὰρ λέγει· Κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσεν τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν;
Rom 10:17
ἄρα ἡ πίστις ἐξ ἀκοῆς, ἡ δὲ ἀκοὴ διὰ ῥήματος Χριστοῦ.
Rom 10:18
Ἀλλὰ λέγω, μὴ οὐκ ἤκουσαν; μενοῦνγε· Εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν, καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν.
Rom 10:19
ἀλλὰ λέγω, μὴ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἔγνω; πρῶτος Μωϋσῆς λέγει· Ἐγὼ παραζηλώσω ὑμᾶς ἐπ’ οὐκ ἔθνει, ἐπ’ ἔθνει ἀσυνέτῳ παροργιῶ ὑμᾶς.
Rom 10:20
Ἠσαΐας δὲ ἀποτολμᾷ καὶ λέγει· Εὑρέθην ἐν τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσιν.
Rom 10:21
πρὸς δὲ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ λέγει· Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου πρὸς λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα.