Romans VerseQuest Commentary Essay 67: The Word Is Nigh Thee Text: Romans 10:5–8
Introduction
Romans 10:5–8 says, “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.” Paul has just declared that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Now he proves the contrast between law-righteousness and faith-righteousness. He does not leave the subject hanging in the air like a religious slogan. He reaches back to Moses and shows the principle of the law: “the man which doeth those things shall live by them.” Then he turns to the righteousness of faith and shows that salvation is not obtained by climbing into heaven, descending into the deep, or performing impossible religious feats. Christ has already come down. Christ has already risen from the dead. The word of faith brings the message near to the sinner.
This passage cuts the legs off every religion that turns salvation into a heroic expedition. The flesh loves impossible quests because impossible quests leave room for boasting, striving, priestcraft, mystery, and religious control. Climb this mountain. Enter this system. Keep this ceremony. Perform this vow. Submit to this institution. Pay this price. Follow this ladder. Search the heavens. Descend into the abyss. Find the hidden key. The Bible says the righteousness of faith does not speak that way. It does not tell the sinner to launch an expedition into heaven to bring Christ down, nor to descend into the deep to bring Christ up from the dead. Christ has already been manifested in the flesh. Christ has already died for sins. Christ has already risen again. The sinner does not need to storm heaven or raid the grave. He needs to believe the word of faith preached.
Romans 10:5–8 also reveals the mercy of God in preaching. The gospel brings Christ near. The message is not locked behind a veil for religious elites, buried in a crypt for monks, hidden in Latin, guarded by priests, encoded in sacraments, or reserved for those with enough merit to purchase access. “The word is nigh thee.” Near in the mouth. Near in the heart. Near in the preached word. The righteousness of faith does not demand that the sinner accomplish what only Christ could accomplish. It announces that Christ has accomplished it and calls the sinner to believe. Religion says, “Do and climb.” The gospel says, “Christ has done; believe.” Religion sends men on pilgrimages to find righteousness. The word of faith brings righteousness to the door and says, “Christ is nigh thee.”
Chapter One: Moses Describeth the Righteousness Which Is of the Law
Paul begins, “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law.” That means Paul is not inventing a caricature of the law. He lets Moses speak. The law had its own principle, and Paul states it plainly from the Old Testament. This is important because the law was not evil, corrupt, or defective. Romans 7 already said, “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” The problem was never that God gave Israel a bad law. The problem was that fallen flesh could not produce righteousness by law-keeping. The law revealed God’s standard; it did not regenerate the sinner. It showed the height of righteousness; it did not give Adam’s sons the wings to reach it.
“Moses describeth” also reminds us that Paul’s doctrine is not anti-Moses. Paul is not throwing Moses into the ditch to make room for Christ. Moses himself testified to a principle that condemned every sinner who tried to live by law-righteousness. The law demanded doing. Not admiring. Not discussing. Not partially attempting. Not sincerely preferring. Doing. The man under that system had to continue in all things written in the book of the law to do them. Galatians 3:10 says, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” The law does not give trophies for effort. It demands obedience.
This is where religious pride begins to sweat. Men love the idea of law until the law speaks with God’s voice. They imagine commandments as a manageable checklist, a spiritual merit badge program, a way to stand taller than the sinner down the street. But Moses does not describe a vague righteousness of good intentions. He describes the righteousness of the law in terms of doing. The law says, “Do this and live.” The sinner says, “I tried.” The law says, “Not enough.” The sinner says, “I meant well.” The law says, “Not enough.” The sinner says, “I did better than others.” The law says, “Not enough.” Law-righteousness has no mercy counter at the exit.
Chapter Two: The Man Which Doeth Those Things Shall Live by Them
Paul quotes the principle: “That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.” The emphasis is on doing. Law-righteousness rests upon personal performance under the commandment. If a man could perfectly do what the law required, he would live by that obedience. But the catch is not hidden in small print. The man must do those things. He must not merely respect them, teach them, memorize them, defend them, or claim them as national heritage. He must do them. The law is not impressed by a man’s family tree, religious vocabulary, or emotional sincerity. It asks whether he obeyed.
Leviticus 18:5 says, “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them.” That is the principle Paul cites. The law speaks in terms of keeping, doing, living. But sinners do not keep, do, and live perfectly. They transgress, fail, covet, lie, lust, envy, rebel, neglect, and break God’s commandments in thought, word, and deed. James 2:10 says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” One offence breaks the law’s claim to life by personal obedience. The chain does not need every link broken before it fails. One broken link drops the man.
This does not mean the law was useless. It means the law was never a sinner’s ladder into justification. Romans 3:20 says, “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” The law functions like a mirror, not a bath. It shows the dirt; it does not wash it away. It functions like a measuring rod, not a carpenter’s hand. It shows the crookedness; it does not straighten the board. It functions like a diagnosis, not the blood cure. It exposes the disease; it does not become the remedy. The man who tries to live by law-righteousness must do all the law requires. The sinner who knows himself stops boasting and looks for mercy.
Chapter Three: The Righteousness Which Is of Faith Speaketh
Paul then says, “But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise.” Notice that faith-righteousness speaks differently. It has another voice. Law says, “Do.” Faith says, “Believe.” Law says, “Perform and live.” Faith says, “Christ has performed; receive life in Him.” Law says, “Climb under the demand.” Faith says, “Rest in the finished work.” These are not two slightly different religious accents. They are two different principles. Confuse them, and you will either turn the gospel into law or turn faith into a work dressed in evangelical clothing.
The righteousness of faith is not silent, mystical, or hidden in religious fog. It speaks. It speaks in Scripture. It speaks in preaching. It speaks in the gospel. It announces what God has done in Christ. This is why the word matters. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. A man is not saved by staring into his own heart until he feels religious electricity. He is saved by believing God’s testimony concerning Jesus Christ. Faith must have a word from God to stand on. Without the word, faith becomes imagination wearing church clothes. The righteousness of faith speaks because God has spoken.
Paul is drawing from Deuteronomy 30, where Moses says the commandment was not hidden, not far off, not in heaven, not beyond the sea, but very nigh, in the mouth and in the heart. Paul, by the Holy Ghost, applies that language to the word of faith preached concerning Christ. He does not butcher Moses. He shows the deeper gospel use of the same principle: God’s word is brought near; man is responsible to receive it. The sinner does not need a heavenly expedition or an abyssal rescue mission. He needs the word God has put near him. The righteousness of faith does not ask man to accomplish redemption. It announces the Redeemer.
Chapter Four: Say Not in Thine Heart
Paul says, “Say not in thine heart.” The issue is not merely what a man says out loud, but what unbelief says inwardly. The heart is a factory of excuses. It manufactures objections, delays, evasions, conditions, and impossible demands. It says, “If only I could see more. If only I could feel more. If only God would do something extraordinary. If only Christ would appear personally. If only I could climb higher. If only I could search deeper.” The righteousness of faith tells the heart to stop talking that way. Unbelief often disguises itself as a demand for more evidence when the real problem is refusal to believe the evidence God has already given.
“Say not in thine heart” also exposes the arrogance of making salvation depend on some grand religious feat. The heart imagines distance between the sinner and Christ that God has already answered by the gospel. It wants to turn faith into a heroic journey because the flesh would rather attempt the impossible than bow to the simple word of God. The heart says, “Who shall ascend?” or “Who shall descend?” because it wants a quest. The gospel says, “The word is nigh thee.” That is too humbling for the flesh. The flesh would rather climb a thousand stairs and sign its name on the summit than receive righteousness by faith like a beggar receiving bread.
The heart must be corrected by revelation. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Therefore salvation cannot be governed by the heart’s speculations. It must be governed by God’s word. The sinner must not ask his heart to design the way of righteousness. His heart will build a religion where man does something impressive and God applauds. The gospel takes the blueprint out of the sinner’s hand and points to Christ. The heart says, “Make a journey.” God says, “Hear the word.” The heart says, “Do the impossible.” God says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Chapter Five: Who Shall Ascend Into Heaven?
Paul gives the first forbidden question: “Who shall ascend into heaven?” Then he explains, “that is, to bring Christ down from above.” The righteousness of faith does not speak as though Christ still needs to be brought down. The incarnation has already happened. John 1:14 says, “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” First Timothy 3:16 says, “God was manifest in the flesh.” Christ came down from heaven. He did not wait for sinners to climb up and fetch Him. No religious climber scaled the heights of glory and persuaded the Son of God to become man. God sent His Son.
This destroys every religion that makes salvation depend upon man reaching God by ascent. Men have always wanted towers to heaven. Babel was not merely architecture; it was theology with bricks. “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven.” That is the spirit of man-made religion. Build upward. Climb upward. Achieve upward. Rise by effort, ritual, philosophy, mysticism, sacrament, meditation, morality, or secret knowledge. But the gospel says Christ came down. Salvation is not man ascending into heaven to reach God. It is God coming down in the person of Jesus Christ to save sinners who could not reach Him.
To ask “Who shall ascend into heaven?” in this context is to speak as though the work of bringing Christ near has not been done. That is unbelief. Christ is not far away waiting for human heroes to retrieve Him. He came through the virgin womb, walked among men, fulfilled the law, revealed the Father, and set His face toward the cross. The ladder religion wants man to climb has been replaced by the Saviour who came down. Jacob saw a ladder in Genesis; John 1:51 shows the Son of man as the true connection between heaven and earth. The gospel is not a ladder for sinners to climb. It is Christ come down to sinners who could not climb.
Chapter Six: Who Shall Descend Into the Deep?
Paul gives the second forbidden question: “Or, Who shall descend into the deep?” Then he explains, “that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.” The righteousness of faith does not speak as though Christ still needs to be raised. The resurrection has already happened. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried. He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. The empty tomb is not a task awaiting religious completion. It is a fact to be preached and believed. No sinner descends into the deep to rescue Christ. Christ came out of death by the power of God.
“The deep” points downward, to the realm associated with death and the grave. Men cannot conquer that realm. They cannot retrieve themselves from death, much less bring up the Redeemer. Death is too strong for Adam’s race. Graveyards are full of men who had plans. Kings, scholars, athletes, priests, soldiers, merchants, and beggars all go down. The strongest man cannot punch a hole through the coffin from the inside after death has finished its work. If salvation required man to descend into the deep and bring Christ up, every sinner would be lost forever. But the gospel says Christ is risen. Death could not hold Him.
This also rebukes religious systems that act as though Christ’s finished work must be continually repeated, supplemented, or made effective by human priestcraft. Christ does not need to be brought up again. He is risen. He does not need to be sacrificed again. Hebrews 10:12 says, “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.” A seated Saviour does not need a priest on earth pretending to complete what He finished. The word of faith preaches a Christ who came down, died, rose, and lives. Religion says, “We must bring Him near.” The gospel says, “He has come, He has risen, and the word is nigh thee.”
Chapter Seven: The Word of Faith Which We Preach
Paul asks, “But what saith it?” Then he answers, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.” Here is the nearness of the gospel. The sinner does not need to climb into heaven or descend into the deep because the word has been brought near. The word of faith is preached. Christ is presented in the gospel. His incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, and righteousness are proclaimed. God has chosen preaching as the means by which the message comes near to sinners. That is why preaching is not religious entertainment. It is heaven’s announcement brought to earth’s guilty ears.
“In thy mouth, and in thy heart” prepares the way for Romans 10:9–10, where confession with the mouth and belief in the heart are set forth in relation to salvation. The word is not far off in an unreachable region. It is brought close enough to be believed in the heart and confessed with the mouth. This is not salvation by a magic phrase or empty verbal formula. It is the nearness of the gospel message, received by faith. The word enters the heart by hearing and is confessed by the mouth because faith is not ashamed of Christ. The gospel does not demand an impossible expedition. It demands a believing response to the preached word.
“That is, the word of faith, which we preach” is Paul’s identification of the message. This is not faith in law-keeping, faith in self, faith in a church system, faith in sacraments, faith in feelings, faith in ancestral religion, or faith in human effort. It is the word of faith preached by the apostle: Christ came, Christ died, Christ rose, Christ is Lord, Christ gives righteousness to every one that believeth. That preached word brings Christ near to the sinner. A man does not need to search the galaxies or dig through the underworld. He needs to stop arguing, stop climbing, stop descending, stop establishing his own righteousness, and believe the word God has put near him.
Conclusion
Romans 10:5–8 contrasts the righteousness of the law with the righteousness of faith. Moses describes law-righteousness with the principle, “That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.” That principle is righteous, but it condemns fallen man because fallen man does not do all that the law requires. The law exposes the sinner’s inability and shuts his mouth. It cannot become the sinner’s ladder into justification. The man who tries to live by law must do the law, and one transgression proves he cannot stand on that ground.
The righteousness of faith speaks differently. It does not tell the sinner to ascend into heaven to bring Christ down or descend into the deep to bring Christ up from the dead. Christ has already come down. Christ has already died. Christ has already risen. Salvation is not obtained by heroic religious exploration, impossible spiritual feats, priestly machinery, mystical ascent, or moral climbing. The work that saves is Christ’s work, not the sinner’s expedition. The gospel does not send man to retrieve Christ. It preaches Christ already given, crucified, risen, and near in the word of faith.
Therefore the word is nigh thee. That is the mercy of gospel preaching. God brings the message close to the sinner’s mouth and heart. The word of faith which Paul preached announces the finished work of Christ and calls sinners to believe. Religion says righteousness is far away and must be reached by effort. The gospel says Christ has come near by the preached word. The sinner does not need a ladder into heaven or a rope into the deep. He needs the righteousness of God in Christ. The word is nigh thee, and that nearness leaves no room for boasting, no excuse for unbelief, and no need for man-made religion to pretend it can do what Christ has already done.
Romans 10:5–8 Commentary – The Word Is Nigh Thee
The Word Is Nigh Thee
Key Passage: Romans 10:5–8
Romans VerseQuest Commentary
Essay 67: The Word Is Nigh Thee
Text: Romans 10:5–8
Introduction
Romans 10:5–8 says, “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.” Paul has just declared that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Now he proves the contrast between law-righteousness and faith-righteousness. He does not leave the subject hanging in the air like a religious slogan. He reaches back to Moses and shows the principle of the law: “the man which doeth those things shall live by them.” Then he turns to the righteousness of faith and shows that salvation is not obtained by climbing into heaven, descending into the deep, or performing impossible religious feats. Christ has already come down. Christ has already risen from the dead. The word of faith brings the message near to the sinner.
This passage cuts the legs off every religion that turns salvation into a heroic expedition. The flesh loves impossible quests because impossible quests leave room for boasting, striving, priestcraft, mystery, and religious control. Climb this mountain. Enter this system. Keep this ceremony. Perform this vow. Submit to this institution. Pay this price. Follow this ladder. Search the heavens. Descend into the abyss. Find the hidden key. The Bible says the righteousness of faith does not speak that way. It does not tell the sinner to launch an expedition into heaven to bring Christ down, nor to descend into the deep to bring Christ up from the dead. Christ has already been manifested in the flesh. Christ has already died for sins. Christ has already risen again. The sinner does not need to storm heaven or raid the grave. He needs to believe the word of faith preached.
Romans 10:5–8 also reveals the mercy of God in preaching. The gospel brings Christ near. The message is not locked behind a veil for religious elites, buried in a crypt for monks, hidden in Latin, guarded by priests, encoded in sacraments, or reserved for those with enough merit to purchase access. “The word is nigh thee.” Near in the mouth. Near in the heart. Near in the preached word. The righteousness of faith does not demand that the sinner accomplish what only Christ could accomplish. It announces that Christ has accomplished it and calls the sinner to believe. Religion says, “Do and climb.” The gospel says, “Christ has done; believe.” Religion sends men on pilgrimages to find righteousness. The word of faith brings righteousness to the door and says, “Christ is nigh thee.”
Chapter One: Moses Describeth the Righteousness Which Is of the Law
Paul begins, “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law.” That means Paul is not inventing a caricature of the law. He lets Moses speak. The law had its own principle, and Paul states it plainly from the Old Testament. This is important because the law was not evil, corrupt, or defective. Romans 7 already said, “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” The problem was never that God gave Israel a bad law. The problem was that fallen flesh could not produce righteousness by law-keeping. The law revealed God’s standard; it did not regenerate the sinner. It showed the height of righteousness; it did not give Adam’s sons the wings to reach it.
“Moses describeth” also reminds us that Paul’s doctrine is not anti-Moses. Paul is not throwing Moses into the ditch to make room for Christ. Moses himself testified to a principle that condemned every sinner who tried to live by law-righteousness. The law demanded doing. Not admiring. Not discussing. Not partially attempting. Not sincerely preferring. Doing. The man under that system had to continue in all things written in the book of the law to do them. Galatians 3:10 says, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” The law does not give trophies for effort. It demands obedience.
This is where religious pride begins to sweat. Men love the idea of law until the law speaks with God’s voice. They imagine commandments as a manageable checklist, a spiritual merit badge program, a way to stand taller than the sinner down the street. But Moses does not describe a vague righteousness of good intentions. He describes the righteousness of the law in terms of doing. The law says, “Do this and live.” The sinner says, “I tried.” The law says, “Not enough.” The sinner says, “I meant well.” The law says, “Not enough.” The sinner says, “I did better than others.” The law says, “Not enough.” Law-righteousness has no mercy counter at the exit.
Chapter Two: The Man Which Doeth Those Things Shall Live by Them
Paul quotes the principle: “That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.” The emphasis is on doing. Law-righteousness rests upon personal performance under the commandment. If a man could perfectly do what the law required, he would live by that obedience. But the catch is not hidden in small print. The man must do those things. He must not merely respect them, teach them, memorize them, defend them, or claim them as national heritage. He must do them. The law is not impressed by a man’s family tree, religious vocabulary, or emotional sincerity. It asks whether he obeyed.
Leviticus 18:5 says, “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them.” That is the principle Paul cites. The law speaks in terms of keeping, doing, living. But sinners do not keep, do, and live perfectly. They transgress, fail, covet, lie, lust, envy, rebel, neglect, and break God’s commandments in thought, word, and deed. James 2:10 says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” One offence breaks the law’s claim to life by personal obedience. The chain does not need every link broken before it fails. One broken link drops the man.
This does not mean the law was useless. It means the law was never a sinner’s ladder into justification. Romans 3:20 says, “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” The law functions like a mirror, not a bath. It shows the dirt; it does not wash it away. It functions like a measuring rod, not a carpenter’s hand. It shows the crookedness; it does not straighten the board. It functions like a diagnosis, not the blood cure. It exposes the disease; it does not become the remedy. The man who tries to live by law-righteousness must do all the law requires. The sinner who knows himself stops boasting and looks for mercy.
Chapter Three: The Righteousness Which Is of Faith Speaketh
Paul then says, “But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise.” Notice that faith-righteousness speaks differently. It has another voice. Law says, “Do.” Faith says, “Believe.” Law says, “Perform and live.” Faith says, “Christ has performed; receive life in Him.” Law says, “Climb under the demand.” Faith says, “Rest in the finished work.” These are not two slightly different religious accents. They are two different principles. Confuse them, and you will either turn the gospel into law or turn faith into a work dressed in evangelical clothing.
The righteousness of faith is not silent, mystical, or hidden in religious fog. It speaks. It speaks in Scripture. It speaks in preaching. It speaks in the gospel. It announces what God has done in Christ. This is why the word matters. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. A man is not saved by staring into his own heart until he feels religious electricity. He is saved by believing God’s testimony concerning Jesus Christ. Faith must have a word from God to stand on. Without the word, faith becomes imagination wearing church clothes. The righteousness of faith speaks because God has spoken.
Paul is drawing from Deuteronomy 30, where Moses says the commandment was not hidden, not far off, not in heaven, not beyond the sea, but very nigh, in the mouth and in the heart. Paul, by the Holy Ghost, applies that language to the word of faith preached concerning Christ. He does not butcher Moses. He shows the deeper gospel use of the same principle: God’s word is brought near; man is responsible to receive it. The sinner does not need a heavenly expedition or an abyssal rescue mission. He needs the word God has put near him. The righteousness of faith does not ask man to accomplish redemption. It announces the Redeemer.
Chapter Four: Say Not in Thine Heart
Paul says, “Say not in thine heart.” The issue is not merely what a man says out loud, but what unbelief says inwardly. The heart is a factory of excuses. It manufactures objections, delays, evasions, conditions, and impossible demands. It says, “If only I could see more. If only I could feel more. If only God would do something extraordinary. If only Christ would appear personally. If only I could climb higher. If only I could search deeper.” The righteousness of faith tells the heart to stop talking that way. Unbelief often disguises itself as a demand for more evidence when the real problem is refusal to believe the evidence God has already given.
“Say not in thine heart” also exposes the arrogance of making salvation depend on some grand religious feat. The heart imagines distance between the sinner and Christ that God has already answered by the gospel. It wants to turn faith into a heroic journey because the flesh would rather attempt the impossible than bow to the simple word of God. The heart says, “Who shall ascend?” or “Who shall descend?” because it wants a quest. The gospel says, “The word is nigh thee.” That is too humbling for the flesh. The flesh would rather climb a thousand stairs and sign its name on the summit than receive righteousness by faith like a beggar receiving bread.
The heart must be corrected by revelation. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Therefore salvation cannot be governed by the heart’s speculations. It must be governed by God’s word. The sinner must not ask his heart to design the way of righteousness. His heart will build a religion where man does something impressive and God applauds. The gospel takes the blueprint out of the sinner’s hand and points to Christ. The heart says, “Make a journey.” God says, “Hear the word.” The heart says, “Do the impossible.” God says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Chapter Five: Who Shall Ascend Into Heaven?
Paul gives the first forbidden question: “Who shall ascend into heaven?” Then he explains, “that is, to bring Christ down from above.” The righteousness of faith does not speak as though Christ still needs to be brought down. The incarnation has already happened. John 1:14 says, “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” First Timothy 3:16 says, “God was manifest in the flesh.” Christ came down from heaven. He did not wait for sinners to climb up and fetch Him. No religious climber scaled the heights of glory and persuaded the Son of God to become man. God sent His Son.
This destroys every religion that makes salvation depend upon man reaching God by ascent. Men have always wanted towers to heaven. Babel was not merely architecture; it was theology with bricks. “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven.” That is the spirit of man-made religion. Build upward. Climb upward. Achieve upward. Rise by effort, ritual, philosophy, mysticism, sacrament, meditation, morality, or secret knowledge. But the gospel says Christ came down. Salvation is not man ascending into heaven to reach God. It is God coming down in the person of Jesus Christ to save sinners who could not reach Him.
To ask “Who shall ascend into heaven?” in this context is to speak as though the work of bringing Christ near has not been done. That is unbelief. Christ is not far away waiting for human heroes to retrieve Him. He came through the virgin womb, walked among men, fulfilled the law, revealed the Father, and set His face toward the cross. The ladder religion wants man to climb has been replaced by the Saviour who came down. Jacob saw a ladder in Genesis; John 1:51 shows the Son of man as the true connection between heaven and earth. The gospel is not a ladder for sinners to climb. It is Christ come down to sinners who could not climb.
Chapter Six: Who Shall Descend Into the Deep?
Paul gives the second forbidden question: “Or, Who shall descend into the deep?” Then he explains, “that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.” The righteousness of faith does not speak as though Christ still needs to be raised. The resurrection has already happened. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried. He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. The empty tomb is not a task awaiting religious completion. It is a fact to be preached and believed. No sinner descends into the deep to rescue Christ. Christ came out of death by the power of God.
“The deep” points downward, to the realm associated with death and the grave. Men cannot conquer that realm. They cannot retrieve themselves from death, much less bring up the Redeemer. Death is too strong for Adam’s race. Graveyards are full of men who had plans. Kings, scholars, athletes, priests, soldiers, merchants, and beggars all go down. The strongest man cannot punch a hole through the coffin from the inside after death has finished its work. If salvation required man to descend into the deep and bring Christ up, every sinner would be lost forever. But the gospel says Christ is risen. Death could not hold Him.
This also rebukes religious systems that act as though Christ’s finished work must be continually repeated, supplemented, or made effective by human priestcraft. Christ does not need to be brought up again. He is risen. He does not need to be sacrificed again. Hebrews 10:12 says, “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.” A seated Saviour does not need a priest on earth pretending to complete what He finished. The word of faith preaches a Christ who came down, died, rose, and lives. Religion says, “We must bring Him near.” The gospel says, “He has come, He has risen, and the word is nigh thee.”
Chapter Seven: The Word of Faith Which We Preach
Paul asks, “But what saith it?” Then he answers, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.” Here is the nearness of the gospel. The sinner does not need to climb into heaven or descend into the deep because the word has been brought near. The word of faith is preached. Christ is presented in the gospel. His incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, and righteousness are proclaimed. God has chosen preaching as the means by which the message comes near to sinners. That is why preaching is not religious entertainment. It is heaven’s announcement brought to earth’s guilty ears.
“In thy mouth, and in thy heart” prepares the way for Romans 10:9–10, where confession with the mouth and belief in the heart are set forth in relation to salvation. The word is not far off in an unreachable region. It is brought close enough to be believed in the heart and confessed with the mouth. This is not salvation by a magic phrase or empty verbal formula. It is the nearness of the gospel message, received by faith. The word enters the heart by hearing and is confessed by the mouth because faith is not ashamed of Christ. The gospel does not demand an impossible expedition. It demands a believing response to the preached word.
“That is, the word of faith, which we preach” is Paul’s identification of the message. This is not faith in law-keeping, faith in self, faith in a church system, faith in sacraments, faith in feelings, faith in ancestral religion, or faith in human effort. It is the word of faith preached by the apostle: Christ came, Christ died, Christ rose, Christ is Lord, Christ gives righteousness to every one that believeth. That preached word brings Christ near to the sinner. A man does not need to search the galaxies or dig through the underworld. He needs to stop arguing, stop climbing, stop descending, stop establishing his own righteousness, and believe the word God has put near him.
Conclusion
Romans 10:5–8 contrasts the righteousness of the law with the righteousness of faith. Moses describes law-righteousness with the principle, “That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.” That principle is righteous, but it condemns fallen man because fallen man does not do all that the law requires. The law exposes the sinner’s inability and shuts his mouth. It cannot become the sinner’s ladder into justification. The man who tries to live by law must do the law, and one transgression proves he cannot stand on that ground.
The righteousness of faith speaks differently. It does not tell the sinner to ascend into heaven to bring Christ down or descend into the deep to bring Christ up from the dead. Christ has already come down. Christ has already died. Christ has already risen. Salvation is not obtained by heroic religious exploration, impossible spiritual feats, priestly machinery, mystical ascent, or moral climbing. The work that saves is Christ’s work, not the sinner’s expedition. The gospel does not send man to retrieve Christ. It preaches Christ already given, crucified, risen, and near in the word of faith.
Therefore the word is nigh thee. That is the mercy of gospel preaching. God brings the message close to the sinner’s mouth and heart. The word of faith which Paul preached announces the finished work of Christ and calls sinners to believe. Religion says righteousness is far away and must be reached by effort. The gospel says Christ has come near by the preached word. The sinner does not need a ladder into heaven or a rope into the deep. He needs the righteousness of God in Christ. The word is nigh thee, and that nearness leaves no room for boasting, no excuse for unbelief, and no need for man-made religion to pretend it can do what Christ has already done.
Romans Verse-by-Verse Commentary
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Romans 1:1 Commentary – Paul, a Servant of Jesus Christ
Romans 1:2-4 Commentary – The Gospel Promised Beforehand
Romans 1:5–7 Commentary – Grace, Apostleship, and Obedience to the Faith