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The purpose of the law is Christ (1–4). Salvation by grace (5–11). Israel is to blame for its own rejection (12–21). Rom.10:1. Brethren! my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel's salvation. The Apostle now begins to develop and deepen the thought expressed in verses 30-33 of chapter 9. Israel, blinded by its own thoughts of achieving righteousness, did not understand that the goal to which the law led the Jews was Christ and the righteousness of faith that He brought. “Desire” is more correct: benevolence (ευδοκία). Rom.10:2. For I testify to them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to reason. Rom.10:3. For, not understanding the righteousness of God and striving to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God, “Ordain”, that is, to make something obligatory (Cf. Rom. 3:31; Heb. 10:9). - “Own righteousness,” i.e., such as could be obtained as a result of the accomplishment of known deeds and exploits by people themselves (cf. Phil. 3:9 and Rom. 1:17). - “The Righteousness of God,” that is, the divine order of life, to which people must express obedience through faith. Rom.10:4. for the end of the law is Christ, for righteousness to everyone who believes. "Because…" . The Apostle proves by this that the disobedience of the Jews to Christ stemmed from their lack of understanding of the Divine righteousness to which the law testified. The law pointed to Christ; in Christ the righteousness appeared before us, to which the law pointed as an ideal, and it is given to everyone who believes in Christ. The law, correctly understood, was to serve as a guide for the Jews to Christ, so that they could be justified through faith in Him. – Thus, it is more correct to replace the expression “end of the law” with another expression: the purpose of the law, as other interpreters understood this place (I. Zlat., Theodorit, Theophylact). This translation also corresponds to the meaning of the Greek. text of the expression (τέλος νόμου). But how could the law point to Christ as its own end? The law contains the ideal of righteousness. Since this ideal was outlined by God Himself, it must certainly be realized. Meanwhile, people were convinced by their own experience that none of them was able to realize this ideal on their own (Rom. 3:20). Therefore, Christ appeared and fulfilled it. Already on the basis of this, the Apostle could say that Christ is the goal of the law. But this is not enough. The law has not yet fully achieved its purpose when one person carried out its instructions - the law is given for everyone. And so Christ’s righteousness, emanating from Christ, passes on to all who believe in Him. Thus, Christ is the goal of the law in the full sense of the word, and at the same time, perhaps, the end of it, because he finally realizes the goal of the law - the justification of man. Rom.10:5. Moses writes about the righteousness of the law: the man who does it will live by it, The Lawgiver himself, Moses, recognized the attainment of righteousness as an unattainable task, because for this a person had to fulfill all the various requirements of the law. Meanwhile, receiving justification now, with the coming of Christ, seems quite possible, because it requires from a person only firm faith in Christ. Wanting to show the foolishness of the Jews, who stubbornly stood for the previous method of justification - through the fulfillment of the law, the Apostle says that Moses himself considered such a path not leading to the goal, since, according to his statement, life or justification can only be obtained by the person who fulfills all, without exception, the requirements of the law (Lev. 18:5). And that such a fulfillment is beyond the strength of any mortal - this was already shown by the Apostle in his letter to the Romans (Rom. 3:4-20). Rom.10:6. But the righteousness of faith says this: Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend to heaven? that is, to bring Christ together. Rom.10:7. Or who will go down into the abyss? that is, to raise Christ from the dead. On the contrary, the righteousness of faith, which now acts as the savior of man, says this: “Thou shalt not speak.” The Apostle, well aware that Moses could not yet say what the righteousness of faith now says, nevertheless uses his words to express his own thoughts relating to the state of affairs contemporary to him. Moses (Deut. 29:1–30, 10) did not at all claim that keeping the law was an easy matter, but only said that Israel could not justify its crimes by ignorance of the law. He pointed out that Israel does not need to wait for some messenger from heaven, where God dwells, or send overseas to some foreign people, where, perhaps, something is known about the will of God; God Himself already spoke to Israel in the law, He Himself declared His will to them (Deut. 6:6–9, 20–25, 30 et seq.). The Apostle uses the expressions of Moses in a different sense. He says that the one who asks: “Who will ascend to heaven?” thereby “bringing Christ down from heaven.” The expression "that is" denotes the opinion or view, the intention with which the question is asked. The Jew who does not believe in Christ, whom the Apostle refers to here, believes that the Messiah has not yet appeared, but will appear later, perhaps from heaven, or perhaps from the underworld (the abyss is used here in the sense of the underworld, cf. Luke 8:31; Rev 11:7, 20:1, 3). But to say this means repeating the same crime as was committed by the ancient Jews, who did not see in the law a completely sufficient explanation of the will of God. Rom.10:8. But what does Scripture say? The word is close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith that we preach. “But what does Scripture say?” According to the best codes it reads: “but what does it say?” (i.e. this righteousness is from faith). Here righteousness from faith already gives a positive explanation of the matter. The Apostle, however, here too puts his answer in the form of the speech of Moses (Deut. 30:14): “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” But the Apostle, instead of saying that the Messiah had already appeared and lived on earth and thereby finding out how “near the word” was for unbelieving Jews, says, in explanation of this closeness, that the preaching of the apostles about the coming Messiah is already being heard (cf. Rom. 1:3). He does this in view of the fact that for unbelieving Jews Christ is no different from other people who have died and are in the underworld. On earth, He appears to them in the word of the sermon, which is heard from the lips of the apostles. And this preaching is the word of faith in contrast to the law of works (cf. Rom. 3:27; Gal 3:2). It announces the completion of redemption, the perception of which requires nothing more than faith, whereas the law has always required works from the person himself. And this word of faith is incomparably closer to the listeners than the teaching of the Law of Moses, because the path from hearing the apostolic preaching to faith and confession is much closer than the path from hearing the commandments of the Law of Moses to their complete fulfillment. Rom.10:9. For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, This is the last word of righteousness from faith, with which it now addresses the unbelieving Jew. Since the speech here is addressed to an unbelieving Jew, the Apostle especially emphasizes the need for faith in the resurrection of Christ (cf. Acts 1:22, 2:32, 3:13–15). Rom.10:10. because with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation. Here the Apostle himself speaks, explaining the above requirement, which is expressed by the mouth of the righteousness of faith. He distinguishes here between the righteousness or justification received upon entry into the Church of Christ, and the final salvation that will be given to believers at the second coming of Christ to earth. The first is achieved only by heartfelt, sincere acceptance of the Gospel (heart), and the second by the firm confession of Christ before His enemies that continues throughout the life of a Christian (cf. Matthew 10:32; 2 Cor 4:13). Rom.10:11. For the Scripture says: Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame. And the Old Testament, through the mouth of the prophets (Is. 28:16 and Joel. 2:32), expressed the conviction that all people will receive final salvation only through faith and prayer, which must be addressed to the One Lord of all - Jesus Christ, Who, as stated above, is “the blessed God” (Rom. 9:5). Rom.10:12. There is no difference here between Jew and Greek, because there is one Lord of all, rich for all who call on Him. “One Lord” is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of all people who call on Him (John Chrysostom). – “Rich” – of course, by grace and salvation (cf. Rom. 5:15, 11:33; 2 Cor. 13:13). - “Those who call upon Him.” As can be seen from what follows, the Apostle does not make any distinction between the calling of Christ and the calling of God. Rom.10:13. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. What Joel says about God (Joel 2:32, according to the Greek text LXX), the Apostle relates directly to Christ. Next, a place from the book. The prophet Joel has, according to the apostle, a messianic meaning. Rom.10:14. But how can we call upon Him in whom we have not believed? How can one believe in Him of whom one has not heard? How to hear without a preacher? But in order to believe in the Savior as the Lord, it was necessary to hear a sermon about Him. Preachers or messengers about Christ had to appear, who certainly had to have authority from God for this matter. Thus, it means that it was the will of God that the sermon about salvation through faith was preached to the Jews. If the Jews turned out to be inattentive to this sermon, then there is nothing to be embarrassed about: the own prophets of the Jewish people foresaw and predicted this unbelief of the Jews, as well as the conversion of the pagans to Christ. Israel obviously did not want to believe in Christ and, thus, is itself to blame for its rejection. Rom.10:15. And how can we preach if they are not sent? as it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings of peace! Rom.10:16. But not everyone obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says: Lord! who believed what they heard from us? Rom.10:17. So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. “From the word of God,” that is, from the command of the Divine (Luke 3:2; Heb. 11:3). Rom.10:18. But I ask: didn’t they hear? On the contrary, their voice went through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In Ps. 18 speaks primarily of the revelation of God in nature, but the Apostle had every reason to apply these words to the revelations of God in general, and therefore to the New Testament preaching about salvation. Rom.10:19. I also ask: didn’t Israel know? But the first Moses says: I will arouse jealousy in you because of no people, I will provoke you to anger because of a foolish people. “Didn’t Israel know?” i.e., “didn’t the Jews really understand the message of salvation through faith?” The answer to this question must be given by the readers themselves, and this answer is clear: yes, they did not understand the Gospel! The pagans understood, but the Jews did not, and in this the prediction of Moses came true (Deut. 32:21). Rom.10:20. And Isaiah boldly says: Those who did not seek Me found Me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask about Me. Rom.10:21. Of Israel he says: All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and stubborn people. Why didn't the Jews understand the Gospel? Because they are a disobedient people and stubborn in their unbelief. They did not want to believe, as the prophet Isaiah prophesied about this, prophesied boldly, without fear of the anger of the people, who jealously guarded their rights to the Kingdom of the Messiah. You might be interested in: