Romans 10:1–10

Since Paul wants to liberate the Jews from the law, which is a veil over their faces, but does not want to appear to desire this out of any hatred for Judaism, he shows his love for them and says many good things about the law. But he teaches that the time for obeying the law has come to an end and by doing this bears witness that he is concerned for them, if only they will listen to him and not assume that he is their enemy.

Here Paul begins to speak of his hope for the Jews, lest the Gentiles in their turn become condescending toward them. For just as the pride of the Jews had to be countered because they gloried in their works, so also with the Gentiles, lest they become proud at having been preferred over the Jews.

He is now going again to rebuke them more vehemently than before. Wherefore he again does away with every suspicion of hatred, and makes a great effort beforehand to correct misapprehension. Do not then, he says, mind words or accusations, but observe that it is not in any hostile spirit that I say this. For it is not likely that the same person should desire their salvation, and not desire it only, but even pray for it, and yet should also hate them, and feel aversion to them. For here he calls his exceeding desire, and the prayer which he makes, "heart's desire." For it is not the being freed from punishment only, but that they may also be saved, that he makes so great a point of, and prays for. Nor is it from this only, but also from the sequel that he shows the goodwill that he hath towards them. For from what is open to him, as far as he can, he forces his way, and is contentious to find out some shadow at least of an excuse for them. And he hath not the power, being overcome by the nature of the facts.

Here Paul shows that he prays for his enemies not only with the tongue but also with the heart.

Having intended to strike a blow against the Jews, he prefaces it with a brief word, lest they think that his subsequent speech proceeds from hostility toward them, and he speaks of the "desire of the heart," that is, of his own wish, of his strong desire, even of his prayer for the Jews, that they might not only be freed from punishment, but also be saved. How then, he says, can I be hostile toward you, when I pray to God for your salvation?

After showing how the gentiles have been called to faith by the election of God's grace and also some of the Jews, i.e., a minority who did not stumble and fall, the Apostle now discusses in more detail the fall of the Jews.

In regard to this he does three things.

First, he explains the cause of their fall, over which he laments; from which he shows the cause of their fall to be miserable;

second, he shows that their fall is not universal, at I say then (Rom 11:1);

third, that it is neither unprofitable nor irreparable, at I say then (Rom 11:1).

In regard to the first he does two things:

first, he shows that their fall is lamentable, considering its cause;

second, that it is not wholly inexcusable, at but I say: have they not heard? (Rom 10:18).

In regard to the first he does two things:

first, he shows that he feels pity for the Jews;

second, the cause of his pity, at for I bear them witness.

First, therefore, he says: I have said that the Jews have not attained the law of justice, because they stumbled over the stumbling block. But I am not indignant against them; rather, I feel compassion. And, therefore, I say to you, brethren, whether you be converts from the gentiles or from the Jews: you are all brethren (Matt 23:8), the will of my heart is for their salvation, namely, that they be saved, as I have been saved: I wish that all were as I myself am (1 Cor 7:7); would to God that all who hear me this day might become such as I am (Acts 26:29). In this he was conformed to God, who desires all men to be saved (1 Tim 2:4).

Not only his will but his prayer is directed to their salvation, but even the affection of his will, hence, he adds: and my prayer to God is for them unto salvation: far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you (1 Sam 12:23); pray for one another that you may be saved (Jas 5:16).

This makes it clear that we should pray for unbelievers that they may be saved, because faith is a gift from God: by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8).

I know that you [Emperor Theodosius I] are God-fearing, merciful, gentle and calm, that you have the faith and fear of God in your heart, but often some things escape our notice. Some people have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. Care must be taken … lest this condition steal upon pious souls.

What would instruction do without love? It would puff up. What would love do without instruction? It would go astray. Indeed they were going astray, those of whom it was said: "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." It does not befit the Bride of the Word to be foolish; moreover, the Father does not tolerate one who is puffed up. For the Father loves the Son, and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of the Word, he always has at hand to cast down and to destroy.

And the same apostle owns that he bears witness to the Jews, "that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." For they did not know and do the will of the law; but what they supposed, that they thought the law wished. And they did not believe the law as prophesying, but the bare word; and they followed through fear, not through disposition and faith. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness," who was prophesied by the law to every one that believeth.

Having once been one of them himself, Paul understood and bore witness that the Jews fought against the gospel out of zeal for God, yet it was a zeal uninformed by true knowledge.

"For I bear them record," says he, "that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." Ought not this then to be a ground for pardoning and not for accusing them? For if it is not of man that they are separated, but through zeal, they deserved to be pitied rather than punished. But observe how adroitly he favors them in the word, and yet shows their unseasonable obstinacy.

If someone has a love for God but does not know that love must be patient, kind, not envious, not acting wrongly, not puffed up, not ambitious, not seeking its own and so on; if he does not have these things in his love but only loves God in his emotions, then it may rightly be said of him that he has a love for God but not according to knowledge.

The Jews are zealous in pursuing the law, but they do not understand that Christ came according to the law and that they cannot be justified by the law. Indeed, it is risky to do something without knowledge, because it often turns out contrary to what was expected.

For," says he, "being ignorant of (the righteousness of) God, and going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God; for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Hereupon we shall be confronted with an argument of the heretic, that the Jews were ignorant of the superior God, since, in opposition to him, they set up their own righteousness-that is, the righteousness of their law-not receiving Christ, the end (or finisher) of the law.

Paul adds criticism to his praise, just as food sometimes contains a hook, so that they might derive some benefit from what he had to say.

At first, he seems to favor and please the Jews, for having said of them: "they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge," he shows that they are worthy more of mercy than of punishment. They are zealous, he says, for the law given to them by God, yet they are zealous not according to understanding, not wishing to recognize that the law has ceased and been abolished.

Then when he says, for I bear them witness, he discloses the cause of his compassion, namely, because they sinned from ignorance, not from set malice.

In regard to this he does three things.

First, he cites their ignorance;

second, he shows the area of their ignorance, at for they, being ignorant of the justice;

third, he proves the truth of those matters about which they were ignorant, at for Moses wrote.

First, therefore, he says: I desire and pray for their salvation and I grieve for them, because I bear them witness that they have a zeal of God, i.e., out of zeal for God they persecute Christ and his members: the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God (John 16:2). He is a good witness to this, because he himself had once been in a similar state of mind: as to zeal a persecutor of the Church (Phil 3:6), but not according to knowledge, namely, because their zeal was not guided by correct knowledge as long as they were ignorant of the truth: therefore, my people go into exile for want of knowledge (Isa 5:13); if anyone does not recognize this, he will not be recognized (1 Cor 14:38).

Paul says that the Jews did not accept Christ because they were mistaken, not because there was any malice on their part.

Paul said this about the Jews who because of their self-confidence rejected grace and as a result did not believe in Christ. The Jews, he says, seek to establish a righteousness of their own that comes from the law, not that the law was established by them but rather that they had placed their righteousness in the law which comes from God by supposing that they were able to fulfill this law by themselves. For they were ignorant of the righteousness of God, not that righteousness whereby God is righteous but the one which comes to man from God.

He does not call the law given by Moses commandments of men, but the traditions of the elders themselves which they had invented, and in upholding which they made the law of God of none effect, and were on this account also not subject to His Word. For this is what Paul says concerning these men: "For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." And how is Christ the end of the law, if He be not also the final Cause of it? For He who has brought in the end has Himself also wrought the beginning; and it is He who does Himself say to Moses, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them;" it being customary from the beginning with the Word of God to ascend and descend for the purpose of saving those who were in affliction.

"For they being ignorant," he says, "of God's righteousness." Again the word would lead to pardon. But the sequel to stronger accusation, and such as does away with defence of any kind. "And going about," he says, "to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." And these things he says to show, that it was from a petulancy and love of power that they erred, rather than from ignorance, and that not even this righteousness from the deeds of the Law did they establish. For saying "going about to establish" is what one would do to show this. And in plain words indeed he has not stated this (for he has not said, that they fell short of both righteousnesses), but he has given a hint of it in a very judicious manner, and with the wisdom so befitting him. For if they are still "going about" to establish that, it is very plain that they have not yet established it. If they have not submitted themselves to this, they have fallen short of this also. But he calls it their "own righteousness," either because the Law was no longer of force, or because it was one of trouble and toil. But this he calls God's righteousness, that from faith, because it comes entirely from the grace from above, and because men are justified in this case, not by labors, but by the gift of God. But they that evermore resisted the Holy Ghost, and vexatiously tried to be justified by the Law, came not over to the faith. But as they did not come over to the faith, nor receive the righteousness thereupon ensuing, and were not able to be justified by the Law either, they were thrown out of all resources.

Because the Jews did not know that God justifies by faith alone and because they thought they were righteous by the works of a law they did not keep, they refused to submit themselves to the forgiveness of sins, to prevent the appearance of having been sinners, as it is written: "But the Pharisees, rejecting God's purpose for themselves, refused to be baptized with John's baptism."

When Paul talks about the Jews' own righteousness he means their inappropriate way of keeping the law. For they were trying to keep something which was already out of date.

But further he shows their passion for disputes and love of authority. They strove to establish their own righteousness, that is, the righteousness from the law, composed of their own deeds and labors, which, having already fallen, cannot stand, and thus they neither established their own righteousness nor submitted to the righteousness of God. This is indeed a sign of self-praise and love of authority, even of foolishness—to strive to establish that which cannot stand, and to spend all one's time in this. The righteousness of God here refers to that which is from faith, which does not depend on our labors, but is entirely a gift of God.

Then when he says, for they, being ignorant, he shows wherein they were ignorant.

First, he makes his statement;

second, he explains it, at for the end of the law is Christ.

First, therefore, he says: I am right in saying that it was not according to knowledge; for being ignorant of the justice of God, i.e., by which God justifies them through faith: the justice of God through faith in Jesus Christ, and seeking to establish their own justice (Rom 3:22), which consists in the works of the law, which in their opinion awaited nothing from God but depended solely on the decision of the performer.

Consequently, he describes their justice as human and not divine, as he says above: if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about before men, but not before God (Rom 4:2).

For they . . . have not submitted themselves to the justice of God, i.e., they refused to be subject to Christ through faith in whom men are made just by God: only in God is my soul at rest (Ps 63:1); that the whole world may be subject to God (Rom 3:19); how long do you refuse to submit to me? (Exod 10:3).

Christ furnishes believers with holy righteousness, because he is "the end of the law," and the law prepared the way for Christ by showing that he was the fulfillment of it, the salvation of mankind.

The second key is the understanding of the Incarnate Word, through whom all things are restored. "All things must be fulfilled that are written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me. Then He opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures." Hence, in the Epistle to the Romans: "Christ is the consummation of the Law unto justice for everyone who believes."

And they did not believe the law as prophesying, but the bare word; and they followed through fear, not through disposition and faith. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness". For so he, who was after the law, Moses, foretold that it was necessary to hear in order that we might, according to the apostle, receive Christ, the fulness of the law.

The Jews did not understand the intention of the law and so failed to practice it. They made up their own version and thought that that was what the law intended. They had no faith in the prophetic power of the law. They followed the bare letter, not the inner meaning—fear, not faith.

Christ fulfilled the law's purpose by granting the righteousness which comes by faith in him to all those who accepted him.

And what saith the Lord to him? "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." "Suffer it to be so now," John; thou art not wiser than I. Thou seest as man; I foreknow as God. It becomes me to do this first, and thus to teach. I engage in nothing unbecoming, for I am invested with honour. Dost thou marvel, O John, that I am not come in my dignity? The purple robe of kings suits not one in private station, but military splendour suits a king: am I come to a prince, and not to a friend? "Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness: "I am the Fulfiller of the law; I seek to leave nothing wanting to its whole fulfilment, that so after me Paul may exclaim, "Christ is the fulfilling of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." Baptize me, John, in order that no one may despise baptism. I am baptized by thee, the servant, that no one among kings or dignitaries may scorn to be baptized by the hand of a poor priest. Suffer me to go down into the Jordan, in order that they may hear my Father's testimony, and recognise the power of the Son. "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." Then at length John suffers Him. "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and the heavens were opened unto Him; and, lo, the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and rested upon Him. And a voice (came) from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

For this is what Paul says concerning these men: "For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." And how is Christ the end of the law, if He be not also the final Cause of it? For He who has brought in the end has Himself also wrought the beginning; and it is He who does Himself say to Moses, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them;" it being customary from the beginning with the Word of God to ascend and descend for the purpose of saving those who were in affliction.

"For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth." See the judgment of Paul. For as he had spoken of a righteousness, and a righteousness, lest they of the Jews which believed should seem to have the one but be excluded from the other, and to be accused of lawlessness (for even these there was no less cause to fear about as being still newly come in), and lest Jews should again expect to achieve it, and should say, Though we have not at present fulfilled it, yet we certainly will fulfil it, see what ground he takes. He shows that there is but one righteousness, and that has its full issue in this, and that he that hath taken to himself this, the one by faith, hath fulfilled that also. But he that rejects this, falls short as well of that also. For if Christ be "the end of the Law," he that hath not Christ, even if he seem to have that righteousness, hath it not. But he that hath Christ, even though he have not fulfilled the Law aright, hath received the whole. For the end of the physician's art is health. As then he that can make whole, even though he hath not the physician's art, hath everything; but he that knows not how to heal, though he seem to be a follower of the art, comes short of everything: so is it in the case of the Law and of faith. He that hath this hath the end of that likewise, but he that is without this is an alien from both. For what was the object of the Law? To make man righteous. But it had not the power, for no one fulfilled it. This then was the end of the Law and to this it looked throughout, and for this all its parts were made, its feasts, and commandments, and sacrifices, and all besides, that man might be justified. But this end Christ gave a fuller accomplishment of through faith. Be not then afraid, he says, as if transgressing the Law in having come over to the faith. For then dost thou transgress it, when for it thou dost not believe Christ. If thou believest in Him, then thou hast fulfilled it also, and much more then it commanded. For thou hast received a much greater righteousness.

There was indeed a time long ago when attention was to be paid to these shadows and figures prescribing abstinence from foods pronounced good in their creation but forbidden by the law. When Christ, "the end of the law," came, he cleared up all the ambiguities of the law and all those things which antiquity had shrouded in mystery.

Christ is the end of the law, but only for those who believe. Those who do not believe and who do not have Christ do not have the end of the law and therefore cannot come to justification.

On the day that one believes in Christ it is as if one has fulfilled the whole law.

This does not mean that Christ is a part of the law but rather that he is the beginning of a new life. The law has come to an end; it has ceased.

Since he truly called the righteousness that is from the law a righteousness, then lest, on the one hand, those who believed from among the Jews should say: so then we became transgressors when we abandoned this righteousness, and on the other hand, lest those who did not believe could say that although they have not now fulfilled the righteousness according to the law, they can perfectly fulfill it afterward, the apostle, removing both thoughts, says: "Christ is the end of the law." What the law desired and did not accomplish, Christ accomplished, that is, the justification of man. Therefore do not say, O believer from among the Jews, that you became a transgressor of the law; on the contrary, you have come to know the will of the law, which was fulfilled through faith in Christ. On the other hand, you too, O Jew who has not yet believed, do not hope to fulfill the righteousness of the law by yourself: its fulfiller is Christ. Therefore, if you wish to obtain righteousness, receive Christ by faith and you will have everything.

Then when he says, for the end of the law is Christ, he explains what he had said, namely, that they are ignorant of God's justice and refuse to submit to him, while they seek to establish their own justice based on the law.

In regard to this it should be noted that, even as the philosophers say, the intention of any lawgiver is to make men virtuous: much more, then, the old law given by God to men was directed toward making men virtuous.

But the law was unable to do this of itself, because the law made no one perfect (Heb 7:19); rather, it ordained men to Christ whom it promised and prefigured: the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith (Gal 3:24). And that is what he says, namely, that the end of the law is Christ, to whom the whole law is ordained: I have seen the end of all perfection (Ps 119:96); the end that through Christ men may attain the justice the law intended: for God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us (Rom 8:3). And this to everyone who believes, because he justified his own by faith: to all who believed in his name he gave power to become children of God (John 1:12).

Paul says this because the righteousness of the law of Moses did not make people guilty as long as they kept it.

Paul says that the man who fulfilled the law would enjoy the good things promised by it, that is to say, "a land flowing with milk and honey."

Comparing the law with the glory of grace, Paul says that even Moses could not have been justified by the law unless he fulfilled all the commandments of the law.

Scripture says not that he will find life through the law, in the sense that through it he will live in heaven but that he will find life through it to the extent that what he will reap what he deserves in this world.

"For Moses," he says, "describeth the righteousness which is of the Law." What he means is this. Moses showeth us the righteousness ensuing from the Law, what sort it is of, and whence. What sort is it then of, and what does it consist in? In fulfilling the commandments. "He (the man), that doeth these things," He says, "shall live by (or in), them." And there is no other way of becoming righteous in the Law save by fulfilling the whole of it. But this has not been possible for any one, and therefore this righteousness has failed them. But tell us, Paul, of the other righteousness also, that which is of grace. What is that then, and of what does it consist? Hear the words in which he gives a clear sketch of it. For after he had refuted the other, he next goes on to this.

Moses did not say that the man who practices the righteousness of the law will live forever but only that he will live by it in this life. For Christ is the end of the law, as the apostle says, and without Christ it is impossible to fulfill the righteousness of the law.

Moses distinguished between two kinds of righteousness, the righteousness of faith and the righteousness of works. The latter justifies the suppliant by deeds, but the former justifies by belief alone.… In this age no one keeps the law perfectly without Christ. Believing in him is also implied in the law. On account of this passage some think that the Jews have earned only this present life by the works of the law, but the words of the Lord show that this is not true. When he was asked about eternal life the Lord stipulated the commandments of the law: "If you would enter life, keep the commandments." From this we understand that one who kept the law at that time had everlasting life.

He confirms what was said: what the law did not accomplish, Christ accomplished, and says: Moses reasons about the justification of man by means of works. But since there was not a single person who fulfilled the works, justification by the law is impossible.

Then when he says, for Moses wrote, he proves the truth of those things about which the Jews were ignorant, namely, that God's justice is more perfect than that of the law; and this he shows on the authority of Moses, the lawgiver of the old law.

First, therefore, he shows by his words the condition of legal justice;

second, he shows the condition of the justice of faith, at but the justice which is of faith.

First, therefore, he says: I have correctly distinguished human justice from God's justice, for Moses wrote that the man who practices the justice which is based on the law shall live by it, where my text has: keep my laws and judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them and: they cast away my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them (Ezek 20:13), namely because by observing the law a man obtained the advantage of not being killed as a transgressor of the law: a man who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy (Heb 10:28); everyone who curses his father or his mother shall be put to death (Lev 20:9), and so on for the other commandments.

We can also say that by observing the law a man was regulated in the present life, for the law promised temporal goods and commanded things which were bodily regulations imposed until a time of reformation (Heb 9:10).

But all this seems contrary to what the Lord answered the person asking him: what good deed must I do to have eternal life? (Matt 19:16ff.); for he answered: if you would enter life, keep the commandments (Matt 19:17). Hence, a Gloss on Romans 5:20: law entered in, says that justice based on the law conferred not only temporal benefits but also eternal life.

But Christ's words must be understood according to the spiritual sense of the law, a sense which refers to faith in him. But Paul's words refer to the inward sense of the law according to which the law makes no mention of eternal life.

For as it was not possible that the man who had once for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself, and obtain the prize of victory; and as it was also impossible that he could attain to salvation who had fallen under the power of sin,-the Son effected both these things, being the Word of God, descending from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our salvation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us unhesitatingly to believe, again says, "Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to liberate Christ again from the dead." Then he continues, "If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved." And he renders the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, "For to this end Christ both lived, and died, and revived, that He might rule over the living and the dead."

"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. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved."

To prevent the Jews then from saying, How came they who had not found the lesser righteousness to find the greater? he gives a reason there was no answering, that this way was easier than that. For that requires the fulfilment of all things (for when thou doest all, then thou shall live); but the righteousness which is of faith doth not say this, but what? "If thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Then again that we may not seem to be making it contemptible by showing it to be easy and cheap, observe how he expands his account of it. For he does not come immediately to the words just given, but what does he say? "But the righteousness which is of faith saith on this wise; Say not in thine heart, Who shall go up into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down); or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)" For as to the virtue manifested in works there is opposed a listlessness, which relaxeth our labors, and it requireth a very wakeful soul not to yield to it: thus, when one is required to believe, there are reasonings which confuse and make havoc of the minds of most men, and it wants a soul of some vigor to shake them thoroughly off. And this is just why he brings the same before one. And as he did in Abraham's case, so he does here also. For having there shown that he was justified by faith, lest he should seem to have gotten so great a crown by a mere chance, as if it were a thing of no account, to extol the nature of faith, he says, "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations. And being not weak in faith, he considered his own body now dead, and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what He had promised He was able also to perform": so he showed that there is need of vigor, and a lofty soul, that takes in things beyond expectation, and stumbles not at appearances. This then he does here also, and shows that it requires a wise mind, and a spirit heavenly and great. And he does not say merely, "Say not," but, "Say not in thine heart," that is, do not so much as think of doubting and saying with thyself, And how can this be? You see that this is a chief characteristic of faith, to leave all the consequences of this lower world, and so to seek for that which is above nature, and to cast out the feebleness of calculation, and so to accept everything from the Power of God.

These are the words not of Moses but of the God of all things, who was using Moses as his mouthpiece.

Having learned that the works of the law cannot justify a person, learn how effortlessly and easily we are justified in Christ: for this requires faith from the heart and confession from the lips. But it is necessary to explain more fully what was said: "Who will ascend into heaven? Or who will descend into the abyss?" The Apostle borrowed this from Moses (Deut. 30:11–14), but in the sense that he understood according to his lofty wisdom. Moses in the literal sense speaks thus: the commandment of God lies, O Jew, before your eyes, so that you have no need either to ascend into heaven to find it, or to descend into the abyss, or to cross the sea to take it from there: it is near you, in your mouth and in your mind: God has shown you everything through the law. Thus, it seems, Moses speaks literally; but the Apostle applied this to Christ. Do not doubt, he says, and do not ask in your mind: how did Christ come down from heaven and become incarnate? Or how, having died, did He rise from the abyss, that is, from the nethermost places? But believe that He came down and became incarnate, and that, having been buried, He rose through the resurrection; for God raised Him. Therefore, considering also the dignity of the One who raised Him, it is easy to believe. What is easier than this, when you have salvation in your mouth? And lest anyone, by reason of this very ease, should consider the matter of faith worthy of contempt, he shows that the thoughts of unbelief are contrary to faith itself and that they must be firmly repelled. Do not say, he urges, this or that in your heart, that is, admit no doubts whatsoever in your thoughts.

Then when he says, but the justice which is of faith, he quotes Moses on justice based on faith.

First, Moses shows the certitude of faith which ought to be in man's heart;

second, the effect of faith, at but what says the Scripture?

First, therefore, he says: Moses speaks not only of the justice based on the law, but also of that based on faith. But the justice which is of faith speaks thus, i.e., speaks in a man's heart, do not say in your heart, i.e., by doubting, who will ascend into heaven? Reflecting on this as though it were impossible, as in Proverbs, he protests: who ascends into heaven and descends? (Prov 30:4). Who will ascend into heaven? For to hold that this is impossible is to bring Christ down from heaven, i.e., to assert that Christ is not in heaven, which is against what it says in John: no one has ascended into heaven but the Son of man who descended from heaven (John 3:13). He who descended is the same also who ascended above all the heavens (Eph 4:10).

Or again do not say . . . who will descend into the abyss? i.e., into hell, as though considering this impossible; for to deny this is to bring Christ up from the dead, i.e., to deny that Christ died. For after dying he descended into the abyss: I will penetrate to all the lower parts of the earth (Sir 24:41).

This explanation prevents any doubt about two articles of Christian faith, namely Christ's ascension and his death and descent into hell, the first of which pertains to his supreme exaltation and the second to his lowest humiliations.

But it can be explained in another way as giving us certainty about two other articles: first, the Incarnation, in which he descended from heaven to earth. Then the sense is: do not say in your heart: who will ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down? As if to say: who ascends into heaven in order to bring Christ down to us? That this indeed was not necessary, because he came down of his own power.

Second, of the resurrection, when he continues: or do not say: who will descend into the abyss? That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead? As if to say: he descended there, so that he might call Christ thence, as is said in the person of the fool: no man has been known to return from hell (Wis 2:1).

This explanation accords with the words of Moses in Deuteronomy: this commandment that I command you this day is not above you, nor far off from you. Nor is it in heaven, that you should say: which of us can go up to heaven to bring it to us? (Deut 30:11).

Nor is it unseemly, if the Apostle attributes to Christ what Moses said of the commandments of the law; because Christ is the Word of God in which are all God's commandments.

Therefore, one must interpret what he is saying, namely, who will ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down? As if he were saying: who can ascend into heaven to bring God's word to us? And the same must be said in the other which follows.

The quotation is from Deuteronomy [30:12], but the last phrase is the apostle's own addition. He says that someone who does not doubt about the hope which is in Christ has the righteousness of faith.

The Word of God leaves believers in no doubt either about the descent of the Lord from heaven for our sake or about the resurrection from the dead and the ascent into heaven.

We are not to think that Christ is in heaven in such a way as to be absent from the depths.… Furthermore, if someone should go down into the depths in his mind and thought, thinking that Christ is contained there and that he can somehow be called back from the dead … let him realize that he ought to think of Christ as he thinks of the Word, the truth and the righteousness of God. These things are not limited to a particular place but are present everywhere, nor can they be called up from the lower depths, but they can be grasped only by the mind and the intellect.

This is said in Deuteronomy [30:14] in order to show that belief [in Christ] is not all that foreign to our mind or to our nature. Even though we cannot see him with our eyes, what we believe is not out of harmony with the nature of our minds and our way of speaking.

True knowledge, then, consists in the understanding of Christ, which Paul terms the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which "the natural man receiveth not," the doctrine of the cross; of which if any man "taste," he will not accede to the disputations and quibbles of proud and puffed-up men, who go into matters of which they have no perception. For the truth is unsophisticated; and "the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart," as the same apostle declares, being easy of comprehension to those who are obedient. For it renders us like to Christ, if we experience "the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings." For this is the affinity of the apostolical teaching and the most holy "faith delivered unto us," which the unlearned receive, and those of slender knowledge have taught, not "giving heed to endless genealogies," but studying rather [to observe] a straightforward course of life; lest, having been deprived of the Divine Spirit, they fail to attain to the kingdom of heaven. For truly the first thing is to deny one's self and to follow Christ; and those who do this are borne onward to perfection, having fulfilled all their Teacher's will, becoming sons of God by spiritual regeneration, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven; those who seek which first shall not be forsaken.

Here we have to bear in mind the important distinction between what is possible in theory and what is realized in practice.… Christ, who is the Word of God, is potentially near us and near everyone, but this is only realized in practice when I confess with my mouth that Christ is Lord and when I believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead.

By this Paul indicates that Christ is in the heart of all men by virtue of his being the Word or reason [logos] embedded in all things by sharing in which all men are rational.

Historically speaking, Moses said this about the law, but the apostle applies it to Christ, because the law was neither in heaven nor in the abyss. Or it may mean that Paul is ordering them to meditate constantly on the law so that they may find Christ in it. The "word of faith which we preach" is the New Testament.

Moreover, we hear both also preaching, in the first place, not only repentance, but the kingdom of heaven, which, as we have learned, is within us; for the word which we believe is near us, in our mouth, and in our heart; which they, being put in remembrance of, will learn to confess with their mouths that Jesus is the Christ; believing in their heart that God hath raised him from the dead, and being as those who hear, that "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Then when he says, but says the Scripture, he shows the fruit of faith on the same authority.

First, he quotes the authority;

second, he explains, at this is the word of faith;

third, he proves that the explanation is fitting, at believe in your heart.

First, therefore he says: but says the Scripture? It says this: the word is near you, even on your mouth and in your heart. For this is what follows after the aforementioned words in Deuteronomy: the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart (Deut 30:14).

As if to say: do not suppose that you are lacking the word of justifying faith, just because Christ is in heaven according to his divine nature and descended into hell after the death of his human nature. For in descending from heaven and rising from the dead, he impressed the word of faith on your lips and in your heart.

Hence the statement that the word is near you can be referred to the fact that we have obtained God's word through Christ's birth and resurrection: it was declared at first by the Lord (Heb 2:3); behold, I have given my words in your mouth (Jer 1:9).

Or, according to the Gloss, the word near should be understood with reference to usefulness, as we say something is near us when it is expedient or useful to us. For our heart is cleansed by the word of God: now you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you (John 15:3).

Or it can be referred to the fact that the words of faith, even though they are above reason—many things are shown to you above the understanding of men (Sir 3:25)—are nevertheless not contrary to reason, because truth cannot be contrary to truth. Your decrees are very sure (Ps 93:5).

The creed builds up in you what you ought to believe and confess in order to be saved.

For as it was not possible that the man who had once for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself, and obtain the prize of victory; and as it was also impossible that he could attain to salvation who had fallen under the power of sin,-the Son effected both these things, being the Word of God, descending from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our salvation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us unhesitatingly to believe, again says, "Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to liberate Christ again from the dead." Then he continues, "If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved." And he renders the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, "For to this end Christ both lived, and died, and revived, that He might rule over the living and the dead."

The testimony of the heart is the confession of the mouth. "You will be saved" from past transgressions, not from future ones.

Then when he says, this is the word, he explains the above words.

First, he shows what that word is about which Moses speaks, saying, this is the word of faith which we preach. Preach the word (2 Tim 4:2); he that has my word, let him speak my word with truth (Jer 23:28).

Second, he explains how this word is on the lips by confession and in the heart by faith. And this is what he says for if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, i.e., recognize him as Lord by submitting your will to him, as it is said: and no man can say 'the Lord Jesus,' but by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3). And believe in your heart with complete faith which works through love (Gal 5:6), that God has raised him up from the dead, but you, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up again (Ps 40:11), because as it is said: he rose by the power of God (2 Cor 13:4), which is common to him and to the Father, you shall be saved, i.e., by eternal salvation, about which it is said: Israel is saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation (Isa 45:17).

When he says, the Lord Jesus, he is referring to the mystery of the Incarnation; when he says, Christ, the reference is to the resurrection. He had mentioned these two articles above.

With these twin trumpets of heart and mouth we arrive at that holy land, viz., the grace of resurrection. So let them always sound together in harmony for us, that we may always hear the voice of God. Let the utterances of the angels and prophets arouse us and move us to hasten to higher things.

What Paul previously spoke about he now makes clear. The rule of faith is to believe that Jesus is Lord and not to be ashamed to confess that God raised him from the dead and has taken him up to heaven with his body, whence he will come again.

The innumerable and multiple rites by which the Jewish people had been oppressed have been taken away, so that in the mercy of God we might attain salvation by the simplicity of a confession of faith.

Did not almost all those who disowned Christ in the presence of their persecutors keep in their hearts what they believed about him? Yet, for not making with their mouth profession of faith unto salvation they perished, except those who repented and lived again.

This condition is fulfilled at the time of baptism, when faith and profession of faith are all that is demanded for one to be baptized.

This profession of faith is the creed which you will be going over in your thoughts and repeating from memory.

We who expect to reign in everlasting righteousness can only be saved from this wicked world if while for our neighbor's salvation we profess with our lips the faith which we carry about in our heart, we exercise a pious and careful vigilance to see that this faith in us is not sullied in any point of belief by the deceitful snares of heretics.

"With the heart a man believes unto justice." Now faith consists more precisely in the confession of truth than in the communication of light. Hence, "with the mouth profession of faith is made unto salvation." Therefore in a certain sense faith sees, and in another it does not see. The merit of faith is founded on non-seeing, the light of faith on believing.

But it is God that makes proclamation to us, and He must be believed. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Wherefore the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shah not be put to shame."

"With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Wherefore the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed; that is, the word of faith which we preach: for if thou confess the word with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." There is clearly described the perfect righteousness, fulfilled both in practice and contemplation.

It is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian], than to talk and not to be one. "The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." Men "believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth," the one "unto righteousness," the other "unto salvation." It is good to teach, if he who speaks also acts. For he who shall both "do and teach, the same shall be great in the kingdom." Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, first did and then taught, as Luke testifies, "whose praise is in the Gospel through all the Churches."

The understanding must be strongly fixed in pious faith, and the tongue must herald forth by its confession the solid resolution of the mind.

And what meaneth the phrase, "The Word is nigh thee?" That is, It is easy. For in thy mind and in thy tongue is thy salvation. There is no long journey to go, no seas to sail over, no mountains to pass, to get saved. But if you be not minded to cross so much as the threshold, you may even while you sit at home be saved. For "in thy mouth and in thy heart" is the source of salvation. And then on another score also he makes the word of faith easy, and says, that "God raised Him from the dead." For just reflect upon the worthiness of the Worker, and you will no longer see any difficulty in the thing.

If faith avails for righteousness and confession for salvation, there is no distinction between the Jew who believes and the Gentile who believes.

For, when one reads of God as being "the searcher and witness of the heart; " when His prophet is reproved by His discovering to him the secrets of the heart; when God Himself anticipates in His people the thoughts of their heart, "Why think ye evil in your hearts? " when David prays "Create in me a clean heart, O God," and Paul declares, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness," and John says, "By his own heart is each man condemned; " when, lastly, "he who looketh on a woman so as to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart," -then both points are cleared fully up, that there is a directing faculty of the soul, with which the purpose of God may agree; in other words, a supreme principle of intelligence and vitality (for where there is intelligence, there must be vitality), and that it resides in that most precious part of our body to which God especially looks: so that you must not suppose, with Heraclitus, that this sovereign faculty of which we are treating is moved by some external force; nor with Moschion, that it floats about through the whole body; nor with Plato, that it is enclosed in the head; nor with Zenophanes, that it culminates in the crown of the head; nor that it reposes in the brain, according to the opinion of Hippocrates; nor around the basis of the brain, as Herophilus thought; nor in the membranes thereof, as Strato and Erasistratus said; nor in the space between the eyebrows, as Strato the physician held; nor within the enclosure of the breast, according to Epicurus: but rather, as the Egyptians have always taught, especially such of them as were accounted the expounders of sacred truths; in accordance, too, with that verse of Orpheus or Empedocles:

And we know the quality of the hortatory addresses of carnal conveniences, how easy it is to say, "I must believe with my whole heart; I must love God, and my neighbour as myself: for `on these two precepts the whole Law hangeth, and the prophets, 'not on the emptiness of my lungs and intestines.

The heart has need of the mouth. For what profit is it to believe in the soul and not confess before men? Although faith justifies in the mind, perfect salvation depends on confession; for then faith shines forth and benefits many. But the mouth also has need of the heart. Many confess Christ hypocritically, while their heart stands far from Him.

After explaining that confession on the lips and faith in the heart work salvation, the Apostle proves what he had said, setting out an example of this in two points which Moses seems to mention, here he proves what he had said in the universal.

And concerning this he does three things.

First, he shows that by faith and confession of faith man obtains salvation;

second, he lays down the order of salvation, at how then shall they call on him;

third, he draws the conclusion, at faith therefore comes by hearing.

In regard to the first he does three things. First, he presents his proposition, saying: I am correct in saying that if you confess with your lips and believe in your heart, you will be saved; for, with the heart, man believes unto justice, i.e., he believes in order that he may obtain justice through faith: since we are justified through faith (Rom 5:1).

Notice that he says man believes with the heart, i.e., his will, because man cannot believe, unless he wills. For the intellect of the believer, unlike that of the philosopher, does not assent to the truth as though compelled by force of reason; rather, he is moved to assent by the will; therefore, knowing does not pertain to man's justice, which is in the will, but believing: Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as justice (Gen 15:6).

But after he has been justified by faith, it is required that his faith work through love, in order to achieve salvation. Hence, he adds, but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation, i.e., to reach eternal salvation. But my salvation shall be forever (Isa 51:8).

Three kinds of confession are necessary for salvation.

First, the confession of one's own iniquity: I said: I will confess my transgressions to the Lord (Ps 32:5), which is the confession of the repentant. The second is that by which a man confesses the goodness of God mercifully bestowing his benefits: sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things (Ps 98:11), and this is the confession of one giving thanks. The third is the confession of divine truth: everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven (Matt 10:32), and this is the confession of the believer, about which the Apostle is now speaking.

This confession is necessary for salvation, depending on circumstances of place and time, namely when one's faith is demanded, namely, by a persecutor of the faith, as when the faith is endangered by an alien belief. Prelates especially ought to preach the faith to their subjects. Therefore, the baptized are anointed on the forehead with chrism in the form of a cross, so that they will not be ashamed to confess Christ crucified: I am not ashamed of the Gospel (Rom 1:16). What is said about confessing the faith applies to all virtuous acts necessary for salvation according to circumstances of time and place, for the precepts commanding the performance of these acts oblige us always but not for every moment of the day.