Two Ways To Life
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5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”
6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
7 or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Paul began Rom 10 with His desire and prayer for his own countrymen.
1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
The meaning of verse 4 is that the end or goal of the Law is Christ for righteousness to everyone who believes. So Israel believed the the goal of the Law was obedience for righteousness. That is by keeping and obeying the Law I can establish my own righteousness. But in their attempt to obey the Law they actually disobeyed or resisted the righteousness provided by God through Jesus Christ. Obedience to the Law was not the issue. It was obedience for salvation that caused the problem. To try and obey God’s laws so that I will be saved is failing to submit to the righteousness of God and it is seeking to establish my own righteousness.
So the end of the Law according to vs 4 is not obedience for righteousness but rather Christ for righteousness for everyone who believes. These are key verses as we look at these next few verses because now Paul explains these two ways of righteousness from the scriptures.
Now, you may say, “why should I be concerned about being righteous?”
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
So Paul expounds on these two ways of righteousness by quoting from 2 Old Testament passages. The first way of righteousness is the way of Works.
The Way Of Works
The Way Of Works
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”
This is a quote from...
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God.
3 According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances.
4 You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.
5 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
Paul had an intimate knowledge of the scriptures. He was a Pharisee, a member of the high council of the Sanhedrin. That is the elite of the elite. And this is his interpretation of this scripture. That Moses is writing here about the righteousness which it by the Law when he says if a man does these things he shall live by them.
Meaning that if a person does all that is contained in the Law he will live or have everlasting life. He will be righteous. He uses this same scripture with the same meaning in...
12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
So this is one way to life or eternal life we keep the Law. However, there is a catch.
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;
9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
If we look back at Gal 3...
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
So this is the way of works. If you chose this path be warned you are already disqualified. Only one has attained righteousness through works. Christ. This is why the goal of the Law is Christ for righteousness to everyone who believes. This is second way of life, the way of faith.
The Way Of Faith
The Way Of Faith
Next Paul quotes from
11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
Now the interesting thing Paul’s use of this scripture is that this passage is speaking of the Law. Moses says that they Law is not in heaven that you should say who will ascend and bring it to us nor is it beyond the sea that you should say who will go over and bring it to us.
And yet as we see in our passage in Romans, Paul uses this scripture to speak of Christ
6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
7 or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
Why does Paul feel the liberty to interpret this passage in this way? Because of that key vs.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Christ is the fulfilment of the Law. He kept the Law and attained righteousness by His works. That which we can never do. Then he took our sin upon himself and died on the cross so that through faith my sin transfer to Christ and His righteousness transfers to me. So do not say who will ascend into Heaven and bring Christ our righteousness down. Christ has already come to live a righteous life for us. And do not say who will descend into the abyss to raise Christ from the dead. The father has already done that. The work for your righteousness is already accomplished, it is finished.
So what is left The word is near you, it’s in your mouth, and it’s in your heart. the word of faith which we preach.
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
This is the way of righteousness which is by faith. It is so close to you that it is in your mouth and in your heart. You don’t have to ascend to heaven to find Christ or raise Christ from the dead. The work of your salvation is accomplished, all that is left is that confess and believe.
What is it that we must confess? That Jesus is Lord.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is Lord! Everyone will confess eventually. But today is the day of salvation.
You must believe that God has raised Him from the dead. God the Father has already descended to raise up Christ from the abyss. The work is done. These are the two essential elements of our faith. We must surrender to Christ as our Lord and we must believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. This is the completion of our righteousness.
This is the word of faith which we preach. you will either be able to say yes this is my righteousness or you are on a different path. The other path.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Which path are you on this morning?