“1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for {National} Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them {National Israel} record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they {National Israel} being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 6 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:) 7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 8 But what saith it {“it,” the righteousness that comes “by grace through faith”}? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach {as follows}; 9 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 shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 10:1-11).

     One of the great errors of Biblical interpretation (Hermenutics) is the failure to interpret the meaning of words apart from context. This is certainly true of Romans chapters 8 through 11. There are two forms of context that radically influence the interpretation of Bible texts:

1. Historical context brought to the text by quoting from other Scriptures (this is especially true when verses from the Old Testament Scriptures are quoted in the New Testament Scriptures; both doctrinal context and historical context are now brought to the Scriptures in which the quote is made)

2. Doctrinal context (failure to see doctrinal context often causes the Truth being taught to be misapplied such as Romans chapter 8, which deals with ultimate sanctification in the believers glorification and his predestination to that glorification, being twisted to say that certain elect sinners are predestined to salvation).

    National Israel’s perversion of the Mosaic Covenant produced a false hope and a false faith. They perverted the “blessing and curse” Mosaic Covenant to be the way to salvation and personal righteousness before God. According to Deuteronomy chapter 11, the “blessing and curse” Mosaic Covenant was never intended for personal righteousness before God. The “blessing and curse” Mosaic Covenant was intended for national righteousness before God. Romans 10:6-8 is quoted from middle of Deuteronomy chapter 30 (with a little twist). We must bring this context of Deuteronomy chapter 30 into Romans chapter 10 in that this is the context of Moses’ warning regarding the conditions of God’s restoration of National Israel that Paul is bringing to what he is saying in Romans chapter 10.

“1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, 2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; 3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. 4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. 6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. 7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. 8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. 9 And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: 10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. 11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. 15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; 16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. 19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:1-20).

     What is “this commandment which I command thee this day” (vs 11) that “is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off”? God says in verse 14, “But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” Paul quotes Deuteronomy 30:14 in Romans 10:8 and answers the question that would bring about the restoration of National Israel from God’s curse due to their failure in the “blessing and curse” of the Mosaic Covenant. Paul says the commandment that is not hidden in the Law is the commandment of faith. “8 But what saith it {“it,” the righteousness that comes “by grace through faith”}? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach {as follows}; 9 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 shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 10:8-11).

     However, the innumerable prophecies regarding the restoration of National Israel are still in place and will be fulfilled. The salvation of National Israel and the salvation of individual Jews are two different subjects dealing with two different curses. I think  most Covenant Theologians and many Dispensational Theologians fail to see this distinction in Scripture. When the Word of God talks about the salvation of National Israel it is referring to the restoration of National Israel to the place of blessing under the Mosaic Covenant through the repentance of National Israel. The salvation of National Israel is not salvation from eternal condemnation in Hell, but the salvation of National Israel from God’s curse within the conditions of the “blessing and curse” Mosaic Covenant. Yet these two different forms of salvation are now merged together in Paul’s statement here in Romans chapter 10.

“17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20).  

    Nationally, Israel willfully broke the Law (the Mosaic Covenant with God). Judicially they deserved every aspect of God’s judgment upon them as a Nation. Yet God’s grace provided a two-fold redemption for them.

1. God provided a national redemption (salvation) from the temporal curse of the Law (i.e., the loss of God’s blessing and the withdrawal of His presence and protection upon them as a nation)

2. God provided an individual redemption (salvation) to individual Jews from the original and eternal curse of the Fall of mankind into sin

     Both of these two forms of redemption are found in “grace through faith.” Israel did not, and never could, keep the conditions of the Mosaic Covenant. Even if they could do so externally, they could never do so inwardly (spiritually). Therefore, Jesus came as a new High Priest and part of a new kind of Priesthood to do for them what they could not do for themselves. Jesus fulfilled all the conditions of the Mosaic Covenant for the blessings of God to come upon National Israel. Secondly, He took both their curse, and the curse upon Himself. Therefore, as Jews trust in Jesus as their Messiah, they are receiving these two forms of salvation.

1. The salvation of National Israel from the temporal curse of the Mosaic Covenant in their restoration to their postion of blessing under the Mosaic Covenant “in Christ” and through their faith in Christ Jesus.

2. The salvation of “whosoever will” (Rom. 10:13) of Jews and Gentiles “by grace through faith” (Eph. 2:8) from the eternal curse upon fallen mankind.

     What Paul is saying in the application of Romans chapter 10 in its relationship to Deuteronomy chapter 30 is that in order for National Israel to be restored, National Israel would need to become True Israel (the Faith Seed of Abraham) “by grace through faith” in Jesus as their Messiah and Deliverer. That is the twist in the application of Deuteronmy chapter 30 to what Paul is saying in Romans chapter 10. Newell 1 in his commentary on Romans says:

     “It is very striking, as has been observed by others, that the Spirit of God should select the verses quoted above from Deuteronomy. For this chapter plainly prophesies that the Jews will be scattered among the nations because of their despising of God’s Law. So that all hope from the Law will have perished, and they will be cast wholly upon the mercy of God:

‘among all the nations, whither Jehovah thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto Jehovah thy God, and shalt obey his voice . . . with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; that then Jehovah thy God will turn thy captivity, . . . and will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, . . . and He will do thee good.’

     Into this dead, hollow shell, then, of legal hope, Paul here in Romans Ten, takes De 30:11-14, and puts faith in Christ in place of the Law! Israel will at last, at the end of the age, be cast upon the mercy of God! And then they will understand these great chapters, Romans Nine, Ten and Eleven, were written concerning them!”

     God’s grace is always amazing. His longsuffering with National Israel is overwhelming. It is necessary that God’s longsuffering grace in the ongoing chastisement of National Israel utterly and absolutely destroy any hope in their perversion of faith in Law keeping for personal righteousness before God. The only hope of personal or National righteousness before God was through justification (“the righteousness which is of faith;” Rom. 10:6). There is no possibility of righteousness before God apart from the imputation or impartation of “righteousness which is of faith” in the Promised One, Who whould propitiate God’s wrath upon unrighteousness and justify the believing sinner (give the believing sinner the righteousness of Christ in the Person of the indwelling Holy Spirit, II Peter 1:4).

“1Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II Peter 1:1-4).

     God-kind righteousness cannot be achieved by sinners. This is the substance of the doctrine of mankind’s depravity after the Fall into sin. Paul has already extensively dealt with this in Romans chapters 5 through 7.

“1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. 4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:1-6).

     The text continues in the context of “dominion.” The two unions (marriages) refer metaphorically to the Old Covenant in Adam under the governance (dispensation) of Law and the New Covenant “in Christ” under the governance (dispensation) of Grace. In Adam and under the Law, the believer did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Law was limited in what it could accomplish. The Law only provided external benefits through the external leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

     The Law was a child leader, constantly pointing and directing the believer to faith in the Coming One (Messiah) through endless sacrifices. The Law sought to keep the believer from the destruction of sin through building fences that externally restrained the believer’s life producing an outward form of righteousness. Regardless of how great a relationship the Law provided to the Old Covenant believer in the external workings of the Spirit of God “upon” the believer’s life, the Law could never enable a believer to produce the fruit of God-kind righteousness through the believer’s life.

     Paul has already given considerable instruction regarding his new understanding of the Law-code of Judaism. (We must be careful to maintain this understanding that it is to this Law-code of exact and demanding oral traditions that Paul refers to as the Law). Paul has already spoken of a source of righteousness with God that is totally apart from the tradition of Law keeping.

“19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:19-26).

     Another problem with verse by verse exposition of Scripture is the failure to maintain continuity of context. There is a flow of Truth that begins in Romans chapter one and builds principle upon principle throughout the epistle. Paul’s teaching on justification through faith is established in Romans chapters 3 and 4. Building upon these Truths, Paul begins to make application of the grace of God in the gift of God-kind righteousness in the Person of the Holy Spirit to the believing sinner by extending this doctrine of grace (Rom. 5:2) in discussing the supernatural enabling of the indwelled believer in Romans chapters 5 through 8.

     God-kind righteousness can only be produced in the believer’s life by the indwelling Holy Spirit through the “filling” of the Holy Spirit when the “fruit” of the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit overflows through the believer’s life. Regeneration and salvation through faith must precede the production of God-kind righteousness through the believer’s life in that God-kind righteousness can only be produced by the Holy Spirit. After Pentecost, the believer is no longer imputed with God-kind righteousness. After Pentecost, the believer is imparted with God-kind righteousness in the Person of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

     This is the continuity of context that begins in Romans chapter 5 in the believer’s positional sanctification “in Christ” “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand” (Rom 5:2) to practical sanctification through the indwelling Holy Spirit as the believer habitually “yields” to the Spirit of God within.

“1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:1-14).

     This continuity of context regarding the production of God-kind righteousness through the believer’s life by the indwelling Holy Spirit is carried into Romans chapter 8.

“10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:10-17).

     There is some disagreement as to whether this quickening refers to this present life or to the believer’s future resurrection/translation/glorification. A. T. Robertson has, “Shall quicken (zôopoiêsei). Future active indicative of zôopoieô. 2” Although the future tense could refer only to the believer’s future glorification, it seems clear from the context that Paul has a duel meaning here:

1. The believer’s future resurrection/translation/glorification
2. The believer’s present new life “in Christ Jesus” and its spiritual potential in the future of each new day

     The reason I opt for the duel meaning is what Paul says in the verses that follow Romans 8:11. The future inevitability of the believer’s resurrection/translation/ glorification makes all believers “debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh” (Romans 8:12). Literally, the believer owes nothing to the “flesh” and we do not need to live “after” (according to) a fallen state of existence any longer. Since the believer’s Sin Nature has been “crucified with Christ” (Romans 6:6), he is freed from the union of his corrupt “flesh” or “old man” to be “married to another” (Romans 7:4). This is the believer’s new union with Christ in “the regeneration” (Romans 7:4-6). Although that union will not be fully and actually complete until the completion of the glorification, there is a partial fulfillment in the baptism with the Spirit (I Cor. 12:13) and the indwelling of the Spirit. Therefore, spiritual life is presently available to the yielded believer (Rom. 6:11-13) through the supernatural enabling of the indwelling Spirit of God.

     The believer still has two options for this life according to Romans 8:13. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” This does not refer to performance based salvation. Of this we can be sure. The word “after” is the key word here. The subject of the text is the potential spiritual life presently available to the believer pursuing practical sanctification. “If” a believer purposefully lives “after the flesh,” it will result in death to any present potential spiritual life (the production of God-kind righteousness) until that problem is corrected by repentance, confession, forgiveness, and restoration to fellowship. Carnality will not result in eternal separation from God, but it will result in the breach of fellowship with God. The “wages of sin” (Rom. 6:23) is always death to spiritual life. Simply because the believer is saved and indwelled by the Holy Spirit, that fact does not automatically produce a righteous life in the believer. The believer must yield to the indwelling Spirit (Rom. 6:11-13).

This is the continuity of context that we find in Romans chapter 10 as well.