Chapter # 10 Paragraph # 2 Study # 2
July 15, 2018
Humble, Texas
(060)
1769 Translation:
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? The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
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.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
1901 ASV Translation:
6 But the righteousness which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down:)
7 or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach:
9 because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God 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 put to shame.
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same [Lord] is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him:
13 for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
- I. The Contrasting "Out-of-Faith Righteousness".
- A. According to Paul's introductory declaration in Romans 1:17 the Gospel proclaims a "by faith, for faith, righteousness" that comes from God to man so that man may actually "Live" because God has considered him sufficiently "righteous" to be given such "Life".
- 1. This "sufficiently righteous" concept is, Paul adamantly declares, an Old Testament doctrine found in multiple places but centered upon Habakkuk 2:4.
- a. It is "centered" upon Habakkuk 2:4 because that text has its primary place in the context of Judah's experiences at the point in time of Nebuchadnezzar's domination of Judah and the captivity of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
- 1) This is the critical time because there was no one in Israel who had not heard of the deliverance of these "believers" from execution by Nebuchadnezzar or Darius in respect to, most notably, fire and lions. Given this universal awareness, there was no excuse for anyone in Israel to be ignorant of the reason for the deliverances as it was rooted in the words of Habakkuk: the just by faith shall live.
- 2) Though the truth of justification by faith is well represented in the Old Testament, there was no other text that gained universal notoriety because of the extreme examples of God's activities on behalf of those so justified. Thus, "justification by faith" was grounded by God in the records of His Word as both a primary truth and an inescapable truth.
- b. Paul's use of Habakkuk 2:4 is recognized as central and fundamental because of his use of it to begin the doctrinal content of the Gospel (Romans 1:17) and to drive an inescapable wedge between salvation by works and salvation by faith (Galatians 3:11). And the author of Hebrews 10:38 simply follows in this train. No other Old Testament text has this place of primacy given to Habakkuk 2:4.
- 2. The "sufficiently righteous" concept is, as presented above, capable of surviving the scrutiny of the all-knowing God.
- 3. But this "sufficiently righteous" concept is demonstrably not out of any fallen man's complete accomplishment (the verb, "do" in 10:5 is an aorist, signifying an accomplished act; thus, "having done", i.e., a complete accomplishment).
- B. Thus, there is a perception of righteousness in the mind of God that arises not out of man's "performance", but out of his "faith".
- 1. This righteousness "says" some things.
- a. This righteousness is described as "the righteousness which is out of faith".
- 1) That this righteousness is "out of faith" means, first, that it is in direct contrast to "the righteousness which is out of law".
- a) The contrast is not in respect to the essence of what "righteousness" is: both "righteousnesses" are, in fact, expressions of what God deems "behavior toward others" ought to be. There are ways in which men ought to be treated, and ways in which no man should be treated. The foundations of this "oughtness" are firmly established in the character of the "holy" God, with a particular focus upon Justice as the standard of that "oughtness".
- b) The contrast in this particular text is in respect to the issue of the "How?" of man's acquisition of a determination from the Just God that he is "righteous".
- i. In 9:30-32 this text's issue was stated: the Gentiles "attained" righteousness and Israel "did not attain" righteousness (the words translated by the Authorized Version as "attained" are different words, but their significance is pretty much the same).
- ii. In that same place, this text's issue was established as the "How?" issue in that Paul explained how the Gentiles "attained" and why Israel's efforts did not have that result.
- 2) That this righteousness is described as "out of faith" also means, second, that it is not to be considered to have come to a man by any effort of his own because the entire issue of "faith" is the expectation that God will do something that He has promised.
- b. The "says" is the verb that is used when adamant insistence that the thing said is true is in view.
- 1) The first thing that it "says" is what not to "say" (10:6, "do not say in your heart...").
- 2) The second thing that it "says" is what to "say" (10:8, "But what does it say?").
- 2. What it "says" to "not say" is two-fold.
- a. On the one hand, it "says" "do not say 'who shall ascend into the heaven?'" (Deuteronomy 30:12).
- 1) Moses actually says, "It is not in heaven...". This means that it is not so far above as to make acquisition impossible.
- 2) The point is that the audience might be tempted to say, "This is too difficult" and Moses is insisting that it is not.
- b. And on the other hand it "says" "do not say 'who shall descend into the abyss?'" (not, technically, a quote from Moses, but, rather, an extension of his meaning that the commandment is not as extremely difficult as a trip down into the abyss). Moses actually used the figure of having to travel to the opposite side of the world by travels across the sea.
- c. Paul's point is not that perfect adherence to "Law" is "possible" for men, but that "faith" does not turn inward for its expectations and, thus, should not rule out "possibility" by looking to some kind of "creature" capacity to bring it to pass.
- 1) The bottom line is not, actually, whether a man attains to perfect behavior; it is whether God determines to accept him as "righteous" so that God and man can be reconciled.
- 2) In Paul's theology, the keeping of the righteousness that is revealed in "Law" is not impossible for either the Redeemer, or for those who are filled by His Spirit, but that in both cases "keeping" is not the point. That point is that God has come up with a way to "justly" declare sinners "righteous" (Romans 3:26).
- d. And the "do not say" is given a focal point: "in your heart".
- 1) What a person says "in his heart" is absolutely crucial because "sayings" that arise from the "heart" are personally determinative; they are the expressions of what is "believed" at a most fundamental level.
- 2) In Paul's explanation in 10:9-10, it is what is "believed" "in the heart" that determines whether, or not, a person is given "righteousness" by God.