The Word Made Fresh
1Friends, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is that they might be saved. 2I can testify that they do have a certain zeal for God, but it is not complete. 3They haven’t submitted to God’s righteousness. They don’t know about God’s righteousness and so they try to claim that they themselves are righteous. 4But Christ is the end of the law’s power so that everyone who believes is righteous.
5Concerning that righteousness which comes from the law, Moses writes that “whoever does these things will live by them.” 6But, the righteousness of faith says, “Don’t ask ‘Who will ascend to heaven?’ to bring Christ down, 7or ‘Who will descend into the depths?’ to bring Christ up from the dead.” 8Instead, it says “the word (that is, the word we are proclaiming) is with you, on your lips and in your hearts,” 9so that if you declare aloud that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10Of course, some will believe in their heart and be justified, and some will confess with their voice, and be saved. 11The scriptures say, “No one who believes in him will be ashamed,” 12because there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek – the same Lord is Lord of both and favors everyone who calls on his name – 13and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
14But, how can they call on one in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15And how can they be told unless the teller is sent to them? It is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16However, not everyone has obeyed the good news. Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed the message we bring?” 17So, you see, faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through Christ.
18Still, I may ask, “Why haven’t they heard?” Of course, they have! “Their voice has gone ‘round the whole world and the words they speak have traveled to the ends of the earth.”
19I ask again, didn’t Israel understand? Moses said, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation, and make you angry with a foolish people.” 20Then Isaiah said, “Those who didn’t search for me have found me, and I have revealed myself to those who didn’t ask for me.”
21But of Israel, he says, “All day I have reached out to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
Commentary
1-4: Paul grieves that many of his own people still cling to the hope of righteousness through the law.
5-13: He quotes Leviticus 18:5 (“Whoever does these things shall live by them.”), which appears to completely contradict what he has said so far until we remember that Paul has claimed that no one has ever been able to keep the law (see 3:10-11). He then paraphrases some passages from Deuteronomy 30 (especially verses 12-13) to bolster his argument that faith is the guarantor of salvation, not the law. It seems a weak argument (the quotes he has chosen, not his argument that we are saved through faith). Verse 11 is a quote from Isaiah 28:16, and is perhaps more appropriate to our modern minds, although Paul makes a leap in asserting the “him” in that verse is a reference to Jesus. The final quote in verse 13 (“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” from Joel 2:32) would have been adequate.
14-17: Of course, before you can call on the Lord you have to believe in the Lord, and before you believe in the Lord you must have heard of the Lord, and in order for that to happen somebody has to tell you, and that somebody has to be sent by the Lord. Even so, the good news they bring is not always believed.
18-21: The people of Israel have indeed heard the good news, he says. Verse 18 is a paraphrase of Psalm 19:4. Verse 19 is from Deuteronomy 32:21. Verse 20 quotes Isaiah 65:1, more or less, and verse 21 is Isaiah 65:2. They have heard, but have been “disobedient and obstinate.”
Takeaway
Paul lays out a basic Christian path to salvation. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God; strive to follow his teachings; love your neighbors; pray for your enemies; share the Good News.