Mouth and Heart

Paul is continuing to extract the gospel from the law, revealing the source of the righteousness we need to stand before a holy God. We know we need God’s righteousness, and we know it can come only “by faith,” not by rushing about in an effort to earn His favor by keeping every command in His law. But what does it actually mean to follow the way of faith? In today’s passage, Paul again quotes and interprets Moses to show that we must “confess” and “believe.”

In the verses we examined yesterday, Paul referred to Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 30:12–13 to show what the “righteousness of faith” does not demand. Now he moves on to Deuteronomy 30:14 to show what it actually requires of us: “ ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.’ ” In their original context, Moses’ words seem to have meant that the message of salvation was accessible. It was not some hidden truth; it was the message of the very law Moses was teaching them and of the Scriptures he was writing. It was the message of the history of God’s dealing with His people, which the Israelites knew and spoke about to their children and one another. It was the message that no one can generate his own righteousness, but must go to God by faith, as Abraham did. But Paul updates Moses from the other side of the cross, explaining that Moses was speaking in simple terms of the “the word of faith which we preach,” which is the gospel, the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone.

Paul then goes on in verse 9 to explain the parts that the heart and mouth play in justification. Interestingly, Paul here switches to the second person, directly telling his readers, “Here is what you must do.” First, we must confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. When we do so, we acknowledge that He is our God, our Savior, and our King. We are to openly commit ourselves to these truths, declaring our allegiance to Jesus without shame or restraint. Second, we are to believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from death. Why is belief in the resurrection so important? The reason is that the resurrection vindicated all Jesus’ claims, proving that He was who He said He was and did what He said He would do. Simply put, if Jesus did not rise again, our justification was not accomplished. But He did rise, and if we believe that and confess Him as Lord, we will be saved, Paul says.