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) or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
While preparing a Sunday School lesson on Romans 10, I came across an interesting explanation of those verses by Zane Hodges. He said that these two questions illustrate “two extremes of Jewish unbelief about Christ” (Romans, p. 297). Unbelieving Jews say that the Messiah, the Christ, has not yet come down from above. They also say that Jesus did not come up from dead. The Jewish leaders spread the report that Jesus’ disciples had stolen the body. That was their explanation for the empty tomb.
Romans 9–11 concerns the fact that current Jewish unbelief is temporary and does not nullify the truth that one day all Israel will be delivered from Gentile armies seeking to destroy it. It thus makes sense that vv 6-7 of Romans 10 concern Jewish unbelief concerning Jesus.
Witmer comments,
In effect, Paul indicated that the same truth applied to his generation, with the added fact that Christ had come in the flesh (John 1:14) and had been resurrected. Therefore, there was no need for anyone to ask to bring Christ down (in His Incarnation) or to bring Christ up from the dead; He had already come and had been resurrected. The message of righteousness by faith in Paul’s day was “near” his readers (available to them) and this was “the word” (rhēma, “saying”) of faith he was proclaiming (rhēma, “the spoken word” is also used in Eph. 5:26; 6:17; 1 Peter 1:25) (“Romans” in BKC, p. 480).
Notice that Witmer speaks of righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ, not by faith in Him plus confessing “Lord Jesus” (Rom 10:9-10) or by faith in Him plus calling on His name (Rom 10:13).
Of course, it is not only Jewish unbelievers who say these things today. Those who reject the view that Jesus is the Messiah hold that Jesus did not come down from above and that He did not rise from the dead.
According to John 11:25-27, John 20:31, and 1 John 5:1, to believe that Jesus is the Messiah is to believe that He guarantees everlasting life that can never be lost to all who believe in Him. Thus, the unbelief of Rom 10:6-7 is a rejection of the gift of everlasting life. There is no regeneration without believing that Jesus is the Christ in the Biblical sense of the Guarantor of everlasting life.
Keep grace in focus, and you will look forward to the Second Coming of the Messiah!
