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Romans 10:7-8 Romans 10:7-The Romans 10:7-8 Romans 10:7-The Righteousness Based On Faith Does Not Reject The Resurrection The apostle Paul in Romans 10:7 cites the principle taught in Deuteronomy 30:13 to teach that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith in Christ does not reject the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Just as Paul taught in Romans 10:6 that it is impossible for someone to ascend into heaven since that would imply that Christ did not come in the flesh so in the same way he teaches in Romans 10:7 that it is impossible for someone to descend into the abyss since that would imply that Christ did not rise from the dead. Just as Paul taught in Romans 10:6 that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith does not reject the incarnation, so in Romans 10:7, he describes this righteousness as not reject the resurrection as well. Also, in this passage, by way of implication he teaches that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith in Christ is non-meritorious and is attainable unlike perfect obedience to the Law. Romans 10:6-7, “But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: ‘DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” As we can see in Romans 10:6, Paul teaches that the righteousness originating from and based on faith in Christ does not reject Christ’s incarnation has taken place. The apostle John makes the same sort of statement. 1 John 4:2-3, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” 2 John 8, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” Paul in Romans 10:7 continues to describe the righteousness originating from and based on faith in Christ by employing the “disjunctive” or “alternative” conjunction, that is also called a “particle of separation” e ( h&) (ay), “or .” This word introduces a concept that is related to the previous concept. It introduces a question that is related to the previous question, “ Who will ascend into heaven ?” which is an implicit denial of the incarnation of the Son of God having taken place with the person of Jesus of Nazareth. 2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1 The question being introduced by this particle “ Who will descend into the abyss ?” is an implicit denial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus, the word introduces an implicit denial that is similar to the one in verse 6 since both are related to the historicity of the person of Christ. It connects the following quotation from Deuteronomy 30:13 with the previous one from Deuteronomy 30:12 with both being dependent on the prohibition in verse 6, “ Do not think in your heart .” We will translate the word, “ or .” Romans 10:7, “Or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” In Romans 10:6, Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 9:4 to teach that the righteousness originating from and based on faith in Christ is non-meritorious. Also, in this passage, he quotes from Deuteronomy 30:12 to teach that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith in Christ does not reject the incarnation by asking the question “ Who will ascend into heaven ?” which is an implicit denial of the incarnation. This question also implies that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith in Christ is not an impossibility and is attainable unlike attempting to obey the Law perfectly, which he mentions in Romans 10:5. Now, here in Romans 10:7, he quotes from Deuteronomy 30:13 to further emphasize that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith in Christ is not an impossibility and is attainable unlike attempting to obey the Law perfectly. Deuteronomy 30:11-14, “For this commandment (love the Lord: See Deuteronomy 30:16) which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.” In this second quotation from Deuteronomy 30, there is a significant difference between Paul’s wording and the original quotation. In Deuteronomy 30:13, we have the question “ Who will cross the sea ?” whereas Paul has “ Who will descend into the abyss ?” He does this since “sea” and “abyss” were many times interchangeable concepts in the Old Testament and in Judaism. As Moo points out some Aramaic paraphrases of the Deuteronomy 30:13 passage used the language of the abyss. Moo writes, “In the LXX, a&byssi$ almost always translates sw)hT (tehom ), which usually refers to the deep places of the sea (BDB), but which in later Judaism was also used of the depths of the earth and the place where evil spirits are confined.” (Douglas J. Moo, The New International 2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2 Commentary on the New Testament, The Epistle to the Romans , page 655; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K., 1988) In Psalm 71:20, the noun abussos is used to translate the Hebrew noun tehom , which in this passage, clearly refers to the place of the dead underneath the earth rather than the sea itself. Psalm 71:20, “You who have shown me many troubles and distresses will revive me again, and will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.” Paul clearly employs this use of abussos in Romans 10:7 where it refers to the abode of the death underneath the earth into which Christ descended immediately after His physical death and rose from three days later. This interpretation is indicated by Paul’s statement “ that is, to bring Christ up from the dead ,” which follows the question “ Who will descend into the abyss ?” The “abyss” is a compartment of Hades/Sheol. “Hades ” is the name given in the New Testament for the temporary quarters for the souls of the dead and “Sheol ” is the name given in the Old Testament. This place contains four compartments: (1) Paradise: the place of the departed souls of believers before the resurrection of Christ (Lk. 23:39-43; Eph. 4:8-9) who were transferred to heaven after the resurrection and ascension of Christ (Eph. 4:10). (2) Torments: the temporary fire for the souls of unbelievers from all dispensations (Lk. 16:19-31) who will be transferred to the Great White Throne Judgment that concludes human history and from there will be cast in the Lake of Fire forever (Rev. 20:11-15). (3) Tartarus: the abode of the fallen angels of Genesis 6 who had sex with woman in order to corrupt the human race and prevent the incarnation of the Son of God (1 Peter 3:18-22; 2 Peter 4; Jude 6). (4) The Abyss: the place of imprisonment for the demons who violated certain rules for angelic creation and will be released during the Tribulation (Lk. 8:30-31; Rom. 10:7; Rev. 20:1-3). Prior to the resurrection, ascension and session of the Lord Jesus Christ, Old Testament saints when they died did not go to the third heaven but rather to Paradise. These Old Testament saints such as Abraham ascended with Jesus Christ into heaven as part of our Lord’s triumphal procession as victor in the angelic conflict and were part of the booty from our Lord’s victory that was accomplished through His death and resurrection. Ephesians 4:8, “Therefore it says, ‘WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.’” “He led host a host of captives ” refers to Old Testament saints that were temporarily residing in the second compartment of Hades called Paradise (Lk. 16; 23:43). 2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 Ephesians 4:9, “(Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?” When it says that our Lord descended into to the lower parts of the earth, it refers to His soul entering Hades and releasing Old Testament saints from Paradise and proclaiming His victory at the cross to the unbelievers in Torments and demons in Tartarus. When our Lord died physically, His physical body went to the grave (Luke 23:50-53), His human spirit went to heaven (Luke 23:46; John 19:30) but His human soul went into Paradise a compartment of Hades (Luke 23:43; Acts 2:27; 2:31; Eph. 4:9). Therefore because of this interchangeability between “sea” and “abyss” Paul could easily change the horizontal imagery of crossing the sea in Deuteronomy 30:13 to the vertical imagery of descent into the Hades/Sheol.
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