The Word Is In Your Mouth and In Your Heart
But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith that we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:8-13
Paul uses Deuteronomy 30:11-14 extensively in this passage:
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
In its context Moses’ purpose was to prevent the Israelites from evading responsibility for doing the will of God by pleading that they did not know it. In God’s laws, mediated through Moses and set forth in Deuteronomy, God had made His will for His people known to them. Paul found in this passage an expression of the grace of God in establishing a relationship with His people. As God brought His word near to Israel so they might know and obey Him, so God now brings His word ‘near’ to both Jews and Gentiles that they might know Him through His Son and respond in faith and obedience. Because Christ rather than the law is now the focus (10:4), Paul can replace the commandment of Deuteronomy 30:11-14 with Christ. Just as Israel could not plead the excuse that she did not know God’s will, so now, Paul says, neither Jew nor Gentile can plead ignorance of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ.
So what Moses has said about the law, Paul affirms about the gospel. It is neither remote nor unavailable. Christ has come and has died, and been raised and is immediately accessible by faith. Everything necessary has already been done. Christ Himself is near and the gospel of Christ is near. It is in the heart and mouth of every believer. The whole emphasis is on the close, ready, easy accessibility of Christ and His gospel.
What is the positive, accessible message of ‘the righteousness of faith’ (contrasting the curse of the law for those who try to follow that pathway [10:5])? ‘But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith’ (the message requiring a response of faith – the gospel) ‘that we’ (the apostles) ‘are proclaiming’ (10:8). Picking up from the reference to the peoples’ ‘mouth’ and ‘heart’ in Deuteronomy 30:14 just quoted, Paul now summarises the gospel in these terms: ‘if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” (the earliest and simplest of Christian creeds) and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved’ (10:9). The heart and mouth, inward belief and outward confession belong together. ‘For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved’ (10:10). Reversing the order from 10:9 (where the mouth was first, followed by the heart), faith in the heart leads to justification; confession with the mouth leads to salvation. There is no contextual difference between justification and salvation. Similarly, the content of the belief and the content of the confession need to be merged. Implicit are the truths that Jesus Christ died, was raised, was exalted, and now reigns as Lord, bestowing salvation on those who believe. This is the message of ‘the righteousness that is by faith’ (10:6).