Romans 10:5,6 – Two kinds of righteousness

For Moses is writing of the righteousness which is of law, that a man who does the same shall be living in it. Yet the righteousness of faith is saying thus…

That Christ is the consummation of the law (10:4) Paul clarifies by giving two quotes from the books of Moses. The first quote is from Leviticus 19:8 which illustrates “righteousness which is of law.” It is the principle: whoever does these things will live. But it was already established in Romans 2 and 3 that no one meets this criterion and performs sufficiently. “For all sin and fall short…” (Rom. 3:23). So that “righteousness which is of law” only exists in theory

But there is also a “righteousness of faith”. In fact, that is the righteousness that matters to God and that gives Him the glory. “Righteousness of faith” may be opposed to “righteousness of law”, but it is certainly not an invention of the NT writers. Earlier Paul had explained this on the basis of the example of Abraham. But Moses also prophetically announced “the righteousness of faith” in Deuteronomy. The name literally means “second law”. After the first set of tablets of stone were broken because of Israel’s disobedience, God gave a second set to be kept in the Ark of the Covenant… How telling!

Delen: