Romans 10:6,7 – Neither difficult, nor far off

… You may not be saying in your heart, who will be ascending into heaven? – that is , to be leading Christ down – or Who will be descending into the submerged chaos? – that is, to be leading Christ up from among the dead.

Here Paul freely quotes from Deuteronomy 30:12,13. Through Moses, God lets Israel know that once they are converted, they will also understand “the book of the Torah” (30:10). And that commandment turns out not to be difficult or far off (30:11).

What is called “the commandment” in Deuteronomy 30, Paul understands in his explanation as Christ. Those aren’t two different things, it’s one. After all, Christ is the object and content of the law (Rom.10:4). And he is not far away. Christ does not need to be taken from heaven.

Nor does one have to descend into the abyss. While Deuteronomy 30 gives the impression that it is about the other side of the sea (= horizontal), Paul understands it here as the bottom of the sea (= vertical). Man need not raise Christ out of the abyss, for God raised him from the dead. The word of the law is fulfilled by God Himself. It is not more difficult!

Delen: