10:8 {5} But what saith it? The {f} word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
(5) Calling comes by the word preached.
(f) By word, Moses understood the law which the Lord proclaimed with his own voice: and Paul applied it to the preaching of the Gospel, which was the perfection of the law.
10:8 But what saith it? What does God's righteousness demand? It replies that we do not have to go either to heaven or to hades to lay hold of salvation, but that
the word is nigh thee. The gospel is at hand. Faith in it, nourished in the heart and openly confessed, will secure salvation. This is more fully explained in the next verse.
10:8 But what saith he - Moses. Even these words, so remarkably applicable to the subject before us. All is done ready to thy hand. The word is nigh thee - Within thy reach; easy to be understood, remembered, practised. This is eminently true of the word of faith - The gospel. Which we preach - The sum of which is, If thy heart believe in Christ, and thy life confess him, thou shalt be saved.
10:5-11 The self-condemned sinner need not perplex himself how this righteousness may be found. When we speak of looking upon Christ, and receiving, and feeding upon him, it is not Christ in heaven, nor Christ in the deep, that we mean; but Christ in the promise, Christ offered in the word. Justification by faith in Christ is a plain doctrine. It is brought before the mind and heart of every one, thus leaving him without excuse for unbelief. If a man confessed faith in Jesus, as the Lord and Saviour of lost sinners, and really believed in his heart that God had raised him from the dead, thus showing that he had accepted the atonement, he should be saved by the righteousness of Christ, imputed to him through faith. But no faith is justifying which is not powerful in sanctifying the heart, and regulating all its affections by the love of Christ. We must devote and give up to God our souls and our bodies: our souls in believing with the heart, and our bodies in confessing with the mouth. The believer shall never have cause to repent his confident trust in the Lord Jesus. Of such faith no sinner shall be ashamed before God; and he ought to glory in it before men.
