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In Romans 10:6-9 Paul applies the word spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy 30:11-14 to Christ, indicating that the commandment, which is the word of God (vv. 11, 14), is Christ as the Word (John 1:1; Rev. 19:13), who, as the breath that proceeds out of God’s mouth (cf. Deut. 8:3; 2 Tim. 3:16a), is in our heart and in our mouth:
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In Deuteronomy 30 the it in verse 12 refers to the commandment in verse 11; the commandment of God is the word, and Christ is the unique word of God:
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Whereas verse 13 speaks of the sea, in Romans 10:7 Paul speaks of the abyss, which points to the place Christ visited after His death and before His resurrection, which place is Hades, the region of death as the lower parts of the earth—Acts 2:24, 27; Eph. 4:9.
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To bring Christ down refers to Christ’s incarnation; to bring Christ up from the dead refers to Christ’s resurrection; Christ was incarnated and crucified by coming down from heaven and was resurrected by coming up from Hades (the abyss)—Rom. 10:6-7.
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When we put together Deuteronomy 30:11-14 and Romans 10:6-9, we have a full picture concerning Christ; in this picture we see that Christ was incarnated, that He was crucified and buried, that He went to the abyss, that He arose from among the dead, and that in His resurrection He became the breath, the life-giving Spirit; this is our basis for saying that Christ is unveiled throughout the book of Deuteronomy—John 20:22; 1 Cor. 15:45b.
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Thus, Christ has become the living Word, the Spirit (Eph. 6:17), to be in our mouth and in our heart, just like the air, the breath, that can be taken into our being; He is near, and He is available for us to receive as our life supply, our strength, and our everything by calling on Him—Rom. 10:12-13.
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As the Word of God, the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ Himself, who has become the life-giving Spirit as the breath breathed out by the speaking God, is the word of the law—including the commandments, statutes, and ordinances—rehearsed by Moses in Deuteronomy; in Deuteronomy expressions such as law, commandments, statutes, ordinances, and judgments are synonyms of Christ.
Morning Nourishment
Deut. 30:11-14 …This commandment…is not too difficult…that you should say, Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us to make us hear it and do it? Nor is it across the sea that you should say, Who will go across the sea for us and bring it to us to make us hear it and do it? But the word is very near to you, even in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.If we read Deuteronomy 30:11-14 without Paul’s interpretation in Romans 10, we would not apply these verses to Christ as the Word, much less to Christ as the One who came down from the heavens in incarnation and who, after His death, came out of Hades in His resurrection.
Romans 10:6 says, “The righteousness which is out of faith speaks in this way, Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ that is, to bring Christ down.”…Seemingly, Deuteronomy 30:12 does not speak of bringing Christ down. However, if we consider this verse carefully, we will see that it does refer to Christ….It in verse 12 refers to the commandment in verse 11. What is the commandment of God? The commandment of God is the word. The Bible as a whole reveals that the word is Christ (John 1:1). Christ is the unique word in the universe; He is the real word. The speaking of any other word is a lie. In Paul’s understanding, to bring it (the word) down is to bring Christ down. According to his view of the deeper denotation of Deuteronomy 30:12, the it in this verse denotes the word, the word is the word of God, and the word of God is Christ. Hence, to bring the word down is to bring Christ down. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 11-12)
Today’s Reading
In Romans 10:7 Paul continues, “Or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.” Whereas Deuteronomy 30:13 speaks of the sea, Paul in Romans 10:7 speaks of the abyss….Revelation 9 indicates that Antichrist will come out of the abyss, and Revelation 13 tells us that Antichrist will come out of the sea….The sea, therefore, is the mouth of the abyss. Paul’s point in Romans 10:7 is that in His resurrection Christ came up from the abyss, came up from among the dead....After Christ died on the cross, He went to the abyss, to the region of death and of the satanic power of darkness. This means that He went to Hades, from which He came forth in His resurrection.In Romans 10:8 Paul says, “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, ’ that is, the word of the faith which we proclaim.” The word that is in our heart and mouth is Christ as the breath, as the life-giving Spirit, for in resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b).
When we put together Deuteronomy 30:11-14 and Romans 10:6-8, we have a full picture concerning Christ. In this picture we see that Christ was incarnated, that He was crucified and buried, that He went to the abyss, that He arose from among the dead, and that in His resurrection He became the breath, the life-giving Spirit. Since Christ is now the breath, He, like the air, is everywhere. When we speak to unbelievers about Christ, we can tell them that Christ is in their mouth and in their heart.
We see that these verses show us the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ who has become the life-giving Spirit. Today He is the very breath breathed out by the speaking God. I am happy to tell people that Christ is God incarnated to be a man named Jesus, that He died on the cross for our redemption, that He was buried and that He descended into the abyss, that He was resurrected from Hades, and that in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit as the divine breath. This is the Christ who is now the word of God for us to receive as our life. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 12-13)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1989, vol. 2, “Being Renewed Day by Day, ” chs. 1-2; CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, volume 1, ” ch. 37