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Sermon | Romans 10:5–8 | 2026 April 19
Title: Sermon | Romans 10:5–8 | 2026 April 19
Scripture: Romans 10:5–8 (ESV, reference only)
Date: 2026 April 19
Speaker: Rev. John Chen
Translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)
Scripture: Romans 10:5–8.
Title: The Way of Believing in the Lord (2026 April 19)
Theme Statement: By understanding the true meaning of the Mosaic Law, we may better trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Question Statement: What exactly is the true meaning of the Mosaic Law?
Transition: The essence of the Mosaic Law has the following aspects.
Keyword: Aspects.
Introduction: Today we continue our study of Romans.
To understand the essence of the Mosaic Law.
In Leviticus 18:5, what exactly did Moses mean? Was he telling the Israelites that they must keep the law, otherwise they would certainly perish? Or can it be understood in another way? Is this ultimately a command, or is it a promise?
First, from the context, it especially seems like a command. Leviticus 18:3–5. This is a fact that cannot be denied. However, if it is a command, then the Israelites would have to keep it particularly well, and if they could not keep it, then it would mean eternal perdition, because the word of God cannot possibly be changed.
Yet can man truly keep God’s law perfectly? Is this passage really saying that? Clearly, this is not what Moses meant. Because the following passages show that if it absolutely had to be carried out according to the law, then the nation of Israel would not be able to continue to exist; under the law, the Israelites had already been condemned.
Leviticus 18:8, Genesis 35:22, Reuben violated it; Leviticus 18:12, Exodus 6:20, Amram, the father of Moses and Aaron, violated it; Leviticus 18:18, Genesis 29:30, Jacob (Israel) violated it. Following this line of thought, all the Israelites would have to perish.
Therefore, this passage is a promise. God promises that the one who keeps the law may live forever; but it does not state what the result will be if one does not keep it. In fact, there is only one who can keep the law perfectly in this way, and that is Christ.
For man to live, actually, there is another way, namely, to trust in Christ who fulfilled the law. This point is not explained until Deuteronomy 30.
Then what exactly did Moses mean? The Apostle Paul uses Deuteronomy 30:11–14 to explain the true meaning of this passage from Moses.
Paul says that this passage in Deuteronomy is neither a command nor a promise, but a prophecy. Moses prophesied, saying that these commandments which I command you are not too hard to keep, neither are they far away in heaven nor at the farthest corners of the sea, but they are in the people’s mouth and in the people’s heart.
When Moses spoke this passage, perhaps he himself did not clearly understand how it would be fulfilled; but now Paul says that this passage has been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus.
This prophecy is unfolded by Paul. Paul says that what is spoken of here is Christ. The commandments truly cannot be kept; they are as though in heaven, as though in the realm of the dead, and man indeed cannot be justified through keeping the law. If Leviticus 18:3–5 were a command, then no one could be saved.
But now Christ has come down from heaven and become flesh, so that the law may be fulfilled; Christ has descended into the realm of the dead, so that the law may be accomplished. Therefore Paul says that the prophecy of Moses has already been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit whom Jesus gives, this word indeed is now in our mouth and in our heart.
From this perspective, this is what Paul means when he says that the prophecies of the Old Testament have already been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This is the righteousness that is by faith. Christ has become flesh and come down from heaven. Christ has risen from the dead. Therefore, this word is now in our mouth and in our heart. Moses is calling the Israelites to trust in this Christ who came down from heaven, so that they may live forever.
Since the Lord Jesus has already fulfilled all righteousness, God’s people no longer need to worry about how they themselves can perform this righteousness. Rather, in this righteousness of God, they are to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and with all their heart and all their strength keep the law, in order to live a holy life acceptable to God. This word is not difficult to keep. As long as we are willing in heart, we can obey it.
To trust in the crucified and risen Christ.
Then is trusting in Christ really such an easy thing? Is it the case that, as long as we say with our mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and subjectively believe in our heart that Jesus rose from the dead, we can be saved? Paul is clearly not saying this. We will address this content in the next sermon.
What Paul means here is that through His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus has opened up for us a brand-new way of justification, namely, that we no longer rely on keeping the law to be justified. That road has already been blocked. “The one who does the righteousness that is by the law shall live by it”—this promise can only be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus, and cannot be directly applied to God’s people.
And this other way, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, is the same, namely, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This gospel is not my invention, Paul says, but what Moses proclaimed in the book of the law.
Then what does it mean to trust in Jesus Christ? How does the way of believing in the Lord work in the life of us believers?
First, from the passive aspect, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ mean:
First, they enable us to withstand any harm from the enemy. Because we have already been justified by faith, any denial of us by anyone is not enough to harm us. We are not afraid of being labeled.
Second, we are no longer inferior, nor do we need any other thing to prove our value. In Christ we fully accept our own weakness, and we are brave to repent. We do not need face before men or any proud front. This is an invincible person. We are not afraid of losing anything, even life itself.
Third, we no longer use any worldly things to satisfy our vanity. Because we are sons of God, and this glorious title already represents all our worth.
The gospel thoroughly heals our fragile conscience. We are no longer fearful, and no longer thin-skinned. Man’s problem is that he likes to fear this and fear that, having no true freedom, but always falling under intimidation.
Second, from the active aspect, the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus motivate us to love righteousness and to practice righteousness. Since I already have a test paper with a score of 100, what is there for me to fear?
We are steadfast, courageous, and busy.
All hardships and obstacles are counted as nothing before those who are justified by faith, because Christ has already justified us. We are not afraid of any suffering. We are bold as lions. The law is precisely what we love most. The mission of our life is to obey the law. This word is not far from us. It is in our mouth and in our heart.
The Holy Spirit is continually at work in our heart with reminders and guidance, causing us continually to return to Christ, so that in Him we may keep God’s statutes and ordinances. This is the 1, 2, 1 model that we mention in preaching.
This is not our burden, but our blessing. We experience the joy of living for the Lord. Busyness is also our blessing. A man’s life is most secure only in Christ; in his own hand, it is in the hand of the devil.
Second, we are not afraid of setbacks and failures. Because of the sinful nature that remains in us, failure and weakness are inevitable. Yet we are not troubled by these things. We always forget what lies behind, strain forward to what lies ahead, and press on toward the goal.
Our hearts are filled with joy and hope. The meeting with Jesus Christ is the source of all our joy.
The gospel thoroughly heals our timidity.
We must emphasize both aspects of the work brought by the gospel.
Rather than emphasizing only one aspect. If we emphasize only the passive aspect, then people will fall into antinomianism, and in everything they will fail to grow. Man’s sinful nature will constantly magnify this grace, and he will fall into a kind of spiritual lying flat.
But if we emphasize only the active aspect, then people will become legalists. Because man’s sinful nature will constantly steal God’s glory, as though everything he does depends upon his own ability, while forgetting that all is the grace of God.
This is the change that the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus bring to our life. By His death He tells us that man is powerless and can only depend on His grace. But at the same time, by His resurrection He tells us that we have hope. When we cling tightly to Him, we can live out a holy life.
Christians must guard against two erroneous tendencies.
Conclusion: By understanding the essence of the Mosaic Law, we must give up the fantasy of being justified by works, receive freedom in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus seriously obey God’s law.
Questions: 1. What do the two passages written by Moses each mean?
2. How should we, in our daily life, live out the life of justification by faith?
**Romans 10:5-8** **I. Understanding the True Meaning of the Mosaic Law** Earlier, Paul stated that Christ is the culmination of the law, so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. It is impossible to obtain righteousness by any other means. The Jewish people might object… Read more
**Romans 10:5-8**
**I. Understanding the True Meaning of the Mosaic Law**
Earlier, Paul stated that Christ is the culmination of the law, so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. It is impossible to obtain righteousness by any other means.
The Jewish people might object: "This is your own interpretation, not what Scripture reveals." To prevent the Jews from disputing his views, Paul cites two passages of Scripture to prove that what he previously said is correct.
*Leviticus 18:3-5 (ESV):*
> You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
Here it says that keeping the law brings life — you are to follow His ordinances, and by doing so you shall live. Looking at the context, obeying the commandments leads to life; disobeying leads to death. The Jewish people believed the goal of the law was human conduct, not Christ — that it was one's own deeds that mattered. Paul's choice to cite this passage carries a risk: it could appear that Paul's teaching conflicts with Moses' teaching. Justification by faith seems to contradict the Old Testament law. Paul, anticipating that the Jews would think of this very passage, deliberately brings it up as an example. This text reads more like a command than a prophecy. So isn't Paul contradicting himself? Paul must therefore explain this passage — is it a command, a promise, or a prophecy?
Paul uses the text of Deuteronomy 30 to interpret Leviticus 18.
*Leviticus 18:8 (ESV):*
> You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness.
*Genesis 35:22 (ESV):*
> While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
If Leviticus 18:5 is taken as a command, then the very existence of the tribe of Reuben is itself problematic. Some might argue that Bilhah was not Reuben's stepmother.
*Leviticus 18:12 (ESV):*
> You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's relative.
*Exodus 6:20 (ESV):*
> Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years.
Leviticus says: if a person does these things, he shall live by them. Yet here, Amram married his father's sister — a violation of the law. According to Leviticus 18:5, the very existence of Moses and Aaron is illegal.
*Leviticus 18:18 (ESV):*
> And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.
*Genesis 29:30 (ESV):*
> So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
Leviticus 18:5 is a promise, not a prophecy. The entire chapter of Leviticus 18 is telling the Israelites that Moses, Aaron, and indeed the entire nation of Israel were born out of lawbreaking. Paul is saying: this whole chapter condemns our people — we cannot even exist! Therefore, this text must be understood as a prophecy. Human beings cannot keep the law, and so they must trust in Christ, who alone has fulfilled the whole law.
*Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (ESV):*
> For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
The law is hard to keep — yet suddenly Moses declares: it is not too difficult. Moses is here stopping the mouths of the Israelites. He says the law is not in heaven, nor is it beyond the sea. The Israelites believed the law was too lofty to obey — that since no one can ascend to heaven, and the law is as sublime as heaven itself, they could not keep it. Or they claimed that only people on distant islands could keep it, not them. They were making excuses to Moses. Moses responds: the law is not in heaven, nor is it far away — it is in your mouth and in your heart. Moses is saying that one day the law will be brought down from heaven, retrieved from afar, and placed within your hearts. Moses himself may not have fully understood what would come to pass, but he clearly gave forth this prophecy.
Paul says this passage points to Christ. This is not Paul's own prophecy. Jesus would come down from heaven — the Word made flesh — and would also come from across the distant sea (here recast as "the abyss," referring to resurrection from the dead). Therefore Paul declares that what Moses said — "the word is not far from you" — has already been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Trusting in Jesus brings righteousness.
Using a brief passage of Scripture, Paul makes his point clear: the Israelites had been misreading the Bible all along. They had been reading a prophecy as a command. The existence of the tribe of Reuben, the parents of Moses, Reuben himself — all of these testify that righteousness comes by grace alone, and that no one can be justified by works. There is only one person who could ever be justified by works — Christ. Therefore, any attempt to achieve righteousness through the law is nothing but "one's own righteousness." The entire Pentateuch is telling the story of the gospel. "The heights of heaven and the ends of the sea" have already been fulfilled in Jesus — He has brought the law down to us and has poured out the Holy Spirit. Simply receiving the righteousness of Jesus and trusting in Him is how we are justified. This is called the word of faith.
The Jewish approach to biblical interpretation had gone fundamentally wrong. The law is not a workable path to righteousness. The only way is to trust in Christ, who died for us and rose again.
**II. Trusting in the Crucified and Risen Christ**
Paul's meaning here is that through His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus has opened up an entirely new path of justification for us, so that we no longer need to keep the law in order to be justified. That promise has been fulfilled in Christ — it cannot be applied to God's people as a demand for their own performance. From the Old Testament to the New, there has only ever been one way of salvation for all people: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul invented nothing new. Through the Holy Spirit, Paul showed them the true way of salvation — the very same path walked by all their forefathers: Jacob, Samuel, and David. Resting in the redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ is the only way they could ever be saved.
What difference does this make to our lives? What does trusting in Christ actually do in us?
When a person is truly convinced of the doctrine of justification by faith and rests in God for their righteousness, this works itself out in several ways on the receiving end:
**1. We can withstand any attack from the enemy.** No matter how others may reject or dismiss us, we need not be afraid, and we cannot be defined by the labels others stick on us. Many people dread being labeled — it causes them real pain. But that pain is a matter of their inner state, not their outward achievements. We fear being hurt by others, and all our striving to save face comes from failing to truly believe in justification by faith.
**2. We are no longer paralyzed by inferiority.** We no longer need anything to prove our worth. We don't have to stack up our credentials — our education, our competence, our accomplishments — none of that is necessary. Jesus is our greatest honor. What others think of us loses its grip. We are no longer defined by how others treat us. In Christ, we have nothing left to prove.
**3. We no longer need anything the world offers to feed our vanity**, because the identity of "child of God" encompasses all our worth.
Justification by faith heals every wound, every sense of inadequacy. The elderly may look back on their youth, their loves, their golden years — but what awaits those who have lived only for themselves is judgment. The sun may be shining now, but every person faces the twilight of life, and beyond it, judgment. Every person walks under the weight of a covenant. If someone does not know that the covenant of works rests upon them, what awaits them is the judgment of hell. People do not only die when they are old — death can come at any moment. Stop seeking satisfaction and affirmation from this world.
**On the active side, what changes does this bring to our lives?**
**1. It motivates us to love righteousness all the more.** Because we already hold a perfect score — 100 marks on the test. No matter how the marks are given, it reads 100. We may not even know how to hold a badminton racket, yet when it comes to defeating Satan, the Lord Jesus says: you will win. That perfect score becomes the very encouragement that drives you to do what is right. You are already righteous. Jesus says: keep learning, keep growing — you can do this.
**2. Does this mean we can simply coast and stop pursuing righteousness?** We are called to be active, to keep the law. Even if you have never worked through the Larger Catechism, you still have that 100 — but you are also called to grow toward that 100 in the course of your life. What time did you go to sleep last night? Did you prepare early for worship? The world constantly gives you reasons not to: short-video platforms, endless feeds. The algorithms push you exactly what you love most, and you cannot stop. You tell yourself you will scroll for half an hour before bed, and an hour slips by. Then there are online novels, shopping apps. The world never stops competing for your attention, and it wins. Put down the phone — there are still important things to do — but pick it up again, and an hour is gone before you know it.
Is your heart truly thirsting for Christ? When you come on the Lord's Day, is it with the feeling of someone going to meet the one they love? When money comes in, when your child does well at school, when a promotion arrives — your heart fills with joy. But when you are asked to meditate on Jesus Christ — how the divine nature took on human nature, how He ascended into heaven — these things feel distant and foreign. We do not particularly want to know. We have not truly received the grace of justification by faith. On the active side, we are falling far short.
You must think on Christ in order to love the law, and only then can you keep it. Your time has been swallowed up by online novels. Our church provides daily devotional material, which helps a little — but between rest and distraction, you let slip what you had managed to take in. How long has it been since you prayed, since you meditated on eternal life?
And yet Jesus still says: listen again. He still gathers us back. The love of God is wide and long and high and deep. But toward God, we seem to have no love at all. What does this Jesus have to do with you, really? We ought to give every moment of our lives to Jesus. The longing you feel for someone you love — that is how your heart should feel toward Jesus.
Someone told me yesterday that grown adults will sit and play video games for an entire day. I walked past a lamb noodle shop and saw they only rest two hours a day. And yet we cannot spare a moment. We feel nothing for Jesus at all — but when judgment comes, we will grab hold of Him and cry: Jesus, save me!
A Christian has only one addiction: addiction to Jesus. We must repent. Believing in Jesus is not an invitation to coast. It calls us to be resolute, courageous, and fully engaged. When God fills your time, He is not taking something from you — He is giving you the greatest joy you will ever know.
Your time will be given either to Jesus or to something else. In Jesus, love Him boldly and openly — let your love for Him show. You must pursue your own love relationship with Jesus. I myself am very busy — reading theology, studying English — and you as young people should be just as engaged. Love the Lord who saved us. Are we not always longing for love? Always needing someone's attention? Then come and pursue Jesus.
I heard of someone who, in order to attend a concert by the singer David Tao, refused to let himself get sick — he wanted to show up in his very best condition. He had no fear of taking time off work, no fear of the trouble it would cost him. And David Tao probably never gave him a single glance.
If people of the world will go to such lengths to prepare themselves just to see a celebrity, should we not be at least as passionate in our love for Jesus? We must repent deeply.
For a Christian, justification by faith means we need never be afraid of failure. I may not yet understand the Bible well, but I believe I can become a good Christian — because Jesus loves me. The righteousness of Jesus fills us with joy and hope. Jesus is united to you, and He will bring you into the new heavens and the new earth. This is why Paul could write that great hymn of love in Romans 8 — pouring out with overflowing passion his love for God.
We must make ourselves resolute and busy, filled with joy and hope, fighting sin with courage.