Devine Scripture

Romans 10:7

What does Romans 10:7 mean?

A plain-English look at Romans 10:7 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Romans 10:7 means

The righteousness of faith also says we must not ask, “Who will descend into the abyss?” That would imply Christ’s resurrection remains to be secured by human effort. But God has already raised Him. Faith recognizes that salvation rests on Christ’s accomplished descent into death and His triumphant rising. We are not called to recreate redemption but to trust the Redeemer. By denying both upward and downward quests, Paul excludes every imagined human path to obtain Christ. The gospel proclaims a finished work—Christ has come from heaven and risen from the grave—so faith looks away from self and rests on Him.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

Or, Who will go down into the deep? (that is, to make Christ come again from the dead:)

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

or, `Who shall go down to the abyss,' that is, Christ out of the dead to bring up.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Or who shall descend into the deep? That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

or, Who shall descend into the abyss? that is, to bring up Christ from among [the] dead.

Context

Verse 7 complements verse 6’s denial of human ascent. By refusing both ascent to bring Christ down and descent to bring Him up, Paul magnifies the sufficiency of Christ’s incarnation and resurrection. Verse 8 will gather the thought into a declaration of nearness: the saving word is immediately available. Verses 9–10 will then state how this nearness is embraced—heart belief and mouth confession centered on Jesus as Lord and on His resurrection. Thus, verses 6–7 clear away self-reliant illusions to make room for simple, Christ-centered faith.

v.6But the righteousness which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down:)

v.7This passage

v.8But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach:

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Revelation 1:18

    and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

  • Romans 4:25

    who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.

  • Hebrews 13:20

    Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus,

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