157. The Word in Nearby
Deuteronomy 30:14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
The Lord promises us that The Word is very near to you, so that you will be able to keep it. The Word is not in heaven (outer space) nor beyond the sea (past the troubles of life) so that you cannot reach it. The Word is as close as your mouth and your heart so that you may keep it. The commandment that the Lord commands is not hidden or far off (verse 11). This promise is in the context of the conditional promises of the covenant: blessings will come if you keep the commandments.
Paul in Romans 10 quotes this verse, in which he says that you can and you may, with the mouth, confess Jesus as Lord, and you can and you may, with the heart, believe that God raised Him from the dead. This repentance and faith meets the condition of keeping the Commandments, and the impossible (keeping the Law perfectly) become possible (repentance and faith in the Gospel). God promises this possibility because of Christ and His work on the cross and in the tomb. Repent of the Law and believe the Gospel; the Law produces repentance and the Gospel produces faith. Then the promise: “you may do it.” The Word is the Gospel of Jesus Christ dying and rising for us. The promise is twofold: this Word is nearby, as close as our faith; believe it; secondly, the Gospel makes it possible to actually do the Law better than we could without it. The Gospel is the power to save and sanctify.
So the promise comes true for us in living it out: we confess our sins and our Savior with the mouth (we say it out loud); we believe Jesus died and rose for us to give us forgiveness, life and salvation. Confessing Jesus and believing Him provides the power and ability to actually do the Law better than before. We go to church every week; we study the Bible with a small group; and we pray, repent and believe by ourselves alone every day.