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Paul's great work was saving souls. This is one of the reasons why he so often gives us weighty condensations of the gospel. He prepared them for his brethren, as one provides for travellers portable meats. A compact sentence of this sort is a little Bible, a miniature Body of Divinity', and he who composes such may be working as effectively for the salvation of men as another who preaches. Notice —

I. THAT THE GOSPEL IS A GOSPEL OF FAITH, AND THIS GOSPEL IS EVIDENTLY INTENDED FOR LOST MEN.

1. The law continues life to those who have already life enough to do good work (ver. 5); but the gospel saith not only that we shall live by it, but that we shall be saved by it, which implies that we are lost and ruined.

2. Jesus comes to bring salvation.

(1)  From the punishment of sin.

(2)  From sin itself.

(3)  From the power of sin.

II. THAT SAVING FAITH CONCERNS ITSELF ONLY ABOUT JESUS HIMSELF. Read vers. 6-9.

1. Unbelief saith, "Who shall ascend into heaven? Who shall descend into the abyss?" Unbelief is always starting questions. Faith is of another kind: she takes her stand where Christ is, and she says, "If salvation is anywhere it is in Him."

2. Unbelief dreams of skies and seas, and all immeasurable things. "Who shall ascend into heaven?" Imagination beholds her mighty merits scaling the everlasting ramparts. At another time, when she is heavy, her dream is of a wretched diver into the deep seas of anguish, plunging down into the abyss to find the pearl of peace. Faith has done with dreams, for she has done with Sinai. With open eye faith reads facts. She reflects that Christ died, rose again, and is gone into glory.

3. Unbelief puts a sad slur upon Christ. She talks about going up to heaven: but that would imply that Jesus had never come down. She talks of descending into the abyss, as if Christ had never come up from the dead. The fact is, all that can be done has been done. Why do you want to do what is already done?

III. THAT SAVING FAITH HAS A CONFESSION TO MAKE. Observe —

1. This confession is put first.

(1) Because Paul was quoting from Deuteronomy, and had, of course, to place the words as there arranged. Yet there must be other reasons.

(2) Because it is most likely to be forgotten. We have plenty of preaching of "Believe and live." Christ said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Now, baptism is the confession of our faith. The faith to which salvation is promised is never a dumb faith; it is a faith which owns the Lord even in the teeth of adversaries.

(3) Because it is first as far as our fellow-creatures are concerned. How can I know what yon believe in your heart? I must first hear what you confess with your mouth. "Speak, that I may see you."(4) Because in a certain sense it is actually first. Many persons never receive comfort because they have never confessed. The Lord will not give to you the warmth of faith unless you are willing to yield the obedience of faith by taking up your cross and confessing Him.

2. What it is that is to be confessed: "The Lord Jesus."(1) The Deity of Christ. He who denies this puts himself out of court, for he rejects that part of the Redeemer's character which is essential to His being a Saviour.

(2) That Jesus is Lord; i.e., Ruler and Master. You must cheerfully become His disciple, follower, and servant.

(3) Jesus, i.e., Saviour.

3. This confession is very definite. It is not to be an inference drawn in silence from your life, but a declared statement of the mouth. If the apostle meant that we were merely to obey Christ, he would have said so. Why is this? Because confession with the mouth is —

(1) A sort of breaking away from the world. When a man says, "I believe in Christ," it is as good as saying to the world, "I have done with you."(2) A way of forming a visible union with Jesus. When a man confesses Christ he takes sides with Him and His cause.

(3) Useful to the outside world as a witness reproving their ungodliness, and inviting them to a better mind. The confessions of the saved are often the means of saving others. This is a hard saying to some of you. You have good points about you, but you do not let your light shine before men. Your candle is under a bushel: it cannot burn well in so confined a space. If it is God's own fire, and you put it under a bed to hide it, it will soon set the bed on a blaze. Mischief comes of suppressed truth.

IV. THAT FAITH HAS A GREAT COMFORT TO ENJOY.

1. She has truth of which she must speak with her mouth; but she has also facts which she ponders in her heart. "With thy heart believe that God hath raised Him from the dead" — does not only mean that you believe the fact, but so believe it that it warms and comforts our heart.

2. Why is salvation promised especially to this? Because —

(1) All the rest of Christ's history is implied and included in it. If He was raised from the dead, then He must have died. If He died, then He must have been a man, and have been born.

(2) It is confirmatory of the whole. By raising Him the Father set His seal upon His person as Divine, upon His office as commissioned of God, upon His life as well-pleasing, and upon His death as being accepted of God for full atonement.

(3) It is the source of the heart's best comfort. We shall rise to glory because He rose to glory. How this ought to cheer those who are near despair! How it should encourage those who lie at death's door!

V. THAT FAITH HAS A SURE PROMISE TO REST UPON. "If thou believest . . thou shalt be saved."

1. The singular pronoun, "thou," sets its mark upon you. Put thine ear to this telephone; a voice speaks to thee.

2. Observe the absence of "ifs" and "buts." It is not "thou mayest be saved," but "thou shalt be saved."

3. There is a sort of passiveness about the expression "be saved." The text does not speak about what you are going to do, but about something that is to be done for and in you.

4. There never was, and there never will be, a man that with his mouth confessed the Lord Jesus, and with his heart believed that God raised Him from the dead, that was not saved.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

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KJV: For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

WEB: For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, "The one who does them will live by them."