Paul's use of Deuteronomy 30 in Romans 10 has puzzled interpreters and led to many divergent readings. In this book, Smothers argues that what Paul has found in Deuteronomy 30:11-14 is a prophetic promise of righteousness which he declares fulfilled in the gospel of the Lord Jesus, the message of the righteousness of faith. By quoting Deuteronomy 30:12-14 in Romans 10 as the content of the message of the righteousness of faith over against Leviticus 18:5 and the righteousness of the law in Romans 10:5-8, Paul proclaims a promise fulfilled in accord with the original meaning of the text written by Moses in Deuteronomy. More precisely, Paul reads Deuteronomy 30:11-14 as an extension of the reality foretold in Deuteronomy 30:1-10, which points forward to the new covenant experience of faith-empowered obedience, or heart circumcision, which includes the internalization of the word of God--the eschatological torah--by the Spirit of God.
