Paul, taking up Scripture again, confronts a very specific temptation: believing that righteousness can be attained by human efforts. In Romans 10:6-7 he cites the rhetorical questions — "Who will ascend into heaven?" and "Who will descend into the abyss?" — to show that God's work does not depend on our ritual feats nor on a spiritual ladder to bring Christ. The "righteousness that is of faith" is defined in opposition to the righteousness of the law, because it does not require a human ascent toward God, but a trusting reception of what He has done.