Understanding Romans 10:13 - “For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””

Romans 10:13 says: “For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””

Notice that the verse begins with “For"? Take a text out of context and you'll be left with a con: understanding the verse in its context is hinged on understanding the preceding verse 12. Verse 12 itself begins with “For"-

“12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””

So do verses 11 and 10 - they both begin with “For.” Verse 9 has a colon (:) before it, meaning that its context is contingent on verse 8. Verse 8 begins with “In fact," meaning that its context is contingent on verse 7, which itself begins with “And", and so on.

To cut a long story short, the books of the Bible weren’t divided into chapters and verses when they were written. For example, Romans 1- end was just one loooong letter written by Paul - inspired by the Holy Spirit. Bible scholars divided the books into chapters and verses.

Taking books, chapters and verses out of their context is like reading a verse from Genesis “...Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.” and yet another in Luke - “Go and do likewise” to mean that we must slay our brothers. The entire Bible is like a perfect embroidery with no loose ends, all the books, chapters, verses and punctuations inter-connected, making sense and giving life as a whole to all who believe and only through God’s Wisdom for all who believe - Grace Himself: Jesus Christ.

Here's Romans 10:1-13 in sections. This passage is the key to right believing and salvation from all earthly ills through Jesus Christ whom all who believe call upon-

Verses 1-4: “Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with Himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God.”

“the people of Israel” here were very zealous about right living but they tried to attain righteousness by keeping the law. Paul called their enthusiasm misdirected. The futility of trying to get right with God by keeping the law and how all who believe in Jesus Christ are righteous in God's sight and apart from obeying the law is a recurring theme in Romans.

See verses 5-10: “For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth).7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says,

“The message is very close at hand;

 it is on your lips and in your heart.”

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

See the NKJV of verses 9–10, the condition for our salvation:

“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

A person can confess Jesus as Lord all he wants but he is not saved unless he believes that God has raised Him from the dead - this encompasses believing what Christ accomplished for us through His being raised from the dead. But why was Christ raised from the dead? What did He accomplish for us through His resurrection? This is the key to right believing:

God raising the Lord Jesus from the dead was not just because He could. His resurrection is the divine receipt showing that we who believe have been forgiven of all of our sins and made righteous by His "single sacrifice for sins, good for all time" (Hebrews 10:12.) This according to Romans 4:25-

“Who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous."

See the TPT: “Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!”

Christ would not have risen from the dead if our lifetime of sins had not been forgiven and we had not been declared righteous by God. His resurrection is akin to seeing someone who went to serve a death sentence in an impregnable prison for the crimes of another walking free.

The wages of sin is death. One death. Christ died that death ONCE for ALL. He died the death that the Law demanded of us, fulfilling every single demand that the Law made of us. Hebrews 9 tells us:

"27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. ..."

Believer, Jesus is not going to come and die again or demand payment for sins that you might commit in the future. All of our lifetime of sins have been fully paid by Him. This is Grace- undeserved, unearned unmerited favour. Many people wrongly think that God’s abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ will make people go on sinning sprees, but His word says differently in Romans 5:16–17:

“16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”

On the flip side, 1 Corinthians 15:56 says: “It is sin that gives death its sting and the law that gives sin its power.” Sin strengthens its grip over those who try to keep the law in order to be holy: “For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace.” Romans 6:14. But many have this verse backwards. The message of the cross is illogical to human reasoning. Our salvation and life in Christ is a mystery to the world and not subject to human logic or common sense. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:18:

18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God."

As believers, we know that the wages of our lifetime of sins (death and all of its symptoms aka earthly ills) have been fully paid and we have everlasting righteousness because Christ is risen. This righteousness is not dependent on how well we obey the law or the good things we do. It is a gift of Grace. This helps us see Romans 10:10 in its context:

"9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Salvation here is not just being saved to go to heaven; it is also deliverance from the molestation of enemies and redemption from all earthly ills. It is being saved from the power, pleasure and penalty of sin. The word used in the original Greek text of the New Testament is Swthria (pronounced soteria) and it encompasses all these meanings.

When you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and speak out your righteousness in Christ that you believe in your heart, salvation follows. This is crucial for every believer, especially when Satan the Accuser fires fiery darts of accusations — strongholds/reasonings, imaginations and thoughts that try to get us to take up the burden of guilt for our sins — to trick us into coming under the judgment of the Law. See this in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,"

From what we are up against in the verses above, we see that this warfare that Paul wrote of here isn't fought in some coven, church building or some mountaintop; what we are up against is "arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God" and "thoughts." Satan the Accuser is a legalist. Ha Satan is literally “prosecutor at Law” in Hebrew. The battleground for this warfare is our minds where we analyse thoughts and arguments that tell us that we are not righteous (like God) and try to condemn us so that judgment can follow- the same processes found in any regular court of law.

Satan the Accuser can't just go about slapping judgment/punishment on anyone. He is a prosecuting attorney who's out to accuse, get convictions and ensure that the sinner gets the harshest judgment: Death. But all have sinned. Christ died our death. Once.

We overcome not through carnal weapons (human effort at getting a “not guilty" verdict) such as doing restitution like Judas, promising to keep the law and be more obedient or attempting to break generational curses with 40 days' dry fasting when Christ already hung on the tree to redeem us from the curse of the Law. We overcome Satan by bringing the weapons of the enemy (accusations of the Accuser) into captivity to the obedience of Christ, according to the same passage.

But what is the obedience of Christ? Who better to interpret the Word than the Word Himself! Romans 5:19 tells us all about the obedience of Christ and who we are because of His obedience-

"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous."

Satan’s strategy has not changed since he deceived Eve in Eden: In this court of law that is the mind, all who depend on their own obedience/human effort at being godly (be like God) stand accused and condemned. Death (preceded by its symptoms of earthly ills) is the outcome.

The law condemns all who try to do the seemingly good thing of keeping it in a bid to be declared “Not Guilty" by God the Righteous Judge. This is the way that seems right to man (attaining godliness by human strength as Adam and Eve tried to do) but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12.) The ones on this wrong way are no different from Peter when he implied that Christ didn't know what He was saying when He told him about his then upcoming denials; Peter ended up falling flat on his face three times. The ones on this broad road are like Judas who sinned and tried to get back into God's good books via his human strength (arm of flesh.)

Depression and suicidal thoughts are not far from churchgoers who tow this path of pridefully trusting in their arm flesh that will fail aka human strength/ability to be godly like God. Such reject Christ as their Bearer of sins and Advocate. Such reject the witness/testimony of the Holy Spirit who witnesses to us that, based on Christ's single sacrifice for sins that is good for all time, God the Righteous Judge does not remember our sins and lawless deeds (Hebrews 10:12-18). Notice these are all judicial terms:

• God the Righteous Judge who has declared all who believe in Jesus “Not guilty.”
• Christ our Advocate and Bearer of sins.
• The witness/testimony of the Holy Spirit to us (Hebrews 10:17.)
• Satan the “accuser of our brethren” who brings charges against believers in Christ (the brethren) day and night? This helps us see Revelation 12 in its context:

"10 Then I heard a strong (loud) voice in heaven, saying, Now it has come—the salvation and the power and the kingdom (the dominion, the reign) of our God, and the power (the sovereignty, the authority) of His Christ (the Messiah); for the accuser of our brethren, he who keeps bringing before our God charges against them day and night, has been cast out!

11 And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing]."

Beloved of God, like any earthly prosecuting attorney, the only weapon in Satan's arsenal is the law which he uses to accuse and which condemns all who think they can keep even a jot of it in order to merit the favour of God the Righteous Judge. Such who try have dismissed Christ as their Advocate and Bearer of sins - “For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's Grace.” Galatians 5:4.

We overcome Satan the accuser by the blood of the Lamb (by which we are made righteous in God's sight- Romans 5:9) and the word of our testimony (which is the same testimony of the Holy Spirit to us in Hebrews 10:17) which we proclaim.

This is how Satan kills and destroys: he has to steal “the word of our testimony” that says we are declared “not guilty"/made right with God through the blood of Jesus and escape God's wrath because of Christ's sacrifice and nothing else. Satan's accusations/charges can only stick where one is depending on his own strength and not utterly depending on Christ our Advocate and Bearer of sins in order to “not perish but have everlasting life.” Judgment (death preceded by its symptoms of earthly ills e.g. stupid mistakes at work, depression and sickness) must fall on all who reject Christ as their righteousness and are striving to be godly/righteous (be like God) by their human strength as Adam and Eve tried to do.

Believers, by Grace, never trust yourself to be good like God even the tiniest bit. Trust in Christ who restores sinners and failures to glory as he did with Peter.

Some church leaders try to compartmentalize the law into moral law/oral law/ceremonial law and say that we who believe are still subject to some of these compartments of the law. What a horrid antichrist teaching! The law is a whole and just like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (a picture of the law which many are eating of in a bid to be godly/be like God - see Romans 7:8-12 The Message) which has many parts, eating of any part of the law (letter) kills, whether moral, oral, ceremonial or the one with which man privately judges himself in his heart (see Romans 2:12-15)

Romans 7 also shows us that the law that we who believe are dead to includes the Ten Commandments; Paul used the 10th Commandment (You shall not covet) as an example in this chapter. In Christ, we are not under law but under Grace. We have no righteousness of our own. The Lord Himself is our Righteousness. In Christ, we have salvation from every earthly ill and death in hell. Romans 5:9 says of God:

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

As it is in any earthly court of law, there is no condemnation for those who are righteous in God's sight. See Romans 8:33-

“Who then would dare to accuse those whom God has chosen in love to be His? God himself is the Judge who has issued His final verdict over them—“Not guilty!””

Whatever man thinks that he has to do by his own strength (arm of flesh that will fail) in order to get right with God, “not perish but have everlasting life,” escape Satan's oppression or be godly like God is law. No matter the nature- oral, moral, ceremonial- accepting guilt for sins that Christ suffered and died to take away upon accusation and trying to escape judgment by human strength is being under law.

When you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and speak out your righteousness in Christ that you believe in your heart, salvation, including salvation from sins and every earthly ill, follows, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:10.

With this background/context, we can address Romans 10:13.

Romans 10:10-13- “10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””

Believing Jesus entails having Him as our utter Source of Righteousness and Strength. We have none of ours. Looking utterly to Him for Salvation with this mindset is calling on His name. And this is how we who believe are saved. Recall “saved" here is not just being saved to go to heaven; it is also deliverance from the molestation of enemies and redemption from all earthly ills. It is being saved from the power, pleasure and penalty of sin. The word used in the original Greek text of the New Testament is Swthria (pronounced soteria) and it encompasses all these meanings.

This is Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Grace is for sinners, not those who can save themselves from their sins/Satan's charges or obey the law in order to be godly aka “be like God” and earn a ticket to heaven. Beloved of God, Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him: "God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."

Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Christ is Saviour from sins. He saves from the cancer of sin and the death (earthly ills are “death begun) that follows. No man can save himself. We all need God's saving Grace. For all who believe in Jesus Christ, God the Righteous Judge sees us as righteous, "even though we are guilty of many sins"- Romans 5:16-

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.”

It is because of those sins that He came- to save us from them all. Beloved of God, beware of “spiritual wickedness in high places” pastors whose trade is describing this truth of Grace (God's word!) as “blasphemy”/“license to sin.” Such point out sin and ungodliness in man and then promote the attainment of righteousness/godliness (be like God) by human effort aka the arm of flesh. This is the same seemingly good but deathly false doctrine that Satan used to deceive Eve in Eden.

Peddlers of this false doctrine never point you to Jesus Christ the Tree of Life who gave His life to make us godly/righteous in God's sight (Romans 5:9) and to free us from every kind of sin (Titus 2:14.) They preach that God's abundance of Grace and His gift of Righteousness to us in Christ are license to sin and tell you to depend on the knowledge of good and evil (law-keeping) in order to be rigteous/godly aka be like God. But God's word says differently. His word says receiving His abundance of Grace and His gift of Righteousness to us in Christ is the Way to live in triumph over sin and death:

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:16-17.

Come to Christ with your baggage of sins and imperfections and experience what He came to do:

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21.