“CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH THAT JESUS IS LORD” (ROMANS 10:9–13)
In Romans, Paul writes, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Rom. 10:9–10). In this famous text, which Christians often use when encouraging others to come to Christ for salvation, the apostle states that the saving confession is that “Jesus is Lord” (kyrios) and “that God raised him from the dead.” The confession “Jesus (Christ) is Lord” appears elsewhere in Paul’s epistles (1 Cor. 12:3; Phil. 2:11; cf. 2 Cor. 4:5) and in Acts in slightly different form (Acts 10:36), suggesting that it was likely a pre-Pauline confession familiar generally to Christians in his day. As Paul does regularly in his epistles, he refers in Romans 10 to Jesus as “Lord” and to the Father as “God.” That these are both divine titles in Paul’s usage will become clear as we proceed.3
Paul then states, “For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame’ ” (v. 11). The word “for” (Greek, gar) indicates that Paul is citing this Old Testament reference as support for the statement he has just made about believing in Jesus as the risen Lord. The text is Isaiah 28:16, which Paul has just quoted earlier in the same passage: “They [unbelieving Israel] have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame’ ” (Rom. 9:32b–33). (This is an example of an important principle of biblical interpretation: ignore chapter divisions!) Of course, Jesus is the “stumbling stone” and “rock of offense” in whom those Jews failed to believe for their salvation (see also Matt. 21:42–44; Mark 12:10–12; Luke 20:17–18; Acts 4:10–12; 1 Peter 2:6–8; cf. Eph. 2:20). Paul’s earlier use of Isaiah 28:16 confirms that “him” in Romans 10:11 refers to Jesus, who was just called “him” in verse 9:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him [auton] from the dead.… For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him [autō] will not be put to shame.” (Rom. 10:9, 11)
Next, Paul writes, “For [gar] there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for [gar] the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him” (Rom. 10:12 NASB). Paul uses the conjunction gar twice here to signal that each successive statement provides justification for the one preceding. The reason why everyone who believes in Jesus will not be put to shame is that no distinction is made in this matter of salvation between Jew and non-Jew (“Greek”). Further, the reason why no distinction is made between Jew and Greek is that the same one is Lord (kyrios) “of all,” that is, of all people including Jews and Greeks.
As the italicized Lord in the NASB indicates, the Greek text actually uses the word kyrios here just once in verse 12. The Greek clause is usually translated “the same [Lord] is Lord of all” (LEB; NASB; cf. ESV, NRSV, etc.) or “the same Lord over all” (CSB, KJV, NKJV). Paul’s train of thought is essentially unaffected by this issue. In this context, the “Lord” here must be Jesus, the one just called “Lord” in verse 9. The argument chain using gar to link each statement from verse 9 down to verse 12 makes this clear. Paul uses the same pronoun autos used to mean “him” (i.e., Jesus) in verses 9 and 11, here in verse 12 with the definite article, meaning “the same [one].” Paul cannot be referring to this Lord as “the same” Lord if he is a different Lord than the one he has just mentioned!
Paul states that this same Lord, Jesus, is rich to save “all who call on him.” As we have already noted, calling on Jesus as Lord is an act of prayer, something the book of Acts says Paul himself did when he was baptized (Acts 9:14, 21; 22:16).
Paul then backs up what he is saying with another Scripture reference: “For [gar] ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ ” (Rom. 10:13). This reference is Joel 2:32 (3:5 LXX), the same text that Peter quoted in the first Christian sermon (Acts 2:21). As we saw there, Peter applied Joel 2:32 to calling on Jesus Christ as Lord in baptism (Acts 2:38). Paul does exactly the same thing here in Romans 10, and in a more compressed, tightly argued manner. In context here, the “Lord” on whose name everyone calls for salvation (v. 13) must be “the same” one who is “Lord of all” and who is rich to save everyone who calls on him (v. 12). Since that Lord is Jesus (vv. 9–11), Paul’s quotation in verse 13 is clearly identifying Jesus as the “Lord” of Joel 2:32—who in the Hebrew text is called YHWH, or Jehovah.
Romans 10:12 is the crucial turning point in Paul’s argument chain, and as a result over the years it has particularly vexed Jehovah’s Witnesses, who insist that Jesus is not Jehovah. In a 1977 article, the Watchtower magazine admits the difficulty:
Romans 10:9 definitely refers to Jesus Christ as Lord, and the quotation from Isaiah 28:16 found in Romans 10:11, “None that rests his faith on him will be disappointed,” also applies to Jesus. So if Romans 10:11 is to be directly linked with the Lord of Romans 10:12, the Lord referred to is Jesus Christ.
Of course, Romans 10:11 and 10:12 are directly linked, as we have just explained. But this poses a problem for the Watchtower Society, which is committed to translating kyrios as “Jehovah” in all Old Testament quotations where the Hebrew text has the name YHWH. Such is the case in the very next verse, as the Watchtower article explains:
Furthermore, Romans 10:13, a quotation from Joel 2:32, reads: “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.’ ” Hence, if the calling on the Lord referred to in Romans 10:12 is the same as in Romans 10:13, Jehovah God is the Lord being referred to by Paul.
Based on the Society’s view of the divine name and its rejection of the identity of Jesus as Jehovah, the NWT renders kyrios as “Lord” in Romans 10:9, 12, but as “Jehovah” in 10:13. As we explained earlier (pp. 470–73), the manuscript evidence is overwhelmingly and unanimously against this supposed “restoration” of the divine name in Romans 10:13 or any other New Testament text. Moreover, the Watchtower’s dogmatic assumption that Paul must have meant to refer either to “the Lord Jesus Christ or the Lord Jehovah,” but not both, creates an exegetical difficulty for them in verse 12. Hence, the Watchtower article claims that the interpretation of Romans 10:12 was uncertain: “The identity of the one referred to as ‘Lord’ cannot be established with certainty from the context.” The Society repeats this material almost verbatim in its current Study Edition of the Bible. The identity of the one called “Lord” in Romans 10:12, however, is certainly Jesus Christ—leading to the conclusion that Paul does indeed identify Jesus as the Lord YHWH in 10:13.
J. Ed Komoszewski and Robert M. Bowman Jr., The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2024), 485–488.
In Romans, Paul writes, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Rom. 10:9–10). In this famous text, which Christians often use when encouraging others to come to Christ for salvation, the apostle states that the saving confession is that “Jesus is Lord” (kyrios) and “that God raised him from the dead.” The confession “Jesus (Christ) is Lord” appears elsewhere in Paul’s epistles (1 Cor. 12:3; Phil. 2:11; cf. 2 Cor. 4:5) and in Acts in slightly different form (Acts 10:36), suggesting that it was likely a pre-Pauline confession familiar generally to Christians in his day. As Paul does regularly in his epistles, he refers in Romans 10 to Jesus as “Lord” and to the Father as “God.” That these are both divine titles in Paul’s usage will become clear as we proceed.3
Paul then states, “For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame’ ” (v. 11). The word “for” (Greek, gar) indicates that Paul is citing this Old Testament reference as support for the statement he has just made about believing in Jesus as the risen Lord. The text is Isaiah 28:16, which Paul has just quoted earlier in the same passage: “They [unbelieving Israel] have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame’ ” (Rom. 9:32b–33). (This is an example of an important principle of biblical interpretation: ignore chapter divisions!) Of course, Jesus is the “stumbling stone” and “rock of offense” in whom those Jews failed to believe for their salvation (see also Matt. 21:42–44; Mark 12:10–12; Luke 20:17–18; Acts 4:10–12; 1 Peter 2:6–8; cf. Eph. 2:20). Paul’s earlier use of Isaiah 28:16 confirms that “him” in Romans 10:11 refers to Jesus, who was just called “him” in verse 9:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him [auton] from the dead.… For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him [autō] will not be put to shame.” (Rom. 10:9, 11)
Next, Paul writes, “For [gar] there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for [gar] the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him” (Rom. 10:12 NASB). Paul uses the conjunction gar twice here to signal that each successive statement provides justification for the one preceding. The reason why everyone who believes in Jesus will not be put to shame is that no distinction is made in this matter of salvation between Jew and non-Jew (“Greek”). Further, the reason why no distinction is made between Jew and Greek is that the same one is Lord (kyrios) “of all,” that is, of all people including Jews and Greeks.
As the italicized Lord in the NASB indicates, the Greek text actually uses the word kyrios here just once in verse 12. The Greek clause is usually translated “the same [Lord] is Lord of all” (LEB; NASB; cf. ESV, NRSV, etc.) or “the same Lord over all” (CSB, KJV, NKJV). Paul’s train of thought is essentially unaffected by this issue. In this context, the “Lord” here must be Jesus, the one just called “Lord” in verse 9. The argument chain using gar to link each statement from verse 9 down to verse 12 makes this clear. Paul uses the same pronoun autos used to mean “him” (i.e., Jesus) in verses 9 and 11, here in verse 12 with the definite article, meaning “the same [one].” Paul cannot be referring to this Lord as “the same” Lord if he is a different Lord than the one he has just mentioned!
Paul states that this same Lord, Jesus, is rich to save “all who call on him.” As we have already noted, calling on Jesus as Lord is an act of prayer, something the book of Acts says Paul himself did when he was baptized (Acts 9:14, 21; 22:16).
Paul then backs up what he is saying with another Scripture reference: “For [gar] ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ ” (Rom. 10:13). This reference is Joel 2:32 (3:5 LXX), the same text that Peter quoted in the first Christian sermon (Acts 2:21). As we saw there, Peter applied Joel 2:32 to calling on Jesus Christ as Lord in baptism (Acts 2:38). Paul does exactly the same thing here in Romans 10, and in a more compressed, tightly argued manner. In context here, the “Lord” on whose name everyone calls for salvation (v. 13) must be “the same” one who is “Lord of all” and who is rich to save everyone who calls on him (v. 12). Since that Lord is Jesus (vv. 9–11), Paul’s quotation in verse 13 is clearly identifying Jesus as the “Lord” of Joel 2:32—who in the Hebrew text is called YHWH, or Jehovah.
Romans 10:12 is the crucial turning point in Paul’s argument chain, and as a result over the years it has particularly vexed Jehovah’s Witnesses, who insist that Jesus is not Jehovah. In a 1977 article, the Watchtower magazine admits the difficulty:
Romans 10:9 definitely refers to Jesus Christ as Lord, and the quotation from Isaiah 28:16 found in Romans 10:11, “None that rests his faith on him will be disappointed,” also applies to Jesus. So if Romans 10:11 is to be directly linked with the Lord of Romans 10:12, the Lord referred to is Jesus Christ.
Of course, Romans 10:11 and 10:12 are directly linked, as we have just explained. But this poses a problem for the Watchtower Society, which is committed to translating kyrios as “Jehovah” in all Old Testament quotations where the Hebrew text has the name YHWH. Such is the case in the very next verse, as the Watchtower article explains:
Furthermore, Romans 10:13, a quotation from Joel 2:32, reads: “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.’ ” Hence, if the calling on the Lord referred to in Romans 10:12 is the same as in Romans 10:13, Jehovah God is the Lord being referred to by Paul.
Based on the Society’s view of the divine name and its rejection of the identity of Jesus as Jehovah, the NWT renders kyrios as “Lord” in Romans 10:9, 12, but as “Jehovah” in 10:13. As we explained earlier (pp. 470–73), the manuscript evidence is overwhelmingly and unanimously against this supposed “restoration” of the divine name in Romans 10:13 or any other New Testament text. Moreover, the Watchtower’s dogmatic assumption that Paul must have meant to refer either to “the Lord Jesus Christ or the Lord Jehovah,” but not both, creates an exegetical difficulty for them in verse 12. Hence, the Watchtower article claims that the interpretation of Romans 10:12 was uncertain: “The identity of the one referred to as ‘Lord’ cannot be established with certainty from the context.” The Society repeats this material almost verbatim in its current Study Edition of the Bible. The identity of the one called “Lord” in Romans 10:12, however, is certainly Jesus Christ—leading to the conclusion that Paul does indeed identify Jesus as the Lord YHWH in 10:13.
J. Ed Komoszewski and Robert M. Bowman Jr., The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2024), 485–488.
