by Timothy W. Burnett
The above scripture is set in the context of Romans 10:9-10, which shows the pre-requisites for salvation. It sets a pre-requisite order that culminates in salvation. The order may be understood better in reverse as follows: God calls the preacher to preach the Gospel, the preacher preaches, people hear the Gospel from the preacher, people believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ which they heard from the preacher, and people call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in whom they believed.
According to Romans 10:13, to "call upon the name of the Lord" results in salvation. With this in mind, the next verse is understood as follows, "How then shall they call on him [for salvation], in whom they have not believed." To believe is set as a pre-requisite to calling upon the name of the Lord. The requistite of believeing with the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead must be met, before anybody can start calling upon the name of the Lord for salvation. Based on Romans 10:9-10 it could be said that the condition of righteousness, or being filled with holy spirit, must be met before people can begin calling upon the name of the Lord for salvation.
Wait a minute! It says in Romans 10:9-10, "if you shall confess with the mouth." How can this be so? Two different phrases are used to describe something that results in salvation. They are "confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus," and "call upon the name of the Lord." God's word is not ambiguous. If God uses two different phrases for something that results in one thing, then the two phrases must refer to the same thing.
We haven't completely established in this study what the two phrases refer to, but we do know a few things about it. It involves the vocal use of the mouth to declare the Lord Jesus. It is calling out to be rescued in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It can not occur until after people believe with the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, which is unto righteousness or being filled with the spirit of God.
A study of the word "confess" leads to 1Corinthians 12:3, "...no man speaking by the spirit of God calls Jesus accursed. And no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." The thing that ties this verse with Romans 10:9-10 is the reference to saying that Jesus is the Lord. In essence, this phrase refers to the same thing as confessing with the mouth the Lord Jesus. The word "confess" in Romans 10:9-10 meant to declare something freely. It can refer to a mental and/or vocal confession. One exception is when it is used with the word "mouth," in which case it would only refer to a vocal declaration.
Both phrases, to speak by the spirit of God and to say that Jesus is the Lord by the Holy Ghost refer to spoken words that are given by the spirit of God. Next week we will look at 1Corinthians 14:1-18 which shines more light on what it means to speak with the spirit of God.
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