In Romans 10:9-13, Paul tells us how we can be saved:

“if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (verse 9)

He then tells us in verse 12, that this applies to everyone, both Jew and Gentile. All are saved on the same basis – calling on the name of the Lord. The ethnicity of the caller is irrelevant.

Calling on someone’s name, means to be calling on everything that makes them “them” – their character etc. So it is calling on the Lord on the basis of his lordship, mercy, grace and forgiveness etc.

But who is the Lord in this passage? From verse 9, we see it is Jesus. However, Paul is quoting from Joel 2:32 in verse 13. In Joel, the Lord being called on is in fact YHWH (God’s name). But Paul has no problem in applying this verse to Jesus, thus equating Jesus with YHWH.

Whether we call on YHWH or Jesus, we are calling on the name of the Lord and will be saved.

If we pursue salvation, as Paul tells us the Jews did (a few verses earlier in Romans 9:32), as if it is by works, then we won’t be saved. If we pursue it by calling on the Lord and depending on (trusting, putting our faith in) him for our salvation, then we will be saved.

Are you calling on the name of the Lord, or depending on yourself? The popular idea these days is that “I did it my way” (as sung by Frank Sinatra). Take warning, that way leads to destruction. Jesus’ way leads to life.