Questions From Readers
● Who is the “Lord” mentioned in Romans 10:12, the Lord Jesus Christ or the Lord Jehovah?
Romans 10:12 reads: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for there is the same Lord over all, who is rich to all those calling upon him.” The identity of the one referred to as “Lord” cannot be established with certainty from the context.
Throughout the centuries Bible scholars have not been in agreement as to whether Paul meant the Lord Jesus Christ or the Lord Jehovah. 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.
On the other hand, in Romans 10:9 Paul speaks of ‘exercising faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead.’ This shows that faith in Jehovah God is also essential for salvation. 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. The thought would then be the same as that expressed at Romans 3:29: “Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of people of the nations? Yes, of people of the nations also.”