Chapter 10 of Romans begins with Paul’s desire for the salvation of anyone who would listen. Yet there must be a discernment. It seems people were trying to tell God what to do. It is Jesus who judges us, not we who judge him. We have to play by God’s standards, it is not God who has to play by our standards.  

Jesus is even the one who judges by the law because He is the one who established it in the first place. During Jesus’ time, the fullness of the law was not established. The reason why Jesus came is to bring it to fulfillment. This is why He gave us the beatitudes in Matthew, Chapter 5. That is also why He died on the cross. Dying on the cross bought us our salvation, but was also a teaching moment by being an example.
Moses is a pre-figurement of the Papacy. Moses is a type of the pope. The Ten Commandments were given directly by God, but the rest of the law was written by the judgements that Moses had to make as he was hearing the cases for each dispute. It was a compilation of the wisdom Moses had put together. God deemed this work as binding in the same way as the Pope’s messages and decisions of judgements. They were more practical decisions of daily life. It was a way of life that the people were still bound to.
Jesus came to fulfill the entire law of the Ten Commandments and the practical law of Moses. The law of Moses is great and it does bear an abundant fruit if you live by these principles (v5). Great as they are, they do not get us to heaven alone. Even if we live a perfect life, it is not the perfect life that gets us to heaven; it is the faith by which we live our life that opens the door to heaven. Our faith in Jesus makes us call upon His name. Calling on God’s name shows a relationship has been established. You typically would not call on a name from someone you do not trust. So calling on His name also indicates faith in Jesus. It illustrates for us that the pathway to salvation has been established for that person.
This puts the context to verse 9 when it says, “for, 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.” If you really have faith in Jesus, then that faith will be integrated with the body. No paying lip service to Jesus. Notice, scripture does not say, “you are saved,” but rather, “will be saved.” We actually have faith in Jesus that He will definitively save us at the end of our lives at the time of our individual judgement. That is why scripture also says, “not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven…” (Mt 7:21). Common sense tells us this as Paul eluded to at the beginning of this chapter, “but is not discerning” (v2).
To believe, we need people to tell us the good news (14-17). This is why it is so important that we, as priests, deacons, bishops, religious sisters and brothers, as well as others in the pew, give each other those words of encouragement and remind us of His message. Every one of us is an important part of God’s plan for the salvation of souls (v1). Some people may not be open to God’s word, at least not yet (v18-21). We do not fret at this. We only carry on God’s will and open ourselves to His grace that overflows onto whom He has chosen and those who are open. I thank God every day that He puts people into my life that I may grow ever closer to Him.