Why "calling upon the name of the Lord" to be saved refutes Justification by Faith Alone (Romans 10:9-10).

Protestants are fond of quoting Romans 10:9-10 as 'clear Biblical proof' that we are saved by faith alone. Yet a careful look at the verse doesn't actually say this, and in fact suggests the opposite. I've posted about this in the past (HERE), but after some recent discoveries I'd like to build on what I originally said. The passage in question says:

Romans 10: 9 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. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Notice that this text explicitly says you must do two things: believe and confess. This, taken plainly, refutes salvation by faith alone. If you bring this up, Protestants will squirm and make excuses, but it really does expose a flaw in their thinking. The more they try to explain, the less convincing faith alone sounds. 

Also worth noting is that the only place where "believe" and "confess" appear in the same passage (that I was able to find) are found in John 12:42, which is quite helpful here: "many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue". Based on this Scripture-interprets-Scripture situation, it is clear that believing alone is not enough. Many believed in Jesus but were too afraid to openly confess Him. So this confessing before men refers to affirming you're a Christian and be willing to 'suffer the consequences'. Obviously, this is very devastating to Protestant theology, because if someone denies Jesus, that is not confessing him before men, they wont be saved per Paul's argument (cf Matt 10:33; 2 Tim 2:12). But I've come across something more fascinating to add to the above. 

The phrases "confess with your mouth" and "call upon the name of the Lord" are typically assumed to refer to merely speaking words, or simply praying, by affirming Jesus is your Savior. But actually these phrases are more likely speaking of a formal liturgical function. The "confessing" and "calling" are liturgical rites, and here's some good reason to think this:

• Gen 4:25-26 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
• Genesis 12:8 From there he [Abraham] moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
• Genesis 13:3-4 And he [Abraham] journeyed on from the Negeb, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.
• Genesis 21:32-33 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.
• Genesis 26:25 So he [Isaac] built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.
• 1 Kings 18:22-24 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.”
• 1 Chronicles 16:1-9 And they brought in the Ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord: Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!
• Ps 105:1-2 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!
• Ps 116:13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
• Zeph 3:9-10 For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering.

With the exception of a few texts like Lam 3:55 and Psalm 116:4, which are speaking of calling upon the name of the Lord with reference to being saved from danger, the above texts strongly tie calling upon the name of the Lord to liturgical worship. In Genesis 4:26 above, it is strongly suggesting that at the time of Adam and Eve there was liturgical rites taking place, and indeed some have said Genesis 1-2 might be a liturgical rite, rather than plain history. And other passages, even though they don't use the exact phraseology, still use similar phraseology and are clearly liturgical (e.g. 2 Sam 22:7; Ps 99:6; Isa 12:4; Jer 10:25; Zech 13:9).

With this in mind, we can take a look at the New Testament:

• Acts 2:14-38 But Peter lifted up his voice and addressed them: this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' ... And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
  
• Acts 22: 16 And now why do you [Paul] wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
• Acts 9:14,21 And here he [Saul] has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.
  
• 1 Cor 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

We see here a very clear connection to baptism in Acts 2 and especially Acts 22:16. And it is certain that Pentecost was a liturgical event, so when Peter quoted Joel as the chief prophecy, this means that Joel must have foreseen liturgical ideas in mind as well. The key verse in question comes from Joel 2:32, which is the concluding line of a fascinating prophecy of Pentecost, and includes much liturgical language (2:15-17, 26-29).

So given all this, we can strongly link Paul's quotation of Joel 2:32 in Romans 10:13 to a liturgical context, including baptism. In fact, if Romans 10 is apex of Paul's letter to the Romans, then it would fit quite nicely to be speaking of Christians engaging in true worship. What is beautiful about this way of thinking, and quite fulfilling, is that it really makes Scripture come alive to themes most of us have missed, despite reading these verses many times.

Much thanks to this article that appeared in a Presbyterian theological magazine in 2016. I got a lot of my above information from it.