Romans 10:1–13 is often quoted to defend the position that we only need to confess the name of Jesus Christ to be saved. However, the Savior specifically spoke against this doctrine when He said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” ( Matthew 7:21).
In addition, Paul emphasized the importance of the ordinance of baptism earlier in his epistle to the Romans (see Romans 6:1–6) and also taught the importance of good works and a changed heart (see Romans 2:1, 3, 6–13, 25–29).
Also, the word “confess” in Romans 10:9 could be translated as “covenant,” and the phrase “call upon” in Romans 10:13could be translated as “put a name upon” (see James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, as found in http://lexiconcordance.com/greek/3670.html; http://lexiconcordance.com/greek/1941.html). These words could refer to entering into covenants and taking upon ourselves the name of Christ, which matches Paul’s other teachings (see Galatians 3:27 ; Romans 6:14–22) as well as related passages in the Book of Mormon, such as Mosiah 5:1–9 .