First of all, we must exercise faith in God. It still remains true, as Paul reminds us, that “everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.” (Rom. 10:13) It is Jehovah whom we must love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. He is the Almighty One who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead to life immortal. Jehovah is therefore the one to whom our main action is directed. It is to him that we must make the dedication of ourselves to do His will, to keep His commandments.​—Rom. 10:8, 9.

31. So upon whom name must we call for salvation, but why must our mouths also make a confession regarding Jesus Christ?

³¹ Inevitably it follows that we must call “on the name of Jehovah” to be saved. (Rom. 10:13; Acts 2:21; Joel 2:32) This calls for the mouth, as motivated by the heart, to do something. With the mouth we are obliged to call upon the name of Jehovah. But now, since God brought up Christ from the dead, we cannot do this calling apart from Jesus Christ. With our mouths we must also make a confession regarding Jesus Christ. That is why the apostle Paul, when discussing the “word” of faith that he was preaching, goes on to say: “For if you publicly declare that ‘word in your own mouth,’ that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved. For [1] with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but [2] with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation.”​—Rom. 10:9, 10.

32. (a) This making of public declaration with our mouths is spoken of as what in other Bible translations? (b) When is it that this oral confession is made for salvation?

³² When is it that “with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation”? This is and must be before the dedicated believer gets baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit.” (Matt. 28:19, 20; Acts 16:31-33; 17:33; 19:1-7) This public declaration is a confession, as the Kingdom Interlinear Translation and other Bible translations show. (RS; Mo; Je; AS) Byington’s translation and An American Translation render it as an “acknowledgment.” This confession or acknowledgment is what we as now dedicated believers orally make to or before the Christian minister who presides over the baptism in water.