The righteousness based on the Law depended upon someone fully obeying all the Commandments. Only one man has ever achieved this, Jesus Christ. The righteousness based on faith is simple and straightforward. We simply believe the word of Christ. We confess with our mouth and believe in our heart. Note that "believe in your heart" does not imply this is a pure emotional response, rather it involves both emotions and our mind.
If we do this we will be saved. Note also that saying Jesus is Lord was a religiously and politically charged thing to do in those days. To the Jews it was saying Christ is God, the very reason that the religious authorities were so angered by Jesus. To the Roman authorities Caesar was Lord, so it was declaring that Caesar did not have ultimate authority. Today we have lost a lot of that pungency of the phrase, but with the increasing marginalisation and hostility to Christianity by the state it maybe that very soon declaring Christ to be Lord will be an equally dangerous thing to do.
So we are justified by what we believe and saved by what we declare. This is not salvation by works, but it is saying that faith is more than a mere one-off response.
Paul then returns to one of his favourite themes. The universality of Christ's salvation, and that the same criteria are applied to all. All are saved who call upon the Lord, and He bestows His riches on them all.
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