What about merely “calling on the name of the Lord?” according to Romans 10: 13 to attain Salvation? Romans 10: 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. While every word of God is true, I think we can all agree that there are some passages that can be misinterpreted, or taken out of proper context. With that in mind, what did it mean to “call upon the name of the Lord”? First of all, the book of Romans was written to the church in Rome. They had already received Salvation, and consequently had been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. (See Romans 6: 3 – 4; 8: 15), so this is NOT an attempt to negate the necessity of the New Birth experience in Acts 2: 38. (See John 3: 5) Secondly, Romans 10: 13 is not the first time that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord” is found in scripture. As a matter of fact, this is part of the latter day prophecy of the prophet Joel: Joel 2: 32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. (See Joel 2: 28 – 32) This verse actually appears again in Acts 2 as Peter preaches his first sermon to the first New Testament church. He actually begins to quote the prophecy of Joel to the crowd: Acts 2: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And yet with all that, the crowd of people desiring to be saved still asks this of Peter: Acts 2: 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? In other words, “How can we be saved? “Teach us how to call upon His name!” Then Peter gives them the plan of Salvation: Acts 2: 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. In Acts 2:38 we find that “calling on the name of the Lord” included being baptized in the life-changing name of Jesus Christ. When the apostle Paul was converted to Christ, he was instructed to “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16) When Romans 10: 13 is taken in proper context, it is evident that the emphasis was on the word “whosever”, not on the word, “call”. If you back up two verses to Romans 10: 11, the picture will become clear: Romans 10: 11 - 13 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 05:50:14 +0000
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