Bulletin Articles: Full Article for Record Number 1052
Calling On The Name Of The Lord
by Larry Ray Hafley
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13). It is evident that a person must call upon the name of the Lord or be lost. How, though, does one go about calling upon the name of the Lord?
What it is not: Denominational preachers say that all one has to do is to believe and pray for salvation. "Say the sinner’s prayer," and "receive Christ into your heart as your personal Savior" are common appeals made by Protestant preachers. Where is the "sinner’s prayer" found in the Bible? Where did the apostles ever encourage anyone to say "the sinner’s prayer" in order to be saved?
One cannot simply cry, "Lord, I confess I am a sinner, and I now receive you into my heart as my personal Savior." Jesus said, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say" (Lk. 6:46)? "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" (Matt. 7:21). Thus, whatever Romans 10:13 teaches, we know that it does not mean that one may simply pray and be saved. One must "do the will of the Father," in order to be saved (Heb. 5:8, 9).
What it does mean: First, consider what else the book of Romans has to say about salvation. Yes, Romans 10:13 is there-"whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." However, that is not all. Paul speaks of "obedience to the faith," and of "the obedience of faith" (Rom. 1:5; 16:26). Romans 6:17, 18, says the Romans "were the servants of sin," but that when they "obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine," they became the servants of righteousness. The Romans were "baptized into Christ," and "into his death" (Rom. 6:3 4). So, calling on the name of the Lord involves and includes obeying the gospel and baptism "into Christ."
Immediately before Romans 10:13, Paul spoke of "submitting" to God’s plan of making men righteous (v. 3). Three verses after Romans 10:13, Paul spoke of the lost who have not "obeyed the gospel" (v. 16). Calling on the name of the Lord does not exclude obedience.
Second, in Acts 9:20, 21, we read of the first preaching of Paul. "And straightway he preached Christ..., that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said: Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem"? Whatever the followers of Christ in Jerusalem did to obtain the forgiveness of sins, it is said that they "called on this name," the name of the Lord. So, what did they do "in Jerusalem" that resulted in their having called on the name of the Lord? If we can find out what they did, we will know what it means to call upon the name of the Lord.
In Acts 2:4, we find the apostles preaching in Jerusalem (v. 4). Peter declared, "that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (v. 21). Therefore, "in Jerusalem" they were told to "call on the name of the Lord" in order to be saved.
As Peter concludes his pungent preaching, proving that Jesus is "both Lord and Christ," the guilt stricken killers ask in anguish of heart, "Men and brethren what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:36-38). It is evident what they did who "called on this name in Jerusalem." They repented and were baptized in the name of (by the authority of) Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. We have seen an illustration of what one must do in order to call on the name of the Lord. The Bible explains itself. "And now why tarriest thou? arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, "calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).
