What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord?
In the first four verses of Romans chapter 10, the apostle Paul expressed his heartfelt desire that his fellow Jews would be saved. He said that they were zealous for God, but misguided in their beliefs and practices. They were doing what he had once done, when he persecuted the church (see Acts 22:3). He thought that he was serving God when he was actually persecuting the Son of God. Many sincere people are still zealous for God, but ignorant of God’s will and his ways.
In Romans 10:5 we learn that the Israelites’ zeal was misguided because they had turned God’s law into a system of self-justification. They thought that they could establish their own righteousness by keeping the law with all their might and in this way, put God in their debt,. They misunderstood what Moses had said and the purpose of the law.
Through Moses, God invited Israel to be united with him in a covenant of love. They were to love God with their whole being and put their faith in Him. As an expression of that faith, God required them to be obedient by keeping his commandments and statutes. They were to obey God because they had already become his people, but not to earn the right to be His people. God extended that privilege by His grace and in fulfillment of the promise that he made to Abraham. But they had turned law-keeping into a system of self-righteousness which effectively denied that only God could save them.
That is what Paul was pointing out in Romans 3:20, when he wrote that, “…. no one will be declared righteous in his (God’s) sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” He repeated that thought again in Romans 7. True righteousness was possible only by faith. This is what Abraham was commended for. He believed in God and trusted Him to keep his promises, which included the salvation of the world. And he acted upon that faith by obeying his heavenly Father.
In Romans 10:6-8 the apostle Paul made the same distinction that Moses did between God’s work and our own (Deuteronomy 30:11-20). God has always extended salvation and forgiveness on the basis of His grace. His grace can only be received by an obedient faith. So it was, that God chose Israel and invited them into a covenant with Him that was enjoyed by no other nation.
This distinction between God’s work and our own continues on into His new covenant in Christ. The incarnation (bringing Jesus down from heaven) was God’s doing. His death on the cross as an atoning sacrifice was sufficient because he was the Son of God and entirely sinless. Jesus lived a sinless life of faith in God and obedience to Him. We are saved by his accomplishments and not our own. The resurrection (bringing Jesus up from the grave) was also God’s work. And while on earth, Jesus faithfully delivered God’s word and his will for believers. From start to finish, salvation through Jesus has only ever been accomplished by God. Even our access to this knowledge is God’s doing, having spoken through the apostles and prophets. Yet, while salvation is entirely God’s work, it is also not out of our reach, for both faith and obedience are well within our ability.
Now when some folks read Romans 10:9-10, they understand Paul to say that in order to be saved, we only need to believe (have faith) in Jesus and be willing to confess that He is Lord.
The problem with that view is that it does not consider the rest of the chapter or other scriptures that speak to the same subject.
It is certainly true that both faith in Jesus and confession of that faith moves us toward salvation. And it is easy to understand why both are necessary. Since Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God died for our sins, he must now be the object of our faith. Only he can save us. When we confess our faith, it exposes both the fact that we do believe and what it is that we believe. It is a pledge of allegiance to Jesus. But it is also true that neither faith nor confession are once for all. They define what life in Christ is all about.
At the same time, faith and confession are not by themselves, all that the scriptures call for.
We began with the question: what does it mean to “Call on the Name of the Lord?” How is that phrase used in the New Testament? And how did the apostle Paul understand it as it pertained to his own salvation?
After Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, he spent 3 days in prayer. At the end of that time, God sent Ananias to Saul, saying: Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins by calling on His name.’ (Acts 22:16)
The apostle Paul no doubt had this in mind when he wrote Romans 10:11-13, in which he also quoted from Isaiah 28:16 and Joel 2:32, writing:
“For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.”For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Isaiah was talking about Jesus when he said that those who believe in Him will not be put to shame. And Jesus is ‘the lord’ – upon whose name we are to call, as the prophet Joel had promised (Joel 2:32, Acts 2:36-38). Calling upon his name includes believing in Jesus, confessing our faith in him and being immersed in his name or by his authority. This is done to receive forgiveness of our sins.
Ananias explained to Paul, that it was in baptism that he called upon the name of the Lord so that his sins were taken away. And having identified Jesus as the Lord mentioned in Joel’s prophecy, Peter commanded his hearers on the day of Pentecost to be repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. It follows then that no person has actually ‘called upon the name of the Lord’ without being baptized into the Lord.
The amazing thing about what Isaiah said, was that the salvation that God was going to offer included “whoever believes in Him”. Paul explained that God meant this literally and it included Jews and non-Jews alike.
Returning for a moment to Deuteronomy 30:11-14, let’s consider them once again in their context. Moses predicted that Israel would abandon God, be scattered among the nations and that God would then restore them to the land of promise (Dt. 30:1-5). He pointed out that God was not at fault. He had made his will abundantly clear in the law and required no more than they could actually do.
Therefore Moses wrote: “For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far away. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.”
God has always required men and women to be obedient, and to do so as an expression of their faith. This principle has been in place from the beginning of time and has applied to every covenant that God has made with Mankind. Obedience is not an optional extra.
Jesus appointed Paul as an apostle to the Gentiles to bring about ‘the obedience of faith’ (Rom 1:15). And the apostle Paul states that “the obedience of faith” has been made available to the Gentiles through his preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom 16:26). These two statements serve to bookend Paul’s epistle to the Romans. So when we find Paul in Romans 10 stressing our need to hear the word of God and to obey, this is what we would expect. Belief alone has never been enough.
We do need to believe that the gospel message is truth. Central to the gospel is that Jesus is the Son of God in the flesh, who has died for the sins of the world and has come back to life. We must then act upon our faith by repenting of sin and confessing that Jesus is Lord. And because Jesus truly is Lord, we must be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins as he himself commanded (Mt 28:18-20) Taken together, these individual responses constitute our obedience to the gospel message. By doing all of these, we submit to the will of God.
We must not only submit to God’s will in order to be saved, but must continue to submit, to remain saved. Obedient submission is one way in which we express our faith in Jesus and continue to confess his Lordship.
This raises the question…have you obeyed the message, the gospel? Perhaps you believe that Jesus is the Son of God but have not yet fully submitted to the will of God by repenting and being baptized into Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection? This is not a small thing – it is the difference between life and death.
The real value of hearing the gospel message is so that you may obey it and be saved. Call upon the name of the Lord today and choose life!