Articles
Calling on the Name of the Lord
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
This promise is found throughout Scripture and is intended to instill in us hope that God can and will save us, if we will turn to Him. Yet, among professed Christians, this statement is a source of great confusion and debate; many affirm that calling on the name of the Lord simply involves faith accompanied by repentance and prayer—specifically a sinner’s prayer. But is this what the Bible teaches? What is meant by calling on the name of the Lord?
Calling on the name of the Lord is not merely a New Testament concept; it is rooted in the Old. It is first mentioned in Genesis 4:26, and faithful individuals—like Abraham, David, and Elijah—also called on the Lord for salvation and blessing and in worship (see Genesis 12:8; Psalm 18:6; 1 Kings 18:24). Yet, this was not simply making a request; it necessitated seeking God, forsaking evil, and returning to the Lord (see Isaiah 55:6; Jeremiah 29:12–13). It meant doing by faith whatever God desired.
The New Testament continues with this same understanding but refines it in view of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible does not teach that a sinner’s prayer is the means to salvation. In fact, the sinner’s prayer, as it is taught today, is found nowhere in the Old or New Testaments. Instead, the Bible says we are forgiven of our sins by God’s grace through obedient faith in the Lord (see Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 5:9).
So, how do we call on the name of the Lord today? There are two passages in the New Testament that explicitly state that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13). In Romans 10, we learn that calling on the name of the Lord includes various actions associated with faith: (1) hearing and believing the word of Christ (vv. 14–17) and (2) believing and confessing the Lordship of Jesus (vv. 8–12). We can now begin to outline what it means to call on the name of the Lord:
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved = Everyone who hears, believes, and confesses the name of Jesus will be saved
The New Testament does not, however, conclude with these instructions. Acts 2 further defines the expectations associated with calling on the name of the Lord: (1) repentance and (2) baptism (vv. 21, 38). (It is worth noting that there is a connection between calling on the name of the Lord [v. 21] and being baptized in [literally, on] the name of Jesus Christ [v. 38].) Putting Romans 10 and Acts 2 together,
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved = Everyone who hears, believes, confesses, repents, and is baptized in the name of Jesus will be saved
Though many reject the necessity of baptism as part of calling on the name of the Lord, it is precisely at this point that God has determined that we are calling on him for salvation. The Bible explicitly says, “Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on Him name” (Acts 22:16; see also 1 Peter 3:21; Romans 6:3–4; Mark 16:16). Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but anyone who has not heard, believed, repented, confessed, and been baptized has not called on his name. The question, thus, comes to you and to me:
“Have I called on the name of the Lord?”
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