From the Pen of Paul

Calling on the Name of the Lord

Question: Please explain what is meant by the phrase "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord" in Romans 10:13.

The passage in question reads: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Paul then proceeds to show the process of salvation in reverse. He starts out with the goal, "shall be saved", and then shows how that happened. "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?" (Rom. 10:14-15a).

The process of salvation then involves preachers being sent; Jesus did this in giving the great commission of Mark 16:15-16. The preachers went forth and preached the gospel, God's power to save (I Cor. 1:21; 15:1-4; Rom. 1:16). In every example of conversion in the book of Acts, before folks were saved, the gospel was preached. Indeed, "How shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard?" Once the Gospel message was preached, its purpose was to produce faith in the heart of the hearer. "But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Heb. 11:6). Once the Gospel was heard and believed, obedience was to follow which would result in salvation. This obedience took the form of repenting and being baptized "for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). It also required the confession of one's faith before he was baptized. We see this demonstrated by the conversion of the eunuch in Acts 8:36-37: After Philip had "preached unto him Jesus" (v. 35), we are informed: "And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

The plan of salvation, demonstrated over and over in Acts, includes the preaching of the Gospel, hearing and believing the message taught in the Gospel, repenting of one's sins, confessing one's faith in Christ as the Son of God, and being baptized in water for the remission of sins. Read and carefully study these Scriptures: Mark 16:15-16; Romans 10:17; John 8:24; Acts 17:30-31; Luke 13:3; Romans 10:10: Matthew 10:32; and Acts 2:38.

In the passage under consideration, did Paul give a different plan of salvation when he said, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved?" We know that this is not true, because the Bible teaches that there is only one way to heaven. Jesus said, "I am the way" — not a way (John 14:6). He also said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9). And Peter declared, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34).

These things being understood, whatever is meant by Paul's statement in Romans 10:13 must include obedience to the Gospel. It is only at that point that one is saved. Listen to Paul again in Romans 6:17-18: "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." Paul would not have taught that obedience to the Gospel was necessary for one to be made free from sin or saved, and then later in the same letter contradicted himself by offering salvation in a different way.

It follows then that, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" must include obedience to the Gospel message which was preached, heard, and believed. To "call upon the name of the Lord" is simply to call upon the Lord to provide the promised blessing because of that one's complying with the conditions upon which the Lord promised that blessing. In Romans 10:13, the blessing is salvation. We see this demonstrated in the action required of Saul of Tarsus: "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16). How did Saul "call upon the name of the Lord"? He did it by arising and being baptized to wash his sins away. Consider the following statement for illustrative purposes: "The children were running and jumping, playing on the beach." What were the children doing? They were playing on the beach; what describes the action called "playing on the beach?" Running and jumping. In the same way, Saul was calling on the name of the Lord when he arose and was baptized to wash away his sins. (Continued next week)
—Paul Wilmoth

From the Preacher's Viewpoint. . .

We Should All Practice What We Preach

We understand quite well that there is none perfect. We know that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We also know that after one obeys the gospel he will not and cannot live a perfect life.

Sin falls into two classes. First, there is intentional or premeditated sin. Second, there is sin because of weakness of the flesh. God has always condemned premeditated or intentional sin. This sin is recognized in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. The apostle John says that when one is given to intentional sin he is guilty of a sin unto death (I John 5:16). When one becomes a Christian he goes out of the sinning business (I John 3:9-10). He does not commit sin in a willful and intentional fashion.

Becoming a Christian is a wonderful thing indeed. One no longer practices sin when he is born again. Oh yes, he will blunder along the way, but this is because of the weakness of the flesh. We must understand than men are often weak and sin. The thing which troubles most of us is men who preach and teach the truth but they do not practice what they preach and teach.

In one preaches honesty, then he should practice honesty. If one says we must love the Lord above all, then he should love the Lord above all. If one preaches he should love his fellow man, then he should love his fellow man. If one teaches we should bind only where God has bound, then he should bind only where God has bound. If one preaches that we should stand up for the gospel, then he should stand up for the gospel. If one preaches justice and fairness in all things, then he should be just and fair in all things. If one preaches against hypocrisy, then he should not follow a hypocritical life.

Don't we all see inconsistency in life? We must not let this make us ill-tempered and mean. We must learn to bear up under all things and be faithful to Christ no matter what is going on around us. God help us to live the Christian life the best we can.
—Malcolm L. Hill

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