by R. L. Morrison

"Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). This is a promise made by God to all mankind. It is not limited to one nation of people; for it carries no limitation. The only condition it contains is readily recognized. "Call upon the name of the Lord." The person who does so, "shall be saved." No one who has heard and called on the name of the Lord has been rejected or failed to be saved. Nor has that salvation been postponed. The promised salvation is obtained when the calling is done. The nature of the promise requires this to be so. Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to reveal the will of God and in the course of his doing so, has said, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord (Jesus Christ) shall be saved". The word of God is reliable. He will do what he said he would do.

Anyone who is concerned about his relationship to God and his own eternal welfare is interested in this promise. WHY? Because this salvation involves the remission of past sins and a new relationship with the hope of eternal life. One who has no interest in these things is not thinking as he should, or is so careless and unconcerned with spiritual matters he does not realize his true condition. Nor does he know what the result of this kind of attitude will be. We realize that the majority of mankind are in this condition. Hopefully, we can help someone to realize the final end of a life devoted to sin and make the changes necessary to escape the consequences of it while time and opportunity are afforded. The time will come when it will be too late to change.

What does the term "call on the name of the Lord" mean? Many answers are given to this question, but the correct answer is found only in one place: the New Testament! Some today, say it simply means to pray. Others say it means to mourn for the sins of which one is guilty, and plead with God to forgive them. Others plead for God's mercy to be extended to them. Others ask that God extend his love to them. Some spend hours at a "mourner's bench," having been told by some preacher that they must "pray through". Many who have done so claim to have been saved, while others, just as honest and sincere, make no such claim. Some, after much effort, turn away from the Bible, saying God cannot or will not hear their prayer nor save them. But we need to remember that God said, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

But consider, if you will: How could God be more merciful than He has been? How could He have better revealed His love for mankind? "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Yet there are those who pray for God's love to be shed abroad upon all the earth! God's word is sure. It is reliable. Salvation ALWAYS follows upon calling on the name of the Lord. God said it would.

But now, how is this calling done? Since the New Testament gives the ONLY correct answer to this question, let us turn to it for the answer. "And now, why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16). This statement was made by Ananias, an inspired man, to Saul of Tarsus. Saul had persecuted the church in Jerusalem. He was traveling to Damascus to seek out and arrest Christians in that city. But the Lord (Jesus) had appeared to him on the way. He was blinded and told to go into the city and there it would be told him what he must do. He was in the city three days and nights without food or water, as well as without sight. Then the Lord sent Ananias to him to tell him what he must do. Much later, when Paul was defending himself and his preaching, he related what he had been told. In so doing he gave the answer to the question: how does one call upon the name of the Lord? Hear what he was told to do: "And now, why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).

Paul had done all the things denominational preachers tell people to do today. He had believed on Christ, he had repented of his sins, he had prayed, he had mourned (three days without food or water), but he had not called on the name of the Lord! This is obvious, for Ananias had to tell him what to do and how to do it. Here, again, is the command: "Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." This was the message God sent to Saul by Ananias. Saul understood it. He obeyed it. Ananias said: "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales, and he received sight forthwith; and arose and was baptized" (Acts 9:17-18). And so it is with everyone today who will "arise and be baptized and wash away his sins calling on the name of the Lord." There is no other passage in all the New Testament that tells men how to call on the Lord!

Certainly, there are those who object to this. As stated previously, many say the sinner must pray. Others say the sinner must accept Jesus Christ as his (or her) own personal Savior. (One is made to wonder if one could accept Jesus as another's personal Savior also.) Then there are those who teach that the sinner is saved at the point of faith, or at the time he believes. Or that faith ONLY saves the sinner. Much more could be said, but most do not seem to recognize that the scriptures teach prayer in the Bible is restricted to those who are IN a covenant relationship to God. This also is objected to, but consider these scriptures. "We know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshipper of God and doeth his will, him he heareth" (John 9:31). "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are opened unto their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil" (1 Peter 3:10). "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination" (Proverbs 28:9). Although it may seem strange to some, nowhere does the New Testament require a sinner to pray, nor is he told to just accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. These things come not from the word of God, but from the minds and doctrines of men.

Neither Jesus or the apostles taught men to pray for salvation. Rather, Jesus said: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16). Peter said: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4). These scriptures tell the sinner what to do to be saved and the result of that salvation. The reason sinners are NOT saved at the mourner's bench is simply because God did not promise salvation in that way. That is why Paul had to be "baptized" in calling on the name of the Lord. That is what the Lord told him to do. And for the same reason any person who desires forgiveness and salvation today must do as Paul did: "Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."

There are those who teach that baptism is not necessary to salvation. Some of those who so teach try to explain it this way. "Baptism is a work. Paul taught that we are not saved by works, and they may refer to Eph. 2:8-9: "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast." There should be no doubt that we are saved by grace, which means the unmerited favor of God. And faith is also necessary. "But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is" (Hebrews 11:6). Some seemingly fail to recognize that there are works of men and there are works of God and the two are not necessarily the same things. There are things that God says one must do to be saved. We have referred to some of them previously. Then there are the things men say one must do to be saved. And we have already referred to some of them. That baptism is a work, or something one must submit to, is not to be denied. But FAITH is also a work and one that God commands. Hear Jesus: This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:29). Again: "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins" (John 8:32). Men say one must believe to be saved and then say man is not saved by works when Jesus says belief or faith is the work of God, or a work that God commands men to do. You see the doctrines of men not only contradict each other, they also contradict the laws of God.

James teaches the necessity of "works" in pleasing God by referring to Abraham. "Was not Abraham our Father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac, his son, upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect" (James 2:21-22). Then verse 24: "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."

Jesus said "Faith is a work of God." Man must do the work of God to be saved. But the works of men, those things men teach each other they must do, avail not with God. Such a work is the one we have been discussing that men must plead with God for forgiveness; or that one is saved at the point of faith: minus nothing, plus nothing. These people disregard what the New Testament teaches and lead men to continue in sin. The example of Paul forever settles the matter of how one is saved or how one calls on the name of the Lord. They do it ONLY when baptized into Christ or in the name of Christ for the remission of their sins.

Paul wrote: "But whosoever shall believe on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:14). Jesus said: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:15-16). Consider this parallel: Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. What is the difference? None! Saul of Tarsus believed, and was baptized, calling on the name of the Lord. IF there is any other way to be saved, or to call on the name of the Lord, the New Testament does NOT reveal it. The promise of God and Jesus Christ has never failed when the required conditions are met. Their promise will never fail.

The book of Acts, the fifth book of the New Testament, is sometimes called the book of conversion. This is because every example of conversion in the scriptures is found there. Let us consider some of these, and see what was involved in salvation when the apostles preached the gospel.

In Acts 2, we find the first account of men being saved. It was on Pentecost. Jerusalem was filled with people who came to observe the feast. All the apostles were assembled, but only a portion of Peter's sermon was "recorded" or written down. He preached Christ, crucified, buried, but resurrected, according to Old Testament prophecy. He told "the house of Israel" that God had made Jesus, whom they had crucified, both Lord and Christ. They believed what they heard, were pricked in their hearts, and asked what they must do. Peter's reply was: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." They that gladly received his word were baptized, about 3000 souls. They called on the name of the Lord by obeying what they were told to do.

Soon after this, Peter preached again. In Acts 4:4 the record says: "Many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the men was about five thousand." Peter preached the same gospel; they heard, believed, and obeyed.

In Acts 8, we find another example of New Testament conversion. Philip went to Samaria preaching the gospel. Acts 8:12 tells us the result: "But when they believed Philip's preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." Surely no one would deny that in their obedience, they called on the name of the Lord.

Philip, however, was told by an angel to go toward the south, to the road that led from Jerusalem to Gaza. He obeyed, and there met a man from Ethiopia. He was going home, but read his Bible as he rode in his chariot. Philip asked him if he understood what he read. He then asked to Philip to sit with him. Philip did so, and preached Jesus to the man as fulfillment of prophecy. They came to a certain water. The Ethiopian asked: "What doth hinder me to be baptized?" The reply: "If you believe with all your heart you can be." He confessed his faith. They both went down into the water, and the man "called" on the name of the Lord by being baptized. He did the same thing Saul of Tarsus did later: he called on the name of the Lord.

Have you "called upon the name of the Lord?" If not, recognize and accept your responsibility. OBEY the gospel while you can. Receive the remission of past sins, and prepare yourself for eternity in His presence. Life is short, and as death finds us, so will the day of Judgment. It will be too late then to change. Do it now.