What Does it Mean to Call On The Name of The Lord?
In Acts 2:21 Peter said to the people, “. . .whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In v. 37,
after the people believed Peter’s sermon, they asked, “Men
and brethren, what shall we do?” Peter answered in v. 38,
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost.” Peter said, “. . . Save yourselves from this
untoward generation” (v. 40). How would they save
themselves? Obviously, by doing what Peter said to do in
v. 38! Verse 41 declares, “Then they that gladly received his
word were baptized: . . .” The word “then” connects it back
to v. 40. Their being baptized was in response to Peter’s
statements made in v. 38 & 40. They gladly received Peter’
s message, which means they believed what Peter said
about repenting and being baptized (v. 38) and saving
themselves (v. 40). What did they do? They were baptized
in order to save themselves. Hence, being saved is equal
to having the remission of sins. Remember back in v. 21
Peter said, “whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved.” But to be saved, one must repent and be
baptized. Therefore, it follows that calling on the name of
the Lord is equal to obedience.
Acts 22:16 is the key verse. In this passage we have
the words of Ananias to Saul of Tarsus – “And now why
tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins,
calling on the name of the Lord.” The Bible is its own best
commentary. Calling on the name of the Lord is
specifically explained. When Saul submitted to baptism,
he was, in that act, calling upon the name of the Lord.
Recently, the Meramec Valley Baptist Church has put
out a tract entitled, “God’s Simple Plan of Salvation.” In
this tract is quoted Rom. 10:13 – “For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The tract
urges people to say a prayer in order to be saved.
According to this tract, calling on the name of the Lord
means praying to God to be saved. I realize many
sincerely believe this, but it is simply not found in the
Word of God. Calling on the name of the Lord is not
praying, but it is submitting to the act of baptism (Acts 22:
16). There is not a single command, example, or inference
anywhere in the NT where an alien sinner prayed to God
in order to be saved. This plan of salvation is an invention
of men – not God!