Many people have heard Romans 10:13 quoted:
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
(Romans 10:13, KJV)
From that verse, some conclude that a sinner is saved by verbally asking Jesus to save him—often through what is called the “sinner’s prayer.”
But before assigning that meaning to the phrase, we should ask:
HOW DOES SCRIPTURE ITSELF EXPLAIN WHAT IT MEANS TO “CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD”?
This is an excellent opportunity to:
ALLOW SCRIPTURE TO INTERPRET SCRIPTURE.
ROMANS 10:13 DOES SAY WE MUST CALL UPON THE LORD
We should not minimize Paul’s statement.
He wrote:
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
(Romans 10:13, KJV)
Calling upon the Lord is unquestionably connected with salvation.
But what does:
“CALL UPON”
mean?
Does it mean merely speaking words?
Does it mean saying a particular prayer?
Does it mean acknowledging Jesus as Lord?
Or does Scripture reveal something more?
JESUS WARNED THAT SAYING “LORD” IS NOT ENOUGH
Jesus said:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven…”
(Matthew 7:21, KJV)
Notice:
SAYING:
“LORD, LORD”
↓
DOES NOT BY ITSELF
↓
GUARANTEE ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM
Who enters?
Jesus continued:
“…but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
(Matthew 7:21, KJV)
Therefore, “calling upon the Lord” cannot mean merely saying the word:
LORD.
Jesus explicitly says that some who call Him “Lord” will not enter.
JESUS ASKED WHY PEOPLE CALLED HIM LORD WITHOUT OBEYING
Jesus asked:
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
(Luke 6:46, KJV)
Notice the contradiction:
CALL JESUS LORD
↓
BUT
↓
DO NOT OBEY JESUS
Jesus rejected that kind of profession.
Therefore, biblical calling upon Christ must be consistent with submission to His authority.
SAUL PROVIDES A POWERFUL EXAMPLE
Saul encountered the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus.
He asked:
“Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”
(Acts 9:6, KJV)
Jesus told him to enter Damascus, where he would be told what he must do.
Saul spent three days blind.
During that time, he was praying.
The Lord told Ananias:
“…behold, he prayeth,”
(Acts 9:11, KJV)
Think carefully about that.
SAUL HAD SEEN THE RISEN CHRIST
↓
SAUL CALLED HIM “LORD”
↓
SAUL WAS PRAYING
↓
SAUL FASTED
↓
SAUL WAITED FOR INSTRUCTION
If salvation comes when a sinner simply prays for Christ to save him, Saul presents an important question.
Why was he not told:
“YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN SAVED THROUGH YOUR PRAYER”?
Instead, Ananias gave him another command.
ANANIAS TOLD SAUL HOW TO CALL UPON THE LORD
Ananias said:
“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
(Acts 22:16, KJV)
Read that carefully.
ARISE
↓
BE BAPTIZED
↓
WASH AWAY THY SINS
↓
CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD
Here Scripture itself connects:
CALLING ON THE LORD
with:
OBEDIENTLY RESPONDING TO WHAT THE LORD COMMANDED.
Saul had already been praying.
Yet Ananias still told him:
“ARISE, AND BE BAPTIZED, AND WASH AWAY THY SINS.”
That makes it very difficult to argue that Saul had already received forgiveness merely by praying.
PETER USED THE SAME LANGUAGE AT PENTECOST
On Pentecost, Peter quoted Joel:
“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
(Acts 2:21, KJV)
That is the same basic statement Paul later quotes in Romans 10:13.
So what happened when Peter’s hearers wanted salvation?
They asked:
“Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
(Acts 2:37, KJV)
Peter answered:
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…”
(Acts 2:38, KJV)
Notice:
CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD
Acts 2:21
↓
THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED
↓
THE PEOPLE BELIEVE
↓
THEY ASK WHAT TO DO
Acts 2:37
↓
REPENT
↓
BE BAPTIZED
↓
FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS
Acts 2:38
Peter did not interpret “call upon the name of the Lord” as:
“JUST SAY A PRAYER.”
He told them how to respond obediently to Christ.
WHAT DOES “IN THE NAME OF” MEAN?
Peter commanded baptism:
“…in the name of Jesus Christ…”
(Acts 2:38, KJV)
Paul wrote:
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus…”
(Colossians 3:17, KJV)
To act in someone’s name is to act by that person’s authority.
Therefore, calling upon the name of Christ involves appealing to Him as Lord and submitting to His authority.
It is not merely saying His name.
It is acknowledging who He is and responding accordingly.
THE LORD’S AUTHORITY MUST BE OBEYED
Jesus asked:
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
(Luke 6:46, KJV)
That question helps explain the issue.
If Jesus is:
LORD
then He has:
AUTHORITY.
If He has authority, faith asks:
WHAT HAS THE LORD COMMANDED?
Then faith responds.
THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH RESPONDED TO CHRIST’S AUTHORITY
Philip:
“…preached unto him Jesus.”
(Acts 8:35, KJV)
As they traveled, the eunuch said:
“…See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?”
(Acts 8:36, KJV)
After confessing his faith in Christ, they went down into the water:
“…and he baptized him.”
(Acts 8:38, KJV)
Then:
“…he went on his way rejoicing.”
(Acts 8:39, KJV)
Notice:
JESUS PREACHED
↓
FAITH
↓
CONFESSION
↓
OBEDIENCE
↓
BAPTISM
↓
REJOICING
The eunuch responded to Jesus as Lord.
CALLING UPON CHRIST IS NOT EARNING SALVATION
Nothing about this means that man saves himself.
The power remains with God.
Christ shed the blood.
Christ died for our sins.
Christ rose from the dead.
God provides grace.
The gospel reveals salvation.
The sinner responds in faith.
Paul wrote:
“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God…”
(Colossians 2:12, KJV)
Notice:
FAITH
↓
IN
↓
THE OPERATION OF GOD
The sinner does not enter baptism trusting himself.
He enters trusting what God has promised.
THE BIBLICAL PATTERN
THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED
↓
THE SINNER HEARS
↓
THE SINNER BELIEVES JESUS IS LORD
↓
THE SINNER REPENTS
↓
THE SINNER CONFESSES CHRIST
↓
THE SINNER SUBMITS TO CHRIST’S AUTHORITY
↓
THE SINNER IS BAPTIZED
↓
SINS ARE WASHED AWAY
↓
THE SINNER HAS CALLED UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD
That pattern allows:
ROMANS 10
ACTS 2
ACTS 9
ACTS 22
MATTHEW 7
LUKE 6
and the conversion accounts in Acts
to speak together.
We should not take:
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”
and assign it a meaning that contradicts the inspired explanation given elsewhere.
SAUL WAS ALREADY PRAYING
Yet Ananias still told him:
“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
(Acts 22:16, KJV)
That deserves careful consideration.
Saul had:
BELIEVED THAT JESUS WAS LORD
↓
PRAYED
↓
FASTED
↓
WAITED
Yet Ananias still told him:
ARISE
↓
BE BAPTIZED
↓
WASH AWAY THY SINS
↓
CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD
If prayer alone had already brought Saul forgiveness, why did Ananias still speak of his sins needing to be washed away?
The passage should be allowed to answer for itself.
WHAT ABOUT ROMANS 10:9–10?
Paul wrote:
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
(Romans 10:9, KJV)
And:
“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
(Romans 10:10, KJV)
These verses unquestionably teach the necessity of faith and confession.
But do they teach that faith and confession eliminate everything else God has said about conversion?
They cannot.
The same Paul wrote:
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”
(Romans 6:3, KJV)
The same Paul wrote:
“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death…”
(Romans 6:4, KJV)
The same Paul wrote:
“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.”
(Romans 6:17, KJV)
And:
“Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
(Romans 6:18, KJV)
We must allow:
ROMANS 6
and:
ROMANS 10
to agree.
Paul does not contradict himself.
FAITH
↓
CONFESSION
↓
OBEDIENCE
belong together in the biblical response to Christ.
WE MUST READ EVERYTHING GOD HAS SAID
One passage may emphasize faith.
Another may emphasize repentance.
Another may emphasize confession.
Another may emphasize baptism.
Another may emphasize faithful living.
We make a serious mistake when we take one passage and use it to erase the others.
The biblical approach is:
READ ALL THE PASSAGES
↓
EXAMINE THEIR CONTEXT
↓
COMPARE SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE
↓
HARMONIZE EVERYTHING GOD HAS REVEALED
↓
FOLLOW THE COMPLETE PATTERN
That is especially important with Romans 10:13.
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Yes.
Absolutely.
But let Scripture explain what calling upon the Lord looks like.
PENTECOST:
CALL UPON THE LORD
↓
HEAR THE GOSPEL
↓
REPENT
↓
BE BAPTIZED FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS
SAUL:
BELIEVE CHRIST
↓
PRAY
↓
HEAR ANANIAS
↓
ARISE
↓
BE BAPTIZED
↓
WASH AWAY THY SINS
↓
CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD
That is the inspired record.
THE QUESTION IS NOT WHETHER WE SHOULD CALL UPON JESUS
We should.
The question is:
HOW DOES THE BIBLE TEACH US TO CALL UPON HIM?
Not by inventing a method of salvation Scripture never gives.
Not by replacing obedience with a prayer.
Not by separating Jesus as Savior from Jesus as Lord.
But by hearing His Word, believing Him, submitting to His authority, and obeying the gospel He revealed.
Jesus asked:
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
(Luke 6:46, KJV)
That question should accompany every discussion of:
“CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD.”
If He is truly:
LORD,
then faith asks:
WHAT DID HE SAY?
And then:
FAITH OBEYS.
Don’t accept this conclusion merely because it is written here.
Open your Bible.
Read Matthew 7.
Read Luke 6.
Read Acts 2.
Read Acts 8.
Read Acts 9.
Read Acts 22.
Read Romans 6.
Read Romans 10.
Read Colossians 2.
Compare Scripture with Scripture.
Then ask:
WHEN THE NEW TESTAMENT SPEAKS OF “CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD,” DOES IT DESCRIBE A PRAYER THAT REPLACES OBEDIENCE, OR A FAITH THAT SUBMITS TO THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHRIST?
“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
(Acts 22:16, KJV)
CALL UPON THE LORD.
SUBMIT TO HIS AUTHORITY.
OBEY HIS GOSPEL.
ALLOW SCRIPTURE TO INTERPRET SCRIPTURE.
The Biblical Pattern
Biblical Studies & Books by Kevin L. Walker
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The Biblical Pattern 