What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord?
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Rom 10:13
I was taught from a very early age that to call on the name of the Lord meant to ask God to save you. And church leaders quoted this verse to assure us that, if we had sincerely asked God to save us, then we were most certainly saved. But I later learned that this was not what this bible verse was saying. In fact, whenever you read about someone calling on the name of the Lord in the Bible, it is usually when mature Christians, such as Abraham, are acknowledging God for who He is and relying upon His provision. In fact, we read of Abraham calling upon the name of the Lord on at least three separate occasions in the Bible; and on neither occasion was he asking God to save him. So when we are talking about salvation, what does it mean to call on the name of the Lord? When it comes down to where you and I will spend eternity, we really need to know what God's word is telling us. Listen to this message to hear the biblical and historical context for calling on the name of the Lord.
