Dallas Burdette |
July 3, 1999 |
Thrust statement: Salvation is available to anyone who calls upon the name
of the Lord.
Scripture
reading: Romans 10:11-17
What does it mean to call upon the name of the Lord? Paul cites Joel 2:32 to illustrate from the Old Testament that in the messianic age, salvation is available to all who call upon Him. Salvation is not limited to the Jews only, but rather salvation is offered to all nations. Just as God has not limited salvation to the Jews only, neither has He limited salvation to certain individuals. For Paul, salvation is available to “everyone” who calls upon the name of the Lord. In other words, Salvation is offered for a call. Have you called upon the name of the Lord for salvation? If you want salvation from condemnation, then you must call upon the name of the Lord. If you want freedom from God’s wrath, then you must call upon the name of the Lord. Salvation is not based on works of the Law, but rather, on faith. Salvation is in and through Jesus.
Paul says that the Lord “richly blesses all who call on him” (Romans 10:12).[1] Do you want to be richly blessed, then you
must call upon the name of the Lord.
Again, Paul writes, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved” (10:13). The Greek text is especially strong in
regards to one’s calling upon the Lord.
Paul says, “everyone” (pa/j, pas) and “whoever” (o[ a;n, hos an)
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
The Jews wanted to limit salvation only to the fleshly descendants of
Abraham. The Jews could see no
salvation outside of certain liturgies and human elbow grease. For Paul, salvation is experienced only on
the principle of faith, not works of the law.
Paul calls attention to the Jews’ concept of salvation in his epistle to
Rome:
Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for
the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that
they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness
that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to
God’s righteousness. Christ
is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who
believes (Romans
10:1-4).
Paul
zeros in on the righteousness of God that is available “for everyone who
believes” (10:4). The Jews did not submit themselves to God’s
righteousness made available through faith in Jesus, but rather they sought to
accomplish their own righteousness through Law compliance. Paul calls for reflection on the fact that
redemption is through faith and confession, not through law conformity. In this same chapter (10), Paul speaks of the faith that
believes and the faith that confesses: “for
it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your
mouth that you confess and are saved” (10:10).
Having set forth the principle of right standing before God, he proceeds
to explain: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (10:13). God accepts all upon Gospel terms:
“As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to
shame” (10:11). The Greek text is: “everyone believing on
him will not be put to shame” (pa/j o` pisteu,wn evpv auvtw/|, pas ho
pisteuon ep’ auto) In other words, it is ask and have.
URGENCY OF THE CALL FOR SALVATION
Earlier, the question was asked:
What does it mean to call upon the name of the Lord? The word call signifies
“to make an appeal.” For instance, Paul
employed the word call in his appeal
to Caesar: “If, however, I am guilty of
doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges
brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me
over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” (Acts 25:11). For the believer, to call upon the
name of the Lord is to confess one’s distance from God and to appeal to Him for
mercy. If you have not appealed to God
for mercy, then there is still distance between you and God.
Remember the words Isaiah wrote concerning the
distance of Israel from God: “But your iniquities have separated you from your
God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). Is it any wonder that everyone must call
upon the name of the Lord? While it is
true that everyone is at a distance from God, yet everyone should remember that
God is not far from us. It is in this
vein that Paul says, “From one man he made every nation of men, that they
should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and
the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach
out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:26-27).
Because God is “not far from each one of us,”
then men/women should seek Him, reach out to Him, and find Him. Do you want to close this distance? Then, you must call upon the name of the
Lord. You must believe in your heart and
confess with your mouth that “Jesus is Lord” if you want to close the distance
between you and God (Romans 10:8-11).
As stated earlier, the words in our text (Romans 10:13)
is cited by Paul from Joel 2:32.
Peter, on the day of Pentecost, also appeals to the words of Joel in
order to draw attention to the urgency of this salvation that is available to
anyone who wishes to have eternal life (Acts 2:21).
If you wish to possess eternal life, then you must repent of your sins
and confess the name of Jesus and submit to baptism into the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Paul says that “all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
As one looks at the law of God, the law shuts everyone’s mouth.
Paul captures this plight of man in his letter to
Roman Christians: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who
are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held
accountable to God” (3:19).
Everyone is guilty and held accountable to God. Thus God devised a way for man’s
dilemma. Paul sets forth the answer in
this epistle. Listen to God’s method of
dealing with man’s sin problem: “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,
through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in
his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it
to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one
who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:25-26).
If one does not believe in Him, then the
“sacrifice of atonement” does not deal with his/her sin problem. In other words, one is still under the curse
of the Law. If one is not in Christ,
then everyone is guilty, everyone is under the wrath of God (Romans 5),
everyone is under the dominion of sin (Romans 6), everyone is under law (Romans 7),
and everyone is under condemnation (Romans 8).
Thus, Paul concludes: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in
his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of
sin” (Romans
3:20). Can one escape the wrath of God? Can one escape the dominion of sin? Can one escape the curse of
the Law? Can one escape condemnation? Is there any hope? Yes, there is! The answer is found in one’s
calling upon the Lord.
Paul, having painted one of the most dreadful
conditions of humanity, employs two of the greatest words in all of the English
language—“but now.” Listen to Paul as
he captures the wonder of it all: “But now a righteousness from God, apart from
law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This
righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe”
(3:21). Paul began this epistle by calling
attention to the glorious gospel: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it
is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the
Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is
revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is
written: “The righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17). The “good news” is that God has made
available His righteousness through faith.
Paul says that it is for “everyone who believes.”
Have you ever sounded out this call of distance?
The Scriptures sound forth the urgency of this call: “Today, if you hear his
voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:7-8). The author of Hebrews attributed this saying
to the Holy Spirit (8:7). In
fact, the Hebrew writer cites from the Psalms and attributes this quotation to
the Holy Spirit. This particular Psalm
that the Hebrew author quotes warns the children of Israel: “Today, if you hear
his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah” (Psalms 95:7-8). Do you wish to close the distance between
you and God? If so, then “do not harden
your hearts.” Today is the day of
salvation. Everyone must heed the invitation put forth by John as he concludes
his book on the revelation of Jesus Christ: “The Spirit and the bride say,
‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come;
and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17).
THE UNIQUENESS OF THIS SALVATION
The
uniqueness of God’s salvation is that it is available on terms that anyone can
understand and receive. When Paul wrote
to the churches in the province of Galatia, he called attention to the
uniqueness of Abraham’s right standing before God. Paul drives home the point of Abraham’s justification and theirs:
Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was
credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who believe are children of
Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed
through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man
of faith (Galatians
3:6-9).
Do you
want salvation? Again, the words of
Paul are appropriate to cite: “Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans
10:13). One cannot help but
recall the words of the angel’s announcement about the birth of Jesus: “She
will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he
will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Again, I ask, do you want salvation?
In your answer to this question, consider the story of Cornelius the
centurion who also wanted salvation. An
angel of God appeared to Cornelius—a man who was devout and God fearing (Acts 10:2)—and informed Cornelius to send men to Joppa and call
for Peter. After Peter’s arrival at the
home of Cornelius, Peter, after the preliminaries, delivered a message about
redemption. In the proclamation of the
good news of God, he said, “All the prophets testify about him that everyone
who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (10:43).
CONCLUSION
The
Scriptures speak of the universality of salvation. Paul says, “Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). This invitation
extends to all. Jesus told
Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life. For God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever
does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed
in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18).
John records another conversation of
Jesus with the crowds. Some wanted to
know, “What must we do to do the
works God requires? (John 6:28).
Jesus responded by saying, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (6:29). Do you want to do the works required by God?
Then, I encourage you to believe in the One He has sent. Do not forget the
words of Simon Peter in his response to the Lord’s question about their
faithfulness: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. We believe and know
that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).
Oakwood Hills Church
DeFuniak Springs, FL
Date: 7-4-1999
Time: 11 am
Present: 68