In the chain at the heart of all God’s teachings, the call comes from God; a person responds in faith, seeks and asks for God, and finally reaches Him. This writing considers how asking becomes a voice within this chain: the heart that asks for God calls on the name of the Lord; as it calls, it turns to Him and asks Him for salvation.
When Peter speaks to the people on the day of Pentecost, he quotes this word from the prophet Joel:
Acts 2:21
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
This sentence is like a summary of a great line running through the Scriptures. A person seeks God and asks for God; then this desire becomes a call. The seeking that begins in the heart becomes calling on the name of the Lord with the mouth.
The word Peter quotes is not a new idea; it is an Old Testament promise opened in Christ. In Joel it is written:
Joel 2:32
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
So calling on the name of the Lord is not merely saying a name. It is asking God for salvation, taking refuge in Him, and turning to Him. When a person calls on the name of the Lord, he is expressing the deepest desire of his heart: “Hear me, come near to me, save me.”
There is another depth at the end of this verse: the person who calls on the name of the Lord is saved; yet among the saved are those whom the Lord calls. In other words, the person calls on the Lord, but behind this call stands God’s own call.
The root of this calling is very ancient. In Genesis, at an early point in human history, it is said:
Genesis 4:26
“At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD.”
Here calling on the name of the Lord appears as one of the first clear signs of humanity’s turning toward God. Humanity does not only live, work, and multiply; people begin to call on the Lord. Because the heart that seeks God eventually calls on His name.
The same line appears in Abraham’s life. God calls him; Abraham goes out, builds an altar, and calls on the name of the Lord.
Genesis 12:8
“There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.”
Abraham’s seeking gains a voice here. The heart that responds to God’s call by faith becomes a heart that calls on the name of the Lord.
Genesis 13:4
“He went to the place where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.”
Abraham returns and calls again. Because asking for God is not a momentary feeling, but a repeated turning. As a person knows the Lord more deeply, he calls on His name more deeply.
Genesis 21:33
“Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.”
Here the calling carries a deeper knowledge: “the everlasting God.” As a person calls on the name of the Lord, he begins to know Him not only as the God who helps, but as the eternal God.
In David’s song, calling on the name of the Lord stands side by side with seeking His face:
1 Chronicles 16:8-11
David calls the people to give thanks to the Lord, call on His name, glory in His holy name, seek the Lord and His strength, and seek His face continually.
These verses are powerful for our main subject. Three things appear in the same movement: calling on the name of the Lord, turning to the Lord, and seeking His face. So calling is not separate from seeking. A person calls on the Lord’s name because he seeks His face. A person seeks His face because he asks for Him.
The same call is repeated in Psalm 105:1-4. There too, calling on the name of the Lord joins with thanksgiving, praise, turning, and seeking. Therefore, calling is not only the language of distress; it becomes the continual language of the heart that knows God and wants Him.
But the same truth also appears in distress:
Psalm 116:3-4
“The cords of death entangled me,
The anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the LORD:
‘LORD, save me!'”
Here calling on the name of the Lord becomes the cry of the soul. A person calls on the name of the Lord at the place where his own strength ends. This call is the barest form of asking for God: “Save me.”
In the same psalm, calling turns into thanksgiving after deliverance:
Psalm 116:12-13
“What shall I return to the LORD
For all his goodness to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
And call on the name of the LORD.”
So a person does not call only in distress. He calls after being delivered as well. Asking becomes thanksgiving, and thanksgiving becomes devotion.
In the New Covenant, this call widens in Christ. Paul says:
Romans 10:12-13
There is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on Him. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Here the door is opened to everyone. The Lord is generous to all who call on Him. Calling on the Lord is no longer only the language of one people, but the call of everyone who turns to Him by faith.
Immediately afterward, Paul shows that calling is tied to faith:
Romans 10:14
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?”
So calling on the name of the Lord is not an empty word from the mouth. A person cannot call on the one he does not believe in. Calling is the voice of the believing heart; it is the heart turning to the Lord in faith.
The first believers are also known by this calling:
1 Corinthians 1:2
“To those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Remembering and calling on the Lord’s name becomes a sign of the believer’s identity. Because a person calls on the name of the one he knows as Lord, the one he seeks and asks for.
Conclusion
Throughout the Scriptures, the same line appears:
The name of the Lord is called on.
The face of the Lord is sought.
A person turns to the Lord.
Salvation is asked from the Lord.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord is saved.
Calling on the name of the Lord is not separate from asking for God. Desire begins in the heart; calling becomes visible in the mouth. The heart seeks God, and the mouth calls on the name of the Lord.
The One sought is God.
The One asked for is God.
The One called on by name is God.
And the Lord is generous to all who call on Him.
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