And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2:21
Wow! Just call on the name of the Lord? Today’s text sounds like a fast and painless way to obtain salvation. Whoa! Not so fast. And not so painless. Before we take and apply this text to God’s salvation, we need to make sure of its context and of its application. Who said this, and why did he say it, and to whom did he say it?
This verse is part of Peter’s great message on the day of Pentecost, in response to the confusion that arises over why the Christians were speaking in the languages of all of the people who were visiting Jerusalem at that time. The verse is actually part of a prophecy in the book of Joel concerning an upcoming judgement on the people of Israel. As Joel describes the judgment, often referred to as the time of Jacob’s trouble, during the great tribulation period, he identifies the small remnant of Israel that will be preserved, those who turn to the Lord for protection at that time. So, it is not referring specifically to those who hear the Gospel in our day. However, if we are careful, we can apply this text to the Gospel. This brings out two very important aspects of studying the Scriptures. First, we need to avoid taking a verse out of its context in order to make a point. Secondly, we need to recognize that some principles of Scripture are always true regardless of where we find them.
We all know the old saying that a text taken out of its context to create a proof text becomes a pretext. This is how many false doctrines are created. We cannot simply pull a text from the Bible to support an idea or concept of our own without considering the context from which that text is taken. Too many people do this, and they are wrong. You can pick out individual verses of phrases in the Bible to support just about every imaginable situation, especially if you combine them with other unrelated verses. Here’s an example: not that anyone has ever done it, but some might advocate suicide based on the verse that tells us that Judas went and hanged himself (Matthew 27:5), coupled with Jesus’ admonition to the Pharisee ‘go and do thou likewise’ (Luke 10:37). It is wrong to twist the Scriptures to make them mean what we want them to mean.
It is also wrong to reject principles of Scripture to prevent them from applying to ourselves. Many people reject some of Paul’s teachings in his epistles, saying they applied only to the day in which he lived. Yet others would reject today’s text as applying to themselves, because their church believes in a variety of ordinances and rites as being essential to salvation. But our text makes it plain that, regardless of the era and the location, the only one on whom we can call for salvation is the Lord. And all who do so sincerely will be saved.
Let us handle the Word of God carefully. It is always true and reliable if we handle it truthfully and carefully.
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