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Call On The Name Of The Lord (Acts 22:16) What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord? Regardless of what men claim, let’s look to God’s Word to find the answer. |
Call On The Name Of The Lord (Acts 22:16)
- The Urgency—Now; why tarry? When one knows what he should do to please God, there should be no delay in acting on it (Acts 2:40-41, 16:33; James 1:22).
- The Action—Arise and Be Baptized. This action agreed with every other conversion recorded going back to Acts 2 and the great commission (Acts 2:38; Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16) and is the same Paul would preach.
- The Effect—Wash Away Thy Sins. Paul was still in his sin (Acts 9:6, 9, 11; 22:16), but this is the point at which he would contact the cleansing blood of Christ and be added to the church (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3; 1 Jn 1:7; Acts 2:41,47).
- The How/Attitude—Calling On The Name Of The Lord. This was not a separate action but modified the action required. Paul would do this by submitting to the name/authority of the Lord (Col. 3:17; Acts 2:21, Rom. 10:13; Joel 2:32). Simply uttering His name would not accomplish anything (Matt. 7:21; Luke 6:46; James 2:17-20), would we go further and actually follow Him (Luke 9:23)? Those who learned of God’s Will in the New Testament did not simply utter a confession or pray the sinners prayer (which cannot be found in scripture!) but they put their faith in to action, being obedient to His Will. Will we do the same and then continue in faithfulness?
