I don’t know about you, but I wonder how some religious teachings get started. One that has bothered me for years is the "sinner’s prayer." Nowhere in the gospel of Jesus Christ do we read where an individual uttered a "sinner’s prayer" and was saved. You can look, but it is just not there. In fact, in a previous article, we presented conclusive arguments from the Bible to prove that not only is prayer a spiritual blessing which is available only when one is "in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3) but also that God turns His face from the prayers of the impenitent sinful (Isaiah 59:1,2). However, when Peter preached on that first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ, he quoted the prophet Joel’s predictive prophesy of "it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21). With that statement we are thrown into a dilemma. If "calling on the name of the Lord" refers to a sinner praying to be saved, we have the Bible contradicting itself, which, since God is its author, is not possible. The only other possibility is that "calling on the name of the Lord" means something other than prayer. May I suggest the following to you.

In Acts 2, immediately after Peter made the statement concerning calling on the name of the Lord to be saved, he began to make an argument to prove Jesus is the Lord. Remember, those who were gathered in Jerusalem that day doubted the claims Jesus had made concerning His messiahship. Peter began by stating that God, through the miracles, signs, and wonders which Jesus performed, had shown Him to be genuine (2:22). Secondly, Jesus had been crucified unjustly in accordance with God’s determined purpose (2:23, cf. Isaiah 53). Thirdly, God raised Him from death according to the prophesy of David (2:24-28, cf. Romans 1:4). Lastly, Peter referred to God’s promise that one of David’s descendants would be the Christ who would sit on his throne (2:29-31; cf. Psalm 132:11). He concluded by stating, "This Jesus, God has raised up of which we are all witnesses," that God had exalted Jesus to His right hand, a position of royalty (Matthew 28:18), and that Jesus, whom they had crucified, was both Lord and Christ (2:32-36). Peter’s arguments were convincing, for those present were "cut to the heart." They now believed Jesus to be the Messiah. Notice the response of those present, they "said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’" (2:37). What were they asking? They were asking how to "call" upon the Lord Jesus. Peter responded by saying, "Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). Thus we must conclude to "call on the name of the Lord" is to believe Jesus is the Lord, repent from sin, and be baptized for the forgiveness of sin. This conclusion is verified by the words which Ananias spoke to Saul of Tarsus, "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).

Salvation and our relationship with God are too important to take lightly. We must make sure that we do Bible things the Bible way. How did you call on the name of the Lord?