And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.It will happen that everyone who calls on the Lord’s name will be rescued.(Joel 2:32)
Why don’t we call on Him today? Why do I run to other people for help when God is so close and can hear even my weakest prayer? Why do I sit and try to figure everything out on my own? Why not immediately place myself and all my troubles in the Lord’s hands? The simplest way is the best way, so why don’t I go straight to the living God? I will not find real help anywhere else, but with God I will find the perfect solution, because He has clearly promised it right here in His Word.
I do not need to wonder if I am allowed to call on Him, because His Word “everyone” includes me. It includes anyone, anywhere, anytime, who calls on God. So I will follow this truth and call on the Lord who has made such a great promise to us all.
Yes, perhaps my situation is urgent, and I do not see how I can be rescued—but that is not my responsibility. The One who made the promise knows how to fulfill it. My part is to trust and call on Creator, not to tell Him how to act. I am His servant. We are His adopted sons and daughters. (Acts 2:17). We call on Him, and He will deliver us. (Rom 10:13)
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
One Christian author penned the following words:
“Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. Not that it is necessary in order to make known to God what we are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him.”{EGW, SC 93.2}
Prayer enables us to receive Creator. This is so encouraging when we read John 1:12 which reads “to them that received Him gave He power, to them that received Him gave He the right, to become, to remain the sons and daughters of God.” (emphasis mine)
Such statements highlight the same principle found in Romans 10:13: calling on the Lord is not about informing God, but about entering into dependence on Him and receiving what He has already promised to give us all if we just call on Him. No qualifying, no fixing ourselves up first, no being a certain kind of person first. Call on Him. This is what the Word of God says: “Call on me….”
Romans 10:13, directly affirms the idea in Joel 2:32. In both places, the focus is on the universal scope of God’s promise and the simplicity of the response required. Joel originally spoke in the context of judgment and restoration for Israel, where calling on the Lord meant turning to Him in repentance and dependence during times of crisis. Paul applies that same promise, in a broader way, shows us that it now extends to all people without distinction. The core idea is unchanged: deliverance is not earned or engineered by human effort but received by calling on the Lord in faith and trust.
“So now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph 2:13)
This powerful text adds the necessary foundation for the promise:
“now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph 2:13)
The qualification for deliverance is not found in us at all, but entirely in what Christ has accomplished through His sacrifice. The reason anyone can call on the Lord and be saved is because the cross has made access possible. His shed blood is what removes distance, guilt, and separation, by bringing the sinner near to God. Calling upon the Lord is the response, but the cross, and all that it involved is the basis that makes that our calling on Him effective.
As one writer put it
“Hanging upon the cross Christ was the gospel. Now we have a message, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (EGW 6 BC 1113.1)
The cross is not merely an example or symbol; it is the actual means by which sinners are brought near and qualified to receive deliverance. Because of what Christ has done, we know what He wants to do. because of what He has done, we know what He will do. The promises of Joel 2:32 and Romans 10:13 stand firm for anyone who calls on His name. Jesus says “They will be saved!”
“Hanging upon the cross Christ was the gospel. Now we have a message, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world.” Will not our church members keep their eyes fixed on a crucified and risen Savior, in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered?
This is our message, our argument, our doctrine, our warning to the impenitent, our encouragement for the sorrowing, the hope for every believer.
If we can awaken an interest in men’s minds that will cause them to fix their eyes on Christ, we may step aside, and ask them only to continue to fix their eyes upon the Lamb of God. They thus receive their lesson.
Whosoever will come after Me, let them deny themselves, and take up their cross, and follow Me. Anyone, whose eyes are fixed on Jesus will leave all. They will die to selfishness. They will believe in all the Word of God, which is so gloriously and wonderfully exalted in Christ.” {EGW, 6BC 1113.1}