Calling on the Name of the Lord in NT - 2

Subject:  A Continual Calling by Faith

At the end of Paul's life,  he exhorted young Timothy with these words,  "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."  2 Timothy 2:22

Here we have a glimpse of what the community of believers are like in the early church.  How are the early church Christians identified here?  Those who 'call on the Lord'. 

The verb 'Call' is in the simple present tense meaning that this is an action that is repeated on a regular basis.  This is not a one time action at baptism.  It is a continual calling in the life of a believer.  This factual statement tells us that the early believers are in the habit of calling on the Lord all the time.  And out of a pure heart too! It's a continual expression of faith to God!

Calling on the Lord has to do with prayer.  Calling on the Lord is the mark of the early Christians. 

If you are a Christian, do you pray and call on the Lord?  If you don't call on the Lord, you are not even a Christian in Biblical terms.

I have a word of encouragement to our young people:  It is truly possible for us to live a life of purity.  We cannot live in purity in our own strength.  Many young people have difficulty controlling their youthful lusts.  This can become a lonely defeating battle.

So Paul gives a very concrete spiritual direction to help young Timothy to fight against sinful lust.  How?  To be together with Christians who call on the Lord to pursue after purity, righteousness, faith, love and peace.

What kind of Christians call on the Lord?  Surely it is not just the 'mere act of calling', as the emphasis here is on the "kind" of life they live.  These Christians who earnestly call on the Lord are people actively pursuing holiness, living a life of purity before God in prayer. They spend time in prayer calling on the Lord.

Do you take time to pray? Are you willing to spend time to pray and call on the Lord? We have prayer partners and we pray together in our church, as we are a community of  brothers and sisters keepers to call on the Lord together to pursue God with a pure heart.

Indeed, this is a beautiful picture of a church! 
"Those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."


This 'calling on the Lord" is more than an individual matter but a community praying together earnestly focusing on the Lord.

A church that calls on the Lord is a church of faith!

When there is no earnest desire calling on the Lord in our churches, it only shows that there is very little faith.  When there is no concern to call on the Lord, it only shows that we have no faith in our churches.

:)

Calling on the Name of the Lord in NT - 1

Subject: Calling on the Name of the Lord at Baptism

When we come to the NT, in the 1st Century Church, Christians were taught to call on the Name of the Lord when they got baptized, right at the beginning of their spiritual life. This was Paul's experience when he began his Christian life.

Ananias played a significant role in mentoring Paul at Paul's conversion. His instruction to Paul was: "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, CALLING on the Name of the Lord." Acts 22:16

I've read this passage so many times but somehow these words "Calling on the Name of the Lord" escaped my eyes.  I always knew that Ananias instructed Paul to get up and be baptized to have his sins washed away.  But what about "Calling on the Name of the Lord?"  I never took too much notice of these words.

Obviously 'Calling on the Name of the Lord' was something Ananias and the early disciples did often, thus Ananias exhorted Paul to do likewise.  Notice Paul was exhorted to call on the Name of the Lord at the beginning of his spiritual life, not at a later stage.  The First Century Christian leaders indeed laid a very firm foundation in the prayer life of the newly baptized believers.  We also need to do the same.

Here at baptism, Paul called on the Name of the Lord to have his sins washed away. Clearly calling on the Name of the Lord has to do with salvation, for the remission of our sins. 

The calling is not a mere verbal calling but it is a new beginning to express our faith in obedience to the Gospel. 

The word "Calling" in the participle form describes an action that is ongoing.  This means that "calling" is a progressive continuous action. You keep on calling His Name.  So Paul did not just call on the Name of the Lord at baptism and stopped there, but that he continued calling on the Name of the Lord throughout his Christian life. It doesn't mean that everytime Paul called on the Name of the Lord, he had to get rebaptized again and again. Obviously there is much deeper content involved in this action of calling that threads through Paul's prayer life. This calling on the Lord results in continual rich blessings from God (Rom 10:12-13).  Imagine this!  This is going to be something we will learn together as we move on in these articles.

The application for us today is that we too, must first call on the Name of the Lord to have our sins forgiven at baptism.  

There must be a beginning to call on the Name of the Lord.  

Did you call on Name of the Lord when you were baptized?

We need to get back to this "forgotten basics".   This teaching of calling on the Name of the Lord is not just for the mystics or the mature Christians as we might think.   

Let us exhort newly baptized Christians to call on the Name of the Lord.


In the coming articles, I will go into more detail to explain on this phrase "Calling on the Name of the Lord". This term contains very deep meanings in both OT and NT. 

:)