Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ vs Calling on His Name

[Guido]

Romans 10:9-13 seems to say that the condition for salvation is calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, Romans 10:14 states that no one can call on His name without first believing in Him. Moreover, in multiple passages in the Gospel of John, the Lord states that one receives eternal life at the very moment they believe in Him.

My questions therefore are as follows. Is faith in the Lord or calling on His name the condition for salvation? How can I tell from the scriptures? And is the view that calling on the name of the Lord saves a Free Grace view or a Lordship Salvation view. Also, is it ever too late for a person to call on the name of the Lord? And, if someone has already called on the name of the Lord, but later changed their doctrine of salvation, were they saved to begin with?

Thank you for your answers.

 

[David Lamb]

Romans 10:9-13 seems to say that the condition for salvation is calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, Romans 10:14 states that no one can call on His name without first believing in Him. Moreover, in multiple passages in the Gospel of John, the Lord states that one receives eternal life at the very moment they believe in Him.

My questions therefore are as follows. Is faith in the Lord or calling on His name the condition for salvation? How can I tell from the scriptures? And is the view that calling on the name of the Lord saves a Free Grace view or a Lordship Salvation view. Also, is it ever too late for a person to call on the name of the Lord? And, if someone has already called on the name of the Lord, but later changed their doctrine of salvation, were they saved to begin with?

Thank you for your answers.

I would say that both are involved. As Romans 10:14 says, nobody can call upon the Lord Jesus Christ if they don't believe in Him:

NKJV Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

Paul himself called upon the Lord on the Damascus road, first asking Who He was, then asking what He wanted Paul to do.

The term "Lordship salvation" isn't used very much here in the UK, but it seems to mean different things to different people. I wonder what you mean by it. If you mean believing that Jesus Christ is Lord, that is correct, because according to the Bible, that is what He is. The apostles told the jailer at Philippi to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. Then we have verses like these:

NKJV Act 10:36 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—

Rev 17:14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."

So if somebody claims to believe in Jesus Christ, but doesn't believe that He is Lord, Who is the Jesus they say they believe in? Certainly to the Saviour we read of in the Bible.

 

[canadyjd]

Romans 10:9-13 seems to say that the condition for salvation is calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, Romans 10:14 states that no one can call on His name without first believing in Him. Moreover, in multiple passages in the Gospel of John, the Lord states that one receives eternal life at the very moment they believe in Him.

My questions therefore are as follows. Is faith in the Lord or calling on His name the condition for salvation? How can I tell from the scriptures? And is the view that calling on the name of the Lord saves a Free Grace view or a Lordship Salvation view. Also, is it ever too late for a person to call on the name of the Lord? And, if someone has already called on the name of the Lord, but later changed their doctrine of salvation, were they saved to begin with?

Thank you for your answers.

The “conditions” for salvation are…

1. God Holy moves upon a person so as to draw them to the truth of Jesus Christ, crucified for sins, raised from the dead, ascended into heaven. John 4, 1 Corinthians

2. The person responds with faith in Jesus

3. God Holy Spirit indwells the person to guide them into all truth and strengthen them for the troubles they will.

Plain and simple. No need to complicate.

Peace to you

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

Romans 10:9-13 seems to say that the condition for salvation is calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, Romans 10:14 states that no one can call on His name without first believing in Him. Moreover, in multiple passages in the Gospel of John, the Lord states that one receives eternal life at the very moment they believe in Him.

My questions therefore are as follows. Is faith in the Lord or calling on His name the condition for salvation? How can I tell from the scriptures? And is the view that calling on the name of the Lord saves a Free Grace view or a Lordship Salvation view. Also, is it ever too late for a person to call on the name of the Lord? And, if someone has already called on the name of the Lord, but later changed their doctrine of salvation, were they saved to begin with?

Thank you for your answers.

Scripture never presents “calling on the name of the Lord” and “believing on the Lord Jesus Christ” as two different conditions for salvation. Calling is the expression of faith; believing is the substance of faith. The order in Romans 10 makes this clear.

Romans 10:14 states that no one can call on Him unless they first believe. That means calling is the outward cry of a heart that already trusts Christ. The Gospel of John repeatedly teaches that the sinner receives eternal life at the moment he believes (John 3:16; 3:18; 5:24; 6:47). Believing is the moment of life. Calling is the confession of that faith.

Romans 10:9–13 does not add a second condition. It describes the believer acknowledging Christ openly. The heart believes unto righteousness; the mouth confesses what the heart already holds. Paul is not giving two requirements. He is showing the inward and outward sides of the same faith.

As for the question about Free Grace or Lordship Salvation, both systems agree that faith is the instrument by which the sinner receives Christ. The difference is not in Romans 10, but in how each system defines the nature of saving faith. Romans 10 itself keeps the matter simple: the one who believes is the one who calls, and the one who calls is the one who believes.

It is never too late for a sinner to call on the Lord. As long as there is life, there is opportunity. And if someone truly believed on Christ and called on His name, even if their doctrine later changed, the promise of Christ does not change. He gives eternal life to the believer, and He does not revoke it.

 

[Mike B]

It is never too late for a sinner to call on the Lord. As long as there is life, there is opportunity. And if someone truly believed on Christ and called on His name, even if their doctrine later changed, the promise of Christ does not change. He gives eternal life to the believer, and He does not revoke it.

AMEN!!

 

[Ben1445]

and the responses from both sides are fair depending on the degree of emphasis that comes in conversation.
If “ saving faith” doesn’t change you, are you saved.
As Paul says, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?
Ad James, “vain man,” “faith without works is dead.”
So it is a reasonable and biblical question to ask. If Jesus is not your Lord now, why should you think that He is your Savior later when He will be recognized as Lord of all and the Savior of the saints?
It is a topic that Scripture is not silent about, even though Paul does not call it lordship salvation.

 

[Armchair Apologist]

Romans 10:9-13 seems to say that the condition for salvation is calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, Romans 10:14 states that no one can call on His name without first believing in Him. Moreover, in multiple passages in the Gospel of John, the Lord states that one receives eternal life at the very moment they believe in Him.

My questions therefore are as follows. Is faith in the Lord or calling on His name the condition for salvation? How can I tell from the scriptures? And is the view that calling on the name of the Lord saves a Free Grace view or a Lordship Salvation view. Also, is it ever too late for a person to call on the name of the Lord? And, if someone has already called on the name of the Lord, but later changed their doctrine of salvation, were they saved to begin with?

Thank you for your answers.

Both "calling upon the name of the Lord" (Rom 10:13) and "Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ" are expressions of saving faith. Believing on the Lord and "praying the sinner's prayer" or whatever are not prerequisites or something anyone "does" for salvation. Many bring up the argument regarding whether "regeneration precedes faith" and rather than going there, I think we should realize that it is God who convicts our heart and brings us to repentance and faith. Non-Calvinists may express it differently but I believe we would ultimately be on the same page so no sense in turning such into a "Calvinism-Arminianism" debate.

As a matter of fact, John R Rice (a non-Calvinist) expresses it pretty much the same way as I have in his "What Must I Do to be Saved" tract.

 

[Armchair Apologist]

The term "Lordship salvation" isn't used very much here in the UK, but it seems to mean different things to different people. I wonder what you mean by it. If you mean believing that Jesus Christ is Lord, that is correct, because according to the Bible, that is what He is. The apostles told the jailer at Philippi to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. Then we have verses like these:

NKJV Act 10:36 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—

Rev 17:14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."

So if somebody claims to believe in Jesus Christ, but doesn't believe that He is Lord, Who is the Jesus they say they believe in? Certainly to the Saviour we read of in the Bible.

"Lordship Salvation" is the premise that one must make Jesus "Lord" before Jesus will save them and you would be hard-pressed to find someone who actually believes and teaches this but you have the "Free Grace" crowd (Zane Hodges, Bob Wilkin, etc.) trying to say that this is what John Macarthur teaches and in all fairness, MacArthur also conflates the "free grace" position in his "Gospel According to Jesus" book.

As you have stated here, those who are regenerate WILL acknowledge Jesus's Lordship not in order to be saved but because they are saved! If some would take the time to untwist the knot in their knickers, they may understand that both sides actually agree more than they disagree!