Everyone? Yes, That Means You!

By Dr. Brandon Steenbock, Family Minister

Romans 10:13 - Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Everyone. Not because of race or gender. Not because of accomplishments or efforts. Not because of social status, dominance, oppression, wealth or poverty. No power or politics or position. Everyone.

This is all there is: Call on the name of the Lord. 

Here's the thing - you can't call on the name of the Lord while also calling on any other name. And you might be thinking, "I don't call on the name of any other God - what are you talking about?"

But some of us do this. We expect that elected official to solve the big problems, to make things better, to give us hope. We're not calling on the name of the Lord - we're calling on the name of a politician.

Or we expect that person - maybe it's a friend, maybe it's a significant other - to meet all our emotional needs. We're not calling on the name of the Lord - we're calling on the name of a person.

Or we expect that new job or that next degree or that future accomplishment will give us the sense of peace or comfort or purpose we're looking for. We're not calling on the name of the Lord - we're calling on the name of... ourselves. 

You can't call on the name of the Lord while calling on the name of anyone else. 

Here's the good news - everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Everyone. So this how it works - don't call on any other name. Just call on the name of the Lord.

Sounds so simple, doesn't it? Almost too easy? But that's the thing, it is really just that easy. 

To call on the name of the Lord means nothing more and nothing less than trusting Jesus with everything. It means looking at his perfect life as your substitute - so you don't have to live a perfect life, you don't have to have it all together, you don't have to do it right. Just let his life stand for yours, and give up trying to be good enough on your own. 

It means looking at his death as the thing that makes you acceptable to God. That sounds weird if you haven't been a Christian for a while, but here's how it works: God is holy, so he can't accept sin, and he can't accept people who commit sins. The problem is, every one of us sins. But Jesus takes our sins, and takes the penalty for our sins by his death. So now, in God's eyes, you don't have any sins anymore. So now a holy God can accept you, because Jesus died for you.

To call on the name of the Lord means to look at his resurrection as your hope for the future. Yes, resurrection. The Bible claims that  after Jesus died he rose from the dead. All of history, all the evidence of history, attests that this is true. And the Bible claims that because Jesus rose from the dead, we will also rise from the dead. Death is not the end. 

If that's true, think about the hope you have. What's the worst thing that could happen to you? Well, there are a lot of horrible things that can happen - abuse, pain, disease, the list goes on. But death ends all of it. And if all you had was an increasingly painful life that ended in oblivion, there's not a lot to hope for. But if instead you knew that at some point all the increasing pain of this life ends, and afterwards, you have nothing but joy, and peace, and pleasure, and rest? That's hope. And that's the hope that Jesus gives. 

Calling on the name of the Lord is nothing more or less than looking to Jesus. Jesus's life as your substitute. Jesus's death as your acceptance. Jesus's resurrection as your hope. That's it. 

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord is saved. Everyone.

That includes you.