Proper 14 / OT 19
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
-- Romans 10:13
It is important to remember that Paul was quoting Joel 2:32. If one strips the quote of its context, one can easily misconstrue what Paul intended by using it. For some in the Christian community, this quote has become almost a ticket by which people can claim their salvation from God. For Paul the original quote from Joel of calling on the Lord was filled with content by the person of Jesus Christ. You cannot call on God and be saved unless you know whom you are calling upon. "But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed?" Jesus' life, death, and resurrection gave content to the character of God who was a God who called us into a community of love and forgiveness.
Earlier in Romans, Paul used the example of Abraham to make clear that God's love and grace extended to both Jew and Gentile. "For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law [Jews] but also to those who share the faith of Abraham," which Paul demonstrated included all nations (Romans 4:16 ff). In pursuing this line of thought Paul declared, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him."
To say one accepts Jesus as Lord and to refuse to be part of the community of Christ or the church, as many in our culture are attempting to do, is a contradiction in terms. In the same manner, to say that one accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior but to refuse to strive to be as loving and forgiving as God gives us the grace to be is to deny content to the statement that Jesus is Lord. To call on the name of the Lord is to invoke God's character as seen in Jesus Christ as the way of living by which we find salvation.
-- Romans 10:13
It is important to remember that Paul was quoting Joel 2:32. If one strips the quote of its context, one can easily misconstrue what Paul intended by using it. For some in the Christian community, this quote has become almost a ticket by which people can claim their salvation from God. For Paul the original quote from Joel of calling on the Lord was filled with content by the person of Jesus Christ. You cannot call on God and be saved unless you know whom you are calling upon. "But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed?" Jesus' life, death, and resurrection gave content to the character of God who was a God who called us into a community of love and forgiveness.
Earlier in Romans, Paul used the example of Abraham to make clear that God's love and grace extended to both Jew and Gentile. "For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law [Jews] but also to those who share the faith of Abraham," which Paul demonstrated included all nations (Romans 4:16 ff). In pursuing this line of thought Paul declared, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him."
To say one accepts Jesus as Lord and to refuse to be part of the community of Christ or the church, as many in our culture are attempting to do, is a contradiction in terms. In the same manner, to say that one accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior but to refuse to strive to be as loving and forgiving as God gives us the grace to be is to deny content to the statement that Jesus is Lord. To call on the name of the Lord is to invoke God's character as seen in Jesus Christ as the way of living by which we find salvation.
