PTM WEEKLY UPDATE -- MAY 5, 2008

Is everyone redeemed -- or saved? What's the difference?

Q. Do you believe that all humanity has been redeemed by God -- or just a select few? And, if all have been redeemed, then is that redemption given to us regardless of anything we do?

A. All humanity has been redeemed by the Cross of Christ. We can do nothing to earn it or deserve it, but it is not automatically forced on us, in some arbitrary way. We must decide whether to accept it or reject it. When we accept God's redemption, we are saved.

Q. Okay, then -- can you comment on the following scripture: Romans 10:13: "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved."

A. Any time we ask about a verse in the Bible, we should not simply dive into "explaining it" without thinking of the original recipients, who form part of the context -- the original purpose of the human author (as inspired by God) -- and the literary context of the chapter, and book in which the verse appears.

For example, if I picked up a book other than the Bible and turned to page 437, picked out a sentence, and asked myself "what does this mean?" I would know that I have little chance of understanding the author's purposes unless I read and understand the entire book -- or at least a goodly portion of the context in which that one sentence on page 437 appears. You do not tell me what you know or think you know about this passage. You do not tell me what may be troubling to you. You simply ask for my comment. That puts me at a disadvantage, obviously, and time doesn't permit me to take an hour or so to fully explain this passage.

I am going to assume you are concerned about the seemingly all inclusive, carte blanche promise contained in this passage -- that everyone who "calls on" the name of the Lord will be saved. I assume you are thinking that this sounds way too easy.

Another problem we face in looking at this passage is your question is found in the book of Romans. That means we have multiplied the impact of the disclaimer and qualifications I have already given. Romans is a carefully crafted book, it is a theological house that is logically built, one brick at a time. We are looking at one verse in the tenth chapter. So again, I apologize, for time does not allow me to rehearse the entire background of the book of Romans. Suffice it to say, the issue at hand is the justification of humans in Christ. Paul explains, in breathtaking theological detail, that the human performance of religion will never justify us before God -- only the cross of Christ may do that.

In chapter 10 -- as well as the last portions of chapter 9 -- Paul introduces the problem of one specific religion, and its attempt to be righteous on the basis of works and deeds. In a painfully poignant example, Paul speaks of his own race and his own former religion, that of Judaism -- based on the old covenant -- and explains that so many involved in that religion were seeking righteousness by their own works rather than by faith in God.

In Romans 10:13 Paul asserts that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." This is a direct quote from Joel 2:32 -- and is a continuation of a New Testament practice of citing New Testament passages in a Christ-centered context. Paul and other New Testament writers often quote passages, in terms of praise, worship, and faith in God, and apply them to Jesus, who is and was God in the flesh, the God-man.

The phrase "call upon" is not a formula, it is not to suggest that mouthing these words is some kind of magic elixir that opens the door of salvation. To call upon God is to trust in, surrender to, have faith in God. It is, in the context of Romans, the act of repenting of one's religion, one's thinking that one might be saved by compliance and obedience, and accepting that Jesus alone, without any help from us or our religion, saves us.

This passage suggests, both in its context of the book of Romans, and the immedate contexts of the verses surrounding it (I won't take time to exposit them here) that calling upon the name of the Lord is an act of complete faith, utter abandonment of religion, absolute reliance on Jesus and Jesus alone to do for us what we can never do for ourselves.

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