Rooted in Love: Living the Christian Life to the FullSample

Call on the Name of the Lord

 We recognize the power of names and what they represent. St Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome is a sustained explanation of the good news of Jesus Christ which answers the questions ‘What is the gospel?’, ‘Why do we need it?’, ‘Can we be saved by keeping the law?’, ‘What does it mean to have faith?’, ‘How does Jesus’ death and resurrection put us right with God?’ By the time he reaches chapter 10, Paul wants to assert the universality of the good news – that salvation is for all. To call upon the name of Jesus, he argues, is to be saved: ‘Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’. 

This is a very different power in a name! In chapter 9, Paul completed his demolition of the idea that keeping the law can bring salvation – Israel, who has relied on the law, will come to salvation only through faith, as will the whole world. Indeed, it is ludicrous to suggest that a person can be saved by keeping the law. You may just as well try to clamber up to heaven to find the ascended Christ or to go down to the abyss to bring Christ up from the dead. Salvation is much simpler than meaningless quests to search for Jesus Christ, for he is accessible to all by faith.

The life of discipleship is not, of course, an easy option, but there is simplicity in the first step of the journey. Paul quotes the Old Testament – ‘The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart’ – to link together the necessity for inward belief and outward profession. There’s no such thing as a secret Christian: ‘if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved’ . The power of profession became, for the early Church, a simple antecedent of the Creed – ‘Jesus is Lord.’ The effect of this inward and outward confession is that it roots the gospel in our lives: we believe internally and are justified (put right with God); we confess with our mouth externally and receive by grace God’s gift of salvation. The power of the name is transformational.

Questions for Reflection

1. Are there any contexts where you find it difficult to be explicit about your faith? Are you ever tempted to be an anonymous believer?

2. Is the Holy Spirit nudging you to be baptised or confirmed, if you aren't already?

3. What is the next step in your faith journey?