Jesus specifically says that “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Trusting in works for salvation is not the will of the Father. Matthew 7:22 - Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name
done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you: depart from me, you who
practice lawlessness. Apart from the righteousness of God which is by faith (Romans 4:5-6) their sins remain. Hence, you who practice lawlessness. Instead of Lord, Lord, didn't WE, (look what WE did/salvation by works) the correct answer for these many people in
Matthew 7:22 would have been Lord, Lord, didn't YOU die for our sins, were buried and rise again the third day to provide for us eternal life. We trust in YOU alone as the ALL-sufficient means of our salvation. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:8,9)
*So, what was the will of the Father that these many people failed to do? John 6:40 - For
my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and
believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
So, what does “calling on the name of the Lord mean”? The Bible gives us the answer, so we do not have to guess.
Calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved = relying on the name of the Lord, trusting in Him for salvation. When one calls upon Jesus to save them, they are trusting in Him to come to their aid. Inherent in their calling upon the name of the Lord is the essential faith in Jesus Christ that He alone can and will save them. So, when we call on the name of the Lord, we by faith are trusting that He will provide for us eternal life.
Acts 22:16 Ananias told Saul of Tarsus to “Arise, and be BAPTIZED and wash away your sins, CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD.” When you do what God says to do in His word, ALL of what God says, when you are baptized to wash away your sins, you ARE “calling on the name of the lord.”. This is what it means I have it on the best authority—God.
Seeking salvation by water baptism is not calling on the name of the Lord. In regard to
Acts 22:16, Jamison, Fausset, and Brown Commentary makes not of the importance of the Greek in Ananias' statement. When Ananias tells Paul to "arise, be baptized, wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord," the tense of the last command is literally "having called" (aorist middle participle). "Calling on [epikalesamenos] --- 'having (that is, after having) called on,' referring the confession of Christ which preceded baptism." [Jamison, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, vol. 3 pg. 160]. Kenneth Wuest picks up on this Greek nuance and translates the verse as follows: "And now, why are you delaying? Having arisen, be baptized and wash away your sins, having previously called upon His Name." (
Acts 22:16, Wuest's Expanded NT).
Paul had already believed in Christ when Ananias came to pray for him to receive his sight (
Acts 9:17). It also should be noted that Paul at the time when Ananias prayed for him to receive his sight, he was
filled with the Holy Spirit (
Acts 9:17)--this was
before he was water baptized (
Acts 9:18). Verse 17 connects his being filled with the Spirit with the receiving of his sight. We know that he received his sight prior to his baptism.
Excellent article on
Acts 22:16 -
https://kentbrandenburg.blogspot.com/2015/03/acts-2216-baptism-essential-for.html
I really can’t understand how you can think that baptism is unimportant—unless you have been listening to MEN and not reading and studying your Bible; because men will tell you that, but the Bible actually paints a different picture. Just look at these scriptures:
Why would a Christian believe that water baptism is unimportant? I could not wait to get water baptized after my conversion when I received Christ through faith. Being an important act of obedience does not make it the means of our salvation. Is partaking of the Lord's supper important or unimportant? Is attending church important or unimportant? Yet neither are the basis nor means by which we obtain salvation either.
Mark 16:16- Jesus, the Son of God, said, “ He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. That is literally the same as saying, 1 + 1 =2. Belief + Baptism = Salvation.
man says, Belief — Baptism = Salvation. That is like saying, 1 — 1 = 2 Wrong answer.
Or, Belief = Salvation. Which is still like 1 = 2. Wrong answer. Scripturally and mathematically, Baptism is necessary to salvation and “belief only” is false . Just as James 2:24 says in the scriptures.
Wrong. Mark 16:16 is composed of two basic statements. 1—He who believes and is baptized will be saved. 2 He who does not believe will be condemned. While this verse tells us something about believers who have been baptized (they will be saved), it does not say anything about believers who have not been baptized. In order for this verse to teach that baptism is absolutely necessary for salvation, a third statement would be necessary, “He who believes and is not baptized will be condemned” or “He who is not baptized will be condemned.” But, of course, neither of these statements is found in the verse.
If water baptism was absolutely necessary for salvation, then we would expect Jesus to mention it in the following verses. (3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26) Yet what is the ONE requirement that Jesus mentions NINE different times in each of these complete statements *
BELIEVES. *What happened to baptism? *Hermeneutics.
John 3:18 - He who
believes in Him is not condemned; but he who (is not water baptized? - NO)
does not believe is condemned already, because he has not (been water baptized? - NO)
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.