Call on the Name

The phrase, to "call on the name of the LORD" is one of the oldest terms for worship. In Genesis 4:26, people began to call on the Name of the LORD in the days of Enosh, Adam's grandson. Abraham twice offered worship in the form of a sacrifice, honoring and thanking God at the memorial altar between Bethel and Ai; it is stated that here he "called on the Name of the LORD" (Genesis 12:8, 13:4).

Calling on the Name of the LORD is more than invoking a name, or the authority vested in a title. In I Kings 18:24-26, the showdown on mount Carmel, Elijah challenges the worshippers of Baal to "call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of my God." This invocation carries with it the understanding that God would answer or respond in some way. The Psalmist writes that:
Then I called on the name of the LORD:'LORD, save me!'
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.
Psalms 116:4, 13.

When we start to get into Messianic prophecy, Joel writes:

"And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Joel 2:32

Peter quotes this passage in a
Acts 2:21, referring to recent events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion.

In fact, one dying man did just that... called on the name of Jesus, and was saved!

Luke 23:42-43
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ’”
43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. ”

As the sun was turned to darkness and the moon to blood, the Son of Man was lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. And the power of sin and law was broken as the one sinless One was crucified among criminals. The thief who hung on the cross was that hour united with Jesus in paradise.

And to this day, all who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ are saved.

So, what? you say. Can't the title Lord, translated κύριος, be referring to Jesus without making Him God?

Without going into a word-study, (yet), the short answer is... No.

First, let's look at the language in Joel. The Hebrew word translated "LORD" is in fact, the tetragrammaton (YHWH, pronounced "Jehovah"). Of course, the LXX renders this "κύριος", as does the Greek in Acts 2 - and virtually all Old Testament quotes in the Greek Scriptures.

But just in case we are unsure of Peter's intention, let us look at the teachings of Paul. In Romans, Paul explicitly names Jesus the "Lord/κύριος" of Joel 2:32:

9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved....
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ”
Romans 10:9-13

Now, you could extrapolate this to mean calling on the name of YHWH, or even exclusively God the Father, although that would be really hard. But what Paul means becomes evident in 1 Corinthians 1:2:

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their Lord and ours.

Elsewhere he adjures, "if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Again, according to Paul, "God...gave Him the Name above all names, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." This is again a direct quote from the Old Testament, in which YHWH states that "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to Me" (Isaiah 45:21). And "neither is there salvation in any other, for is no other name under heaven by which men are saved" (Acts 4:12). If Jesus is not God, the Apostles just kicked YHWH out of the picture.