Understanding the New Testament Gospel Differences (Part 6)

Understanding the New Testament Gospel Differences (Part 6 --- Call upon the name of the Lord or confess His name)

We continue with the comparison of the gospel of God and the gospel of Christ by looking at key elements that distinguish them from each other. I recommend to start at the beginning of this comparison to gain the necessary context of this series of posts.

Call upon the name of the Lord or Confess the Lord

In the Old Testament and the four Gospels, it was required by Jews to call upon the name of the Lord or confess His name. The purpose for this was to make a positive identification of Him based on the signs the scriptures gave about their Messiah, and in so doing individually proclaim their faith in Him. To call upon the name of the Lord, or to confess Him as their Messiah, was a necessary requirement of salvation during the law dispensation and in the Kingdom gospel and the gospel of God.

Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

Although Jesus has fulfilled many prophecies and did countless miracles to prove His identity as the promised Messiah and Son of God, he never openly claimed the title, so it was up to a person's faith in their scriptures to believe in Jesus. This faith was made manifest by confessing His name before others, in addition to obeying the law and doing good works.

Luke 12:8 "Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. 9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

John 11:27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

Acts 8:37 Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

Acts 9:20 Immediately he [Paul] preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

Confessing the name of Jesus, that He was the Christ, according to the gospel of the kingdom meant believing Who He was, i.e., believing in His name (John 3:18; Acts 2:21, 38, 3:6, 16, 4:7, 10, 12, 17, 18, 30, 5:28, 40, 41, 8:12, 16, 9:14, 15, 21, 27, 10:43, 48). The gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of God focused upon the identity of Christ as the Messiah.

Salvation by grace today

For us today, in the dispensation of grace, confessing audibly the name of the Lord is not a requirement for salvation. The gospel of grace, (our gospel) does not have conditions that we need to fulfil. Salvation today does not lie in conditions to fulfil but rather in trusting in Christ after we have heard and chosen to respond in prayer to that moment of conviction generated by the gospel.

Notice the account of the Philippian jailer's salvation experience. After hearing the gospel of Christ, the jailer asked; "Sirs, what shall I do to be saved." In Acts 16:31, Paul answered;

"Believe on (trust in) the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…".

Here are a few other scripture passages to confirm this;

Rom.11:5-6  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.  6  And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Eph.2:8-9  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

One last point

The 'confession (profession)' of faith as seen in the Romans verse below is often cited in the wrong context. The common 'sinner's prayer', and even the Roman Road salvation technique often uses this verse as instruction for a new believer to do in order to be 'saved.'

Rom.10:9-10 IF thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

As mentioned in this post, our salvation does not have conditions to fulfil in order to merit or earn salvation! Notice how the above verse starts. "IF you will confess...".  The word "if" is a condition. It's something required of you! The proper context of this verse in Romans is part of Paul's writings to Israel. In Romans chapters 9 to 11, Paul deals with instructions to the Jews based on their belief in the gospel and the instructions they were required to do to merit salvation. 

When Peter preached the gospel of God in the early part of Acts, he specified that God had raised Jesus from death. This was no mystery as it was prophesied in the scriptures that the Christ would not see corruption like David did. For Jews to respond to the gospel of God they had to confess the identity of Jesus Christ as their Messiah and they also were required to believe in His resurrection. Notice how this is presented in the following verses,

Acts 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. (Also see: Acts 2:24; Acts 2:32; Acts 3:15; Acts 3:26; Acts 5:30; Acts 10:40)

Conditional requirements are not connected to our salvation in the grace gospel. The gospel today requires simply to believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that He was buried, and that he rose again for our justification. Our hope is in the cross-work of Christ and not in the fulfillment of any other necessary requirements. So, whether we choose to call upon the Lord with our mouth or whether we choose to offer a silent prayer in our thoughts, it makes no difference. All that matters is the attitude of our heart and our genuine belief in our response to God's incredible grace.