Romans 10:13 - for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The greatest single question of the religious life is, "If I call out to God, will anyone answer?" In the gangster-slash-vampire movie From Dusk Till Dawn, Harvey Keitel plays a pastor who has lost his faith. At one point, his daughter says to him, "Daddy, don't you believe in God anymore?" and part of his answer is, "Every person who chooses the service of God as his life's work has something in common. I don't care if you're a preacher, a priest, a nun, a rabbi, or a Buddist monk. Many, many times during your life you will look at your reflection in a mirror and ask yourself: Am I a fool?"

I submit to you that this is shared by the people in those congregations as well as those in front of them. Am I a fool> Am I calling out into the void? If I call out for help, will anyone answer me?

When Paul wrote that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved," he did it in the context of law and gospel: he was breaking down distinctions. When he said that there's no difference between Jews and Greeks, he was saying something incredible: there's no difference between law keepers and law breakers!

The prophets of the Old Testament railed at Israel because they weren't living up to the law the Lord had laid our for them: "You're just like the Gentiles," they'd say. "There's no distinction between you! You're not separating yourselves." So even when there was supposed to be a distinction between them, there was no distinction between Jews and the Greeks. The Jews were just as sinful as the Greeks! Now, because of Christ, there is again no distinction. All are made righteous. Their shared sin becomes shared righteousness, the precious gift of the crucified Jesus. It is because of this gift, this gift of a holy and righteous law-keeping life, that when we cry out into the void, "Lord, Lord, help me!" the Lord is generous to all who call on Him and that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,