People have many reasons for rejecting God. Some choose to believe that He doesn’t exist. Some choose to see and believe only what they want to about God. For example, some see how God judged sin in the Old Testament and think God is cruel, but never see the mercy He shows. They refuse to see all the times that God called the people to repentance and they rejected Him. But for some people, they look at their life and say, “I’m too far gone. God would never accept me.” If that’s you – then there is one of the most exciting words for you found in Acts 2:21. That word is “Whosoever.”
Whosoever. That means you. It doesn’t matter what your age. Whosoever is for the child, the teen, the adult, the senior adult, and the person soon to die.
Whosoever. It doesn’t matter what your job. Whosoever is for the President, the politician, the judge. It for law enforcement, doctors, teachers, social workers, psychologists, nurses, managers, retail clerks, waitress/waiter, day care worker, postman, garbage man, military, engineer, construction worker, and those looking for a job.
Whosoever. It doesn’t matter your socioeconomic status. It’s for the billionaire, the millionaire, the upper class, the “new money” class, the middle class, the working class, the working poor, and those who live in poverty.
Whosoever. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. Its for those who follow the law and those bend the rules and those who live in prison. It for the drug addict, the alcoholic, the thief, the liar, the murder, the rapist, the abuser, the bully, the manipulator, the adulterer, and the homosexual.
Whosoever. It means that no matter who you are or what’s in your past, Jesus is waiting for you.
Whosoever. It means that if you had been the only person that ever lived, Jesus would have still come to earth to die for you. To pay the price for your sin. That’s how much He loves you. All you have to do is call on the name of the Lord. But what does calling on the name of the Lord mean? At one time, doctors would make house calls. He wasn’t just stopping in to say, “Hello. How are you today. Have a nice day.” He was going to tend to the needs of his patient. At one time, a gentleman would “call” on a lady. His intentions were to get to know her, court her. Similarly, calling on the name of the Lord involves more than just calling out the name of Jesus. Calling on the name of the Lord involves several steps.
The first step is recognizing yourself as a sinner. That begins with a recognition of your own sin and that there is nothing you can do on your own to get yourself out of sin. When we realize the depth and hopelessness that we are in because of our own sin, we then understand our need of someone to save us from our sin. “Calling on the name of the Lord” is saying, “God, I’m a sinner and hopelessly lost without You.”
The second step is recognizing Christ as the Savior that took your place. I do quite a bit of driving and in areas that I’ve never been to before. I can recognize and understand that I’ve made a wrong turn and have no idea where I am, but if I don’t do something about it, I will stay lost. The same is true about recognizing ourselves as sinners. If we don’t do something about our “lostness,” then we will stay lost in our sins. I am quite depended on my GPS to get me to all the places I need to go. Spiritually, we are depended on Christ to get us to Heaven. He is the only way. God sent Jesus to earth to take pay the debt for our sin. can then call on the name of the Lord to repent of our sin. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The price for our sin is a spiritual death that leaves us separated from God and an eternity in Hell. But God’s gracious gift of allowing His only Son, Jesus, to pay the price for us through His death on the cross, gives us eternal life in Heaven. Each one of us have to settle for ourselves who Jesus is and what we are going to do with Him – reject Him and continue living in our sin or to call on His name and repent of our sin. “Calling on the name of the Lord” is saying, “I believe Jesus is the only Son of God who paid the price for my sin and there is nothing I can do on my own to save me from my sin. Jesus is the only way.”
The third step is recognizing the need to change our direction by repenting of our sins. Repenting means that there is a change of your heart and mind. It is a regret or remorse that accompanies the realization of your sinful self. Repentance is saying, “God, I’m sorry for my sins.” When true repentance has occurred, there will be evidence of it by a person’s reversal of thought so that the person make a complete change from their sin to turning to God. It is like driving somewhere and realizing you missed your turn, so you do a U-turn and go back the other way. Repentance occurs when a person is following the path of sin, realizing that path leads to destruction and death and surrendering their heart to God, they make a U-turn and begin following the path that leads to God and eternal life. When we make the change of direction, we begin to align our heart and will to the heart and will of God.
The forth step is recognizing our need for forgiveness of sin. With a heart that has acknowledge our sinfulness and we have begun to align our heart and will to God, we need to ask him to forgive us of our sin. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “Calling on the name of the Lord” then is a broken and contrite heart that says, “God, I’m sorry, please forgive me.”
The last step is recognizing that you are now a new creation in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” As a new creation, saved by God’s grace, we experience a total and complete surrender and willing submission of our lives to Him. Our old “sinful self” is dead and we now have a new life in Christ.
How can we know that God will save us – no matter who we are or what we’ve done? Acts 4:21 says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It didn’t say “might be saved.” It doesn’t say “will be saved, if your good enough.” It is an emphatic promise. If we call on Jesus recognizing ourselves as a sinner, that Jesus took our place to pay our sin debt for us, repent of our sins, ask Him for forgiveness of our sins and to make us a new creation, then we can know without a doubt that we will be saved.
Whosoever. It means you! Jesus is waiting for you to call on Him now.
God, Love and Marshmallow Wars: This book contains 365 daily challenges for couples to strengthen their relationships to each other and with God. Couples will complete activities such as Scripture memory, conversation starters, relationship builders, learning about Biblical marriage, romance builders, personal reflections, and date ideas. Click here to purchase your copy. (This link will open a new widow and take you to Westbow Press’ bookstore.) It is also available at Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, and Barnes & Nobel
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Looking for a speaker for your next ministry event? Julia is now booking for 2019 and 2020 Christian events for women’s and couples’ ministries for both small and large events.
Book with us now.
Julia is CEO of Wellspring Christian Ministries, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people and couples develop a passionate relationship with God. A public speaker, conference trainer, event planner, and blog writer, Julia is a two-time graduate from Grand Canyon University with a bachelor in Psychology and a masters in Professional Counseling. Saved as a child and raised in church and in a Christian home and private Christian School as a Pastor’s kid, Julia has taught Sunday school, led music, played the piano, served as Children’s Director, and engaged her gifts in many other areas of church life. Previously employed with the Florida Baptist Convention, Julia organized events and led conferences for church ministry assistants.
Julia enjoys sharing her journey as a growing Christian with others looking for a deeper connection with God. Through Bible study and her own life experiences, God has given Julia a passion to help couples understand God’s design for marriage while they learn to place God first in their marriage, cultivate meaningful relationships, build intimacy, and address the tougher issues that come in every marriage so that they can experience a marriage that honors and glorifies God. Julia also loves mentoring, teaching, and working with women to help them learn to live as Godly women.
With her history and experience growing up in both small and large churches, Julia enjoys bringing top level quality events to churches of all sizes. Her father largely pastored small churches and therefore she understands that these vital parts of the believing community need to be good stewards of the resources God provides them with. This knowledge inspires her passion for being available with a fresh perspective for those who want to provide their congregations with meaningful spiritual growth opportunities.
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