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.”
I
read a grat little Word Study on “Whosoever” today. IT said that the Bible
tells us in Acts 10:34 that “God is no respecter of persons”. Yet in
the above “whosoever” passage of the Old Testament, it is clear that those who
“call on the name of the Lord” were
the same as “the remnant whom the Lord
shall call.” Those who call on the Lord have first been called by
the Lord. He accepts all those who call on Him from every nation. Theologians
of great intellect have wrestled with these questions for centuries. On the
practical level, however, the Holy Spirit led Peter to quote this passage in
his great sermon on the Day of Pentecost: Acts 2:21 “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved”.
Peter
was still speaking only to Jews, of course, but they had assembled at Jerusalem
“out of every nation under heaven”.
But then Paul made it forever plain that “whosoever” applied to everyone when
he also quoted Joel. “For there is no
difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved” - Romans 10:12-13.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, on the very last page of Scripture, says: “Whosoever will, let him take the
water of life freely” – Revelation 22:17.
So, whosoever will may come! One can contemplate later, with deep thanksgiving,
the mysteries of the divine call, but first he must believe in Jesus and come,
and if he so wills, he may!
John
3:16-18 “For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might
be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God.
Blessings
in Christ, our Savior and Lord
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