Calling on the Lord from aomin.org

A person whom I will call DA submitted the following from Aomin.org

What, then, of Acts 22:16?

One theologian states:

Here, Ananias, having confronted the blinded Saul, says, in context:
Then he said: "The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name."

We again see the common theme of the calling and sovereignty of God in the context of this passage as well ("God...has chosen you"). Verse 16 presents us with a significant construction in the original language.

The terms "arise" and "call" (anastas and epikalesamenos) are aorist participles; "be baptized" and "be cleansed" (baptisai and apolousai) are aorist imperatives. These terms form two sets--the first, "arise and be baptized," the second, "wash away your sins, calling upon the name of the Lord," or more literally, "wash away your sins, having called upon the name of the Lord." The remission of sins is effected by calling upon the name of the Lord in this passage--it is represented, as elsewhere, by baptism. One thing is for certain: given what we have seen previously of Paul's own theology of justification, he certainly did not interpret Ananias to be teaching any form of baptismal regeneration!
Source: vintage.aomin. org/bapreg.html

mlculwell: And that is where it Needs to stay! " Vintage aomin"! I would Give it back to Dr. White and tell my Old friend he needs to rewrite this mess.

Calling on the name of the Lord is being Baptized in Jesus name and having your sins remitted( Acts 22:16 )is all one event. The above would not make any sense to the Mental assenter as they would say belief( is calling on the name of the Lord, they then would be Baptized. The order of events would be for them to call and believe then be baptized. This contradicts what Paul has written in (Roman 10:13)

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach except they be sent?

You cannot just *call on him to be saved*! You have to call on him the way a preacher sent of God tells you to call on him!
(John 17:17-18) tells us who the preachers are that are sent of God and it is not the Reformed! (Acts 2:38)is the way you call on the Lord

(Luke 24:46) Jesus said in Luke's account of the great commission:And that repentance and remission of sins be preached in my name among all nations *beginning at Jerusalem.* peter preached the message of repentance and remission of sins beginning at Jerusalem in( Acts 2:38) The Lord himself let us Know in the great Commission what truth sounds like By stating almost verbatim Peter 's Message on the first Pentecost after the resurrection .

Notice what the Lord said In (Luke 24:47) that refutes our mental assent friends doctrine completely? Jesus said; And that repentance and in addition to repentance remission of sins be preached in my name. Now you will notice what is not said *belief* it is inferred, one who repents has already believed but this is in addition to remission of sins refuting our friends doctrine and if that is not enough the Lord further says in (John 20:23) that whose soever sins the disciples remit they are remitted unto them and whose soever sins they retain they are retained. Cutting the head from the false doctrine of mental assent totally.



DA:
Another theologian, Bernie Gillespie writes an comprehensive article on this verse and how it relates to 3 step theology in UPCI/Oneness history

... here is the heart of the matter:

The question before us is: "How did Paul ‘wash away’ his sins?" Does Acts 22:16 prove that Paul washed away his sins by being properly baptized? Should we interpret this verse to mean that Paul needed to be baptized in order to have his sins forgiven? Is that how Paul received the forgiveness of sins? Is this what Paul believed or taught in his epistles in the New Testament?

mlculwell:
Paul Taught: As many as have Been Baptized into Christ, have Put on Christ(Gal. 3:27) You do not Believe into Christ apart from believing and being baptized.

Paul Taught we are buried with him In baptism(Roman 6:4)

Paul taught You do not get the Holy Ghost are baptized into Christ upon Belief/mental assent By asking the Disciples of John have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?(Acts 19:2)

Paul taught baptism(Acts 19:5)


DA:
First, notice very carefully the words of the text. Ananias said "arise," next he said "and be baptized," then, "and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."

mlculwell: Notice how that the writer attempts to cut the passage up and section off what he believes to be the relevant part of the passage and highlight his own doctrine?

(Acts 22:16)Ananias said" why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins calling upon the name of the Lord. The whole of the passage is meant to be one event. Why did he not already call on the name on the Lord when he believed? The passage and chronology and order of events does not even make sense to the mental assenter. These mental assenters Believe your sins are washed at belief and then you get Baptized because your sins are washed(Acts 8:37) tells us an unbeliever cannot be Baptized

DA:
It is not worded, "be baptized to wash away thy sins." If that is what Ananias meant he could have easily said it that way. But he placed the conjunction "and" between his verbs "arise," "be baptized," and "wash." If one attributes the washing to being baptized one could as well attribute it to the command to arise. Certainly this is not what is intended. The washing away of sins is more defined by the "calling on the name of the Lord." The meaning of this phrase would give us a clearer understanding of how Paul’s sins were washed away.

mlculwell: The passage could actually be a reiteration said two different ways to emphasize the point and bring home what actually happens at baptism, Now why tariest thou? Arise and Be Baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. the second part joined by the conjunction and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord.
Is the same as to arise and be baptized. It does not have to be worded the way our friend above states.

But the passage would again contradict what our mental assent friends actually believe. For the passage to be relevant to them our mental ascent friends it would need to say: Call on the name of the Lord and wash away thy sins and be baptized.

DA:
The word "calling" (epikaleosamenos) comes from the root word (epikaleo) which means "to use an attribution in speaking of a person." (Louw-Nida Lexicon) This word is used in Acts 7:59 for the act of praying to Jesus by Stephen as he was dying. He spoke the name of Jesus as direct address in praying to Jesus.

mlculwell: This would be true but it has no relevance to what we are talking about because of the prohibition of calling being limited to a preacher sent of God (John 17:17-20) the Apostles and Brethern found in scripture and not the modern Reformed Preacher, are the only ones we know that are sent of God,telling us How to call(Romans 10:13-15) telling us what calling actually is. (Luke 24:46-47,Acts 2:38)


DA:
It is used in Acts 9:14 of Christians as those who call on the name of the Lord. They spoke the name of Jesus in confession, prayer and worship (and Baptism) as addressing the Person of Jesus and not technically as a formula.


mlculwell:There is no authority, or power, outside, or without spoken name Jesus in a knowing relationship. One does not have authority simply because they say they are a Christian.


DA:
When Paul appealed (epikaloumai) to Caesar (Acts 25:11,12,21,25) he called upon the name (title) of Caesar to invoke the authority of the whole person.

mlculwell: I would use the same Point, only the name, and not the title is the Authority and power of the whole person, we have been given in the absence of the person and he is there by faith. to wash away thy sins and the The calling is a reiteration of arising and being baptized in the case of the passage in (Acts 22:16)


DA:
It was not the mere use of the name, as an incantation or conjuring formula. It was a demand for the right to due process as a Roman citizen. Paul was already a citizen, therefore he was not asking for the right to become a citizen. He assumed that, as a Roman citizen, he had the rights of that citizenship which were embodied in Caesar. This is what is meant by the teaching of Paul: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Col. 3:17) This was written to the Colossians in the context of worship. This phrase is used to identify those who have faith in Jesus as the object of their adoration, worship and hope.

mlculwell; (Col. 3:17) is a passage telling us to walk worthy of the name that bought us, I do not believe (Col.3:17) has anything to with what we are talking about. the Colossians were those who believed and were already Baptized In Jesus name and filled with the spirit.

You speak of of an "Incantation" Towards the name Jesus but James tells us about that so called incantation you hate so much.

(James 5:14) Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up.
Notice the conjunction *and * and how this is all tied into one event by meeting the conditions of the Lord by inspiration of the Spirit by faith?


DA:
These words "calling on the name of the Lord" occur first in Acts chapter two in Peter’s Day of Pentecost sermon. Peter quotes from the prophet Joel (2:32) and applies Yahweh’s last days promise of salvation for Israel to salvation in Jesus Christ. This expression "call upon the name of the LORD," in the Old Testament, is shorthand for placing exclusive faith in Yahweh, the One God of Israel, for mercy and salvation.

Remarkably, Joel’s words are quoted again in another place in the New Testament. It is found in the Apostle Paul’s own writing in Romans 10:13. This is most pertinent, because we have a direct interpretation of what it means to "call upon the name of the Lord" by Paul himself. Here the person told (in Acts 22:16) to call on the name of the Lord to wash away his sins gives us his understanding of what that meant in doctrinal terms. We cannot establish doctrine on an historical narrative (such as the account of Acts) without also supporting it clearly in the teaching portions (epistles) of Scripture.

mlculwell: Lol! The Epistles are Letters to churches and individuals (Folks already saved) these letters would not go to unsaved as the letters would fall to those who wrestle the scriptures to their own destruction not understanding. (Romans 10:13) clearly tells us we cannot simply call on the name of the Lord we have to have preacher sent from God (John 17:17-20) Our Lord tells us who is sent and even Gives the same message as (Acts 2:38) in(Luke 24:47) although not with as much detail in Peters first message but gives the starting place (Beginning at Jerusalem) and what would be preached in the first salvation Message repentance and remission of sins.

DA:
Since it is Paul who "called on the name of the Lord" and it was his sins which were "washed away," no one could explain that better than he.

mlculwell: Paul would not have called on the Lord if he were not Baptized in Jesus name.

DA:
In Romans ten, Paul says this:
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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [Romans 10:9-13 NIV]

mlculwell: The above is an epistle written to the Romans a group already who have applied the intricacies of the Gospel and it is being broken down for them for better understanding..

Before the above that you submitted as your proof text in verse 8 Paul says to these already saved individuals That the word is near them and already in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith which (WE PREACH) This is not a passage that can be used by the mental assenters to showcase their calling on the Lord apart from Baptism. The calling on the Lord is found in the book of Acts.