What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord?
Is it enough to ask Jesus for help and say that I trust in Him? To call on His name? Will I be saved — is it really that simple?
Such questions come to us, or are told to us, after reading the following verse or similar ones to the one below.
因为“凡求告主名的就必得救”。( 罗马书 10:13 )
The meaning for the above verse is a bit different and can be misinterpreted if taken out of context. This verse is written by the apostle Paul to emphasize that salvation is available to anyone — Jew or Gentile — who sincerely calls on Jesus Christ for help and trusts in Him.
There is a warning to avoid empty words which are not coming from the beliefs of your hearts.
＜我不认识你们（路 13:25-27）＞ “凡称呼我‘主啊，主啊’的人不能都进天国；惟独遵行我天父旨意的人才能进去。 当那日必有许多人对我说：‘主啊，主啊，我们不是奉你的名传道，奉你的名赶鬼，奉你的名行许多异能吗？’ 我就明明地告诉他们说：‘我从来不认识你们，你们这些作恶的人，离开我去吧！’”( 马太福音 7:21-23 )
We may live our whole lives as ‘Christians’ and still be rejected by Jesus. So what does it truly mean to believe in Him and not be rejected? what does it actually mean to love, follow, or trust in Jesus? In everyday life, we’re unlikely to fully trust someone if we know only their name and nothing more.
Let's start with truly understanding who Jesus is, what it means to believe He is the Messiah, and what it means to follow Him in a real, living way.
Many of us have our own personal image of Jesus — shaped by what we’ve heard, seen, or imagined. Some picture a graceful, almost otherworldly figure from church icons; others think of a vague or abstract person simply named Jesus; still others envision the man nailed to the cross — or something else entirely.
For Jewish people, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah carries deep meaning because they know the history, the prophecies, and the expectations surrounding the Messiah’s role in their lives and in the world. For someone who isn’t strong in theology, however, saying “I believe in Jesus” or “I believe He is the Messiah” can sometimes become little more than empty words — said without grasping what those words truly mean.
It’s easy to claim belief without understanding, but real faith calls us to go deeper — to know Jesus as He truly is, not just as an image or idea.
Jesus Himself tells us what it truly means to follow Him and to serve Him. We are called to recognize that Jesus is love — and to see His presence in our daily lives, even at this very moment. We are invited to see Jesus in the people around us, to love them as we would love Him, and to help them as we would desire to help Him.
我赐给你们一条新命令，乃是叫你们彼此相爱；我怎样爱你们，你们也要怎样相爱。 你们若有彼此相爱的心，众人因此就认出你们是我的门徒了。”( 约翰福音 13:34-35 )
我爱你们，正如父爱我一样；你们要常在我的爱里。( 约翰福音 15:9 )
Following Jesus means thinking less of ourselves and more of others and their needs. It’s not about outward appearances — not even about attending Sunday church services alone. Jesus warns us against offering mere lip service to God, honoring Him with our words while our hearts remain far away.
因为我饿了，你们给我吃，渴了，你们给我喝；我作客旅，你们留我住； 我赤身露体，你们给我穿；我病了，你们看顾我；我在监里，你们来看我。’ 义人就回答说：‘主啊，我们什么时候见你饿了，给你吃，渴了，给你喝？ 什么时候见你作客旅，留你住，或是赤身露体，给你穿？ 又什么时候见你病了，或是在监里，来看你呢？’ 王要回答说：‘我实在告诉你们，这些事你们既做在我这弟兄中一个最小的身上，就是做在我身上了。’( 马太福音 25:35-40 )
Let us not be like those who crucified Jesus. They knew the Scriptures far better than most of us do; they studied them deeply. Yet they missed the heart of it all — they did not understand that eternal life does not come simply from knowing the Scriptures, but from knowing the One to whom the Scriptures point: Jesus, the Messiah.
你们查考圣经｛或译：应当查考圣经｝，因你们以为内中有永生；给我作见证的就是这经。 然而，你们不肯到我这里来得生命。( 约翰福音 5:39-40 )
What It Means to Follow and Love Jesus
To follow Jesus is not just to admire Him from a distance; it is to walk the path He walked, with a heart shaped by His own. To love Jesus is to mirror His spirit — to be humble, to serve others, and to love even when it costs us.
Jesus humbled Himself beyond imagination. Though He is the King of kings, He knelt to wash His disciples’ feet. He showed us that greatness in the Kingdom of God is not about being exalted, but about lowering ourselves to lift others up.
To follow Him means to lay down pride and selfish ambition, and to pick up the towel of service, just as He did.
我是你们的主，你们的夫子，尚且洗你们的脚，你们也当彼此洗脚。 我给你们作了榜样，叫你们照着我向你们所做的去做。( 约翰福音 13:14-15 )
只是在你们中间，不可这样；你们中间谁愿为大，就必作你们的用人； 谁愿为首，就必作你们的仆人。 正如人子来，不是要受人的服事，乃是要服事人，并且要舍命，作多人的赎价。”( 马太福音 20:26-28 )
To love Jesus also means to love others — not only those who are easy to love, but also those who hurt, betray, or misunderstand us. Jesus forgave those who crucified Him, asking his Father to forgive them. If we truly love Him, we must extend that same mercy and forgiveness to those around us.
当下耶稣说：“父啊！赦免他们；因为他们所做的，他们不晓得。”兵丁就拈阄分他的衣服。( 路加福音 23:34 )
我赐给你们一条新命令，乃是叫你们彼此相爱；我怎样爱你们，你们也要怎样相爱。( 约翰福音 13:34 )
Understanding who Jesus is
Believing in Jesus is not merely believing that He once lived on Earth. It is recognizing the full glory of who He is:
- Jesus existed before the world began. He is the eternal Word of God, through whom all things were created.
- The world was made through Him. Every mountain, every ocean, every breath we take bears His fingerprints.
- He came down from heaven, clothed Himself in human flesh, and lived among us — fully God and fully man — to walk with us, to teach us, and ultimately to rescue us.
＜道成肉身＞ 太初有道，道与 神同在，道就是 神。 这道太初与 神同在。 万物是藉着他造的；凡被造的，没有一样不是藉着他造的。( 约翰福音 1:1-3 )
因为万有都是靠他造的，无论是天上的，地上的；能看见的，不能看见的；或是有位的，主治的，执政的，掌权的；一概都是藉着他造的，又是为他造的。 他在万有之先；万有也靠他而立。( 歌罗西书 1:16-17 )
道成了肉身，住在我们中间，充充满满地有恩典有真理。我们也见过他的荣光，正是父独生子的荣光。( 约翰福音 1:14 )
Though Jesus never sinned, He willingly went to the cross to bear the punishment for our sins. He suffered and died in our place, so that we, who are guilty, could be forgiven and have eternal life with Him.
神使那无罪｛无罪：原文是不知罪｝的，替我们成为罪，好叫我们在他里面成为 神的义。( 哥林多后书 5:21 )
我当日所领受又传给你们的：第一，就是基督照圣经所说，为我们的罪死了， 而且埋葬了；又照圣经所说，第三天复活了，( 哥林多前书 15:3-4 )
But death could not hold Him. Jesus rose again, not as a spirit or a memory, but in His physical, glorified body. His resurrection shattered the chains of death and crushed the power of Satan.
又是那存活的；我曾死过，现在又活了，直活到永永远远；并且拿着死亡和阴间的钥匙。( 启示录 1:18 )
儿女既同有血肉之体，他也照样亲自成了血肉之体，特要藉着死败坏那掌死权的，就是魔鬼，( 希伯来书 2:14 )
Because He lives, we too will live. His victory is now our hope, our inheritance, and our future. To follow Jesus is to believe this with all your heart — and to live in the light of it every day.