Acts 2:21
What is written? (ESV)
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
What does it say?
Peter quotes the prophet Joel that, “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
What is its immediate context?
Peter’s sermon (vss 14-36) on the Day of Pentecost proving that Jesus was the Christ and commanding them to repent and be baptized (vs 38). This verse concludes a quotation Peter gives from the prophet Joel 2:28-32.
How Acts 2:21 is applied across Bible answers
What does it mean to ‘call on the name of the Lord?’
Peter says that everyone who "calls upon the name of the Lord" will be saved.
This is the first sermon recorded shortly after Jesus' resurrection and ascension showing the first acts under the new covenant. After hearing Peter's sermon that Messiah came and brought the salvation foretold by God through Joel, the people ask what they need to do to be saved (vs 37). They could as well have asked, "How do we call upon the Lord?" Peter tells them to repent and be baptized, receiving the promise of the Spirit (vss 38-39).
