Saviour is ready and able to save all. In favour of this latter, vi^hich is perhaps the most common view of the passage, it may be urged that Christ is the person referred to in the preceding verse; and, secondly, that he is so commonly called Lord in the New Testament. But, on the other hand, the Lord in the next verse refers to God ; and, secondly, we have the same sentiment, in the same general connexion, in ch. 3 : 29, 30, " Is he the God of the Jews only ]" &c. " It is the same God which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith." The same Lord over all, in this connexion, means ' one and the same Lord is over all.' All are equally under his dominion, and may, therefore, equally hope in his mercy. The words is rich may be either a concise expression for is rich in mercy , or they may mean is abundant in resources. He is sufficiently rich to supply the wants of all ; whosoever, therefore, believes in him shall be saved.
Unto all who call upon him, i. e. who invoke him or worship him, agree- ably to the frequent use of the phrase in the Old and New Testament, Gen. 4 : 26. 12 : 8. Isa. 64 : 7. Acts 2 : 21. 9 : 14, &c. This religious invocation of God implied, of course, the exercise of faith in him ; and, therefore, it amounts to the same thing, whether it is said, ' Whosoever believes,' or ' Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord,' shall be saved. This being the case, the passage quoted from Joel, in the next verse, is equivalent to that cited from Isaiah in v. 11. The meaning, then, of this verse is, * That God has proposed the same terms of salvation to all men, Jews and Gentiles, because he is equally the God of both, and his mercy is free and sufficient for all.'
(13) For ivhosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall he saved. As this verse is not introduced by the usual form of quotation from the Old Testament, as it is written, or as the scripture, or the pro- phet sailh ; it is not absolutely necessary to consider it as a direct cita- tion, intended as an argument from Scripture (compare v. 11). Yet, as the passage is in itself so pertinent, it is probable that the apostle in- tended to confirm his declaration that the mercy of God should be ex- tended to every one who called upon him, by showing that the ancient prophets had held the same language. The prophet Joel, after predict- ing the dreadful calamities which were about to come upon the people, foretold, in the usual manner of the ancient messengers of God, that sub- sequent to those judgments should come a time of great and general blessedness. This happy period was ever characterized as one in which true religion should prevail, and the stream of divine truth and love, no longer confined to the narrow channel of the Jewish people, should over- flow all nations. Thus Joel says, " It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh," &c., " and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered," Joel 2 : 28, 32. Whosoever, therefore, betakes himself to God as his refuge, and calls upon him in the exercise of faith as his God, shall be saved, whether Gentile or Jew (see 1 Cor. 1 : 2). This is Paul's doctrine, and the doc-