We will now be examining some texts in the New Testament which show that early Christians offered prayers and doxologies to Jesus, thus showing that they considered Him to be God incarnate.
Here is our first text:
"To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:" (1 Corinthians 1:2)
Here are some notes from the NT scholars:
" If we place together the range of meanings of epikalein in the LXX, the NT, the papyri, and the early Fathers, as well as the wider background in hellenistic literature, it becomes beyond doubt that “to call on the Lord” is to perform a self-involving commissive speech-acHence to call on the name of the Lord, partly in Joel, but more fully here, means not to invoke some shadowy, unknown, deity, but to commit oneself in trust to the one whose nature and character have been disclosed as worthy of this trust" (Anthony Thiselton, The New International Greek Testament Commentary - 1 Corinthians, pgs. 78-79)
"Those who thus call on the name of the Lord have already come to acknowledge him as the only true God, the one worthy of their worship and the source of all true hope...The expectation that universal glory and worship would be given to God is at the heart of the significance of the lordship of Jesus Christ. His postcrucifixion exaltation is understood by Paul and other New Testament authors to inaugurate the long-awaited time of the universal and eternal kingdom of God which would result in every knee bowing and every tongue confessing that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11; cf. Rev. 15:3-4)." (Roy E. Ciampa, The Pillar New Testament Commentary - The First Letter to the Corinthians, pgs. 57-58)
The Bible views "calling on the name of God" as an act of worship and commitment:
"From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD." (Genesis 12:8, cf. 21:33)
"I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD." (Psalms 116:13)
In fact, the Qur'an itself teaches that "calling on the name..." is something which is done to Allah:
"When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way." (Surah 2:186 Yusuf Ali Translation)
Lets take a look at another text from the book of Acts which shows early Christians "calling on the name" of the Lord Jesus Christ:
"And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” (Acts 9:20-21)
Here is a note from the commentator John Gill:
"and said, is not this he that destroyed them that called on this name in Jerusalem? they do not express the name of Christ, out of malice and ill will; which shows who they were that said these words, and were astonished to hear Saul preaching in this name, and proving him to be the Son of God, and the true Messiah; when it was but a little while ago he consented to the death of Stephen, made havoc of the church, wasted and destroyed it as much as was in his power, and persecuted unto death such as called upon the name of Christ, or were called by his name, he could find in Jerusalem: nor did this satisfy him, for it follows. " (https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/geb/acts-9.html)
These two texts (1 Cor. 1:2 and Acts. 9:20-21) give clear proof of the reality that the early followers of the Lord Jesus recognized Him to be God, thus leading them to pray to Him.
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