Reference: Call
Easton
(1.) To cry for help, hence to pray (Ge 4:26). Thus men are said to "call upon the name of the Lord" (Ac 2:21; 7:59; 9:14; Ro 10:12; 1Co 1:2).
(2.) God calls with respect to men when he designates them to some special office (Ex 31:2; Isa 22:20; Ac 13:2), and when he invites them to accept his offered grace (Mt 9:13; 11:28; 22:4).
In the message of the gospel his call is addressed to all men, to Jews and Gentiles alike (Mt 28:19; Mr 16:15; Ro 9:24-25). But this universal call is not inseparably connected with salvation, although it leaves all to whom it comes inexcusable if they reject it (Joh 3:14-19; Mt 22:14).
An effectual call is something more than the outward message of the Word of God to men. It is internal, and is the result of the enlightening and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit (Joh 16:14; Ac 26:18; Joh 6:44), effectually drawing men to Christ, and disposing and enabling them to receive the truth (Joh 6:45; Ac 16:14; Eph 1:17).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Come to me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Again, he sent other servants, saying, Tell them who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage.
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
And he said to them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. read more. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him may be saved. He that believeth on him, is not condemned: but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
No man can come to me, except the Father who hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught from God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned from the Father, cometh to me.
He will glorify me: for he will receive of mine, and will show it to you.
And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
And here he hath authority from the chief priests, to bind all that call on thy name.
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate for me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended to the things which were spoken by Paul.
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them who are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. As he saith also in Hosea, I will call them My people, who were not my people; and her Beloved, who was not beloved.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all, is rich to all that call upon him,
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colosse: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Watsons
CALL, to name a person or thing, Ac 11:26; Ro 7:3.
2. To cry to another for help; and hence, to pray. The first passage in the Old Testament in which we meet with this phrase, is Ge 4:26, where we read, "Then began men to call on the name of the Lord," or Jehovah; the meaning of which seems to be, that they then first began to worship him in public assemblies. In both the Old and New Testament, to call upon the name of the Lord, imports invoking the true God in prayer, with a confession that he is Jehovah, that is, with an acknowledgment of his essential and incommunicable attributes. In this view the phrase is applied to the worship of Christ.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
So then, if while her husband liveth, she is married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband is dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.