Joel 2:32

For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. [Joel 2:28-32]

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. [Joel 2:28-32] Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

Martyrdom is customarily called “the cup of salvation,” as we find in the Gospel. For when those who wish to sit on Jesus’ right and left in his kingdom yearn for so great an honor, the Lord says to them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” By “cup” he means martyrdom; and the point is clear because of the verse, “Father, if it be possible, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” We learn, moreover, that the person who drinks that cup which Jesus drank will sit with him and rule and judge with the King of kings. Thus this is the “cup of salvation,” and when someone takes it, he will “call upon the name of the Lord.” For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Well then, someone will say, will the large number of Christians who do not keep all the commandments practice the observance of some of them in vain? In this connection, it is well to recall blessed Peter, who, after he had performed so many good actions and had been a recipient of such great blessings, was told, upon his being guilty of one lapse only: “If I do not wash you, you will have no part with me.” I shall not point out that his act bore no signs of indifference or contempt but was a demonstration of honor and reverence. But, someone might say, it is written, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Return, then, to the Church, those of you who have wickedly separated yourselves. For He promises forgiveness to all who are converted, since it is written: "Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved." And lastly, the Jewish people who said of the Lord Jesus, "He hath a devil," and "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub," and who crucified the Lord Jesus, are, by the preaching of Peter, called to baptism, that they may put away the guilt of so great a wickedness.

(Verse 32) Because on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be salvation: as the Lord has said: and in the remnant whom the Lord has called. LXX: Because on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be the one who has been saved: as the Lord has said: and the announcer whom the Lord has called. In that place, where we have set ourselves, salvation, or the one who has been saved, and in Hebrew it is written Phaleta (), Symmachus translated, the one who has fled. And again where we have said, in the remnant, and the Septuagint translated, announcer, in Hebrew it is read Saridim (( Al. Saradim)) (), which the Jews believe is the name of the place. Therefore, when the great and dreadful day of the Lord came, and whoever called upon his name after the resurrection of the Lord, everyone who was on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem was saved. For the law came forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2), of which it is written: A prophet does not perish outside Jerusalem (Luke 13:33). So the beginning of their salvation was in Zion and Jerusalem, in the watchtower and in the vision of peace, and in those who remained, whom the Lord called. We must understand those remnants who believed from the Jewish people, of whom Isaiah speaks: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:9). The Lord called and evangelized these remnants, whom He called, for so the LXX interpreted. This passage is very difficult, and receiving multiple explanations: so that under tropology we may refer everything that has been said to those times, to which Peter and Paul the apostles related, that is, when the Lord suffered and rose again." } For it is not possible that we understand the previous events during the time of suffering, and the events that follow on the day of judgment, especially when it is said: 'For behold, in those days, and in that time.' And this verse, connecting the subsequent events with the preceding ones, declares that everything was accomplished at once.

Blessed Peter used this text in speaking to Jews on the occasion of the descent of the Holy Spirit. And rightly so, since the law contained a shadow of all things to come, whereas the people were granted care owing to the expectation of what would appear at the coming of Christ the Lord. What happened in their time was all insignificant and like a shadow, so that the account was given with use of hyperbole rather than containing facts. The reality of the account was found to be realized in the time of Christ the Lord, when everything was important and awesome, novel and really baffling, surpassing what had happened under the law to the greatest extent imaginable.

But whether he or some partners of his error are with you—for they are too numerous to make it possible for us to hope they are not, and when they are not refuted they mislead others into their sect and increase so much that I do not know where they will break out next—we would rather see them cured in the body of the church than cut off from the body as rotten members, if necessity allows even that. We have to fear that others will be infected, if we spare their infection. But the mercy of our Lord is able rather to free them from disease, and no doubt he will do it if they note and hold faithfully to what is written: “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

When the holy apostle wished to show that the prophets had foretold the coming of those times when it should come to pass that all nations would believe in God, he cited the testimony that reads, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” For the name of God who has made heaven and earth used to be invoked among the Israelites only. The rest of the nations used to call upon deaf and dumb idols and were not heard by them; or they invoked demons and were heard to their own harm. “But when the fullness of time had come,” then was fulfilled what had been foretold. “And it shall come to pass, that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Hence the Jews—even those of them who believed in Christ—begrudged the gospel of the Gentiles and maintained that the gospel of Christ ought not to be preached to the uncircumcised.