The Christian Calling
You
are cordially invited to attend . . ." began an invitation to a formal
dance I went to recently. It was beautifully printed, and went on to
describe the elegant and enjoyable evening I was going to have.
I accepted. And the invitation was correct. I did indeed enjoy it.
A
simple dance or party invitation is easy for us to understand. But many
people today do not understand how God invites — calls — those He wants
into His Church. They do not understand the Christian calling. That is,
they do not understand whom God calls, or how, or why.
Such
a lack of understanding is saddening, for those God now makes the heirs
to salvation are commanded to "walk worthy" of their calling (Ephesians
4:1), and to make their calling "sure" (II Peter 1:10). How can we do
this if we don't even understand what our calling is?
Yet we need not remain in darkness about this vital and foundational subject. The Bible teaching is plain.
The basic doctrine
When
God calls a person, He invites him into His Church to help the Church
perform its great commission of preaching the Gospel to the world
(Matthew 24:14), and to prepare to rule with Jesus Christ and teach
God's way in the world tomorrow (Revelation 2:26-27, 3:21). That is the
main purpose for being called now.
A person called at this time is also one of the relatively few to whom God is now offering the chance for salvation.
God alone decides who shall be called, by opening a person's mind to understand His truth.
The usual teachings of this world
Most
professing Christians feel that God is now calling everybody to
salvation. Others think that God calls to salvation those who wish to
be called, or those who seek to be called by deciding to "give their
hearts to the Lord." Still others feel God must surely call only the
best society has to offer — the "good people" who try to obey God as
they see Him.
A
few feel that a person has not been called unless he has had some type
of special religious experience such as "speaking in tongues." Certain
preachers must feel that they have the power to call people, since they
tell people at tent meetings to come forward and profess Christ.
Amazingly, all these common teachings and impressions are proven false by the Bible.
The Bible teaching
Although
many people use the biblical expression and profess to having been
"called" (e.g., "It has been two years since I was called to the
Lord"), few have ever stopped to realize and understand what they are
saying.
The
New Testament was written in Greek, and the English is only a
translation. Nonetheless the English word call well reflects the
process described in the Bible. To be called is to be invited or hailed
by God, much as a person might telephone a group of friends and invite
them to a party.
Notice
the illustration in Matthew 22:1-14. "The kingdom of heaven," Christ
said in a parable, "is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for
his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to
the wedding" (verses 2-3).
Quite
plainly, then, God's calling is an invitation. Galatians 1:6 says it is
a calling — an invitation — to the grace of Christ. I Peter 2:9 says it
is a calling from darkness to light.
Briefly,
being called means that one is invited to be a member of God's Church,
with all the responsibilities that entails and the hope of salvation.
The
Greek word translated "church" in the New Testament is ecclesia, which
literally means "called-out ones." Hence when we are called we become
part of the "called-out ones" — that is, the Church.
And
here another important point must be stressed: The common teaching that
God is calling all now — that is, that He is now trying to save the
world — is utterly false.
When
asked by His disciples why He spoke in riddles, Christ said, "Because
it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it has not been given" (Matthew 13:11). That is,
the disciples had been called to know the truth, but others had not
been so called.
This
is not to say that the others will never be called, just that they will
not be called in this era or this lifetime. Those who are called now —
a relative few — are called to help preach the Gospel as a
witness (Matthew 24:14) and to prepare to be teachers and rulers in the
world tomorrow under Christ, when God will begin to call humanity as a
whole (Revelation 5:10).
The
subject of the time of one's calling concerns the doctrine of eternal
judgment. For more information, request our free reprint article "Is
This the Only Day of Salvation?"
We
have seen that God's calling is, in part, an invitation to salvation
now with His Church. And we have also seen that not all are being
called now.
But, then, who are now being called?
Christ
makes the answer clear in John 6:44. Here, surely to the astonishment
of the religious teachers of this world, Christ states, "No one can
come to Me [that is, no one is invited or called] unless the Father who
sent Me draws him."
No
one can be called unless God Himself decides to call him or her.
Astoundingly, this means that God does not call everyone — not
those who wish to be, nor those who try to be, nor those who are talked
into joining churches by well-intentioned but misguided preachers, nor
just the "good" among people. Rather, He calls those He decides to call
for His own reasons.
Notice
how Paul states it in Romans 9, where he discusses this precise topic:
"So then it [one's calling] is not of him who wills [he who wants to be
called], nor of him who runs [he who even tries in his own way], but of
God who shows mercy" (verse 16).
Paul is not saying those not now called will not be saved, only that their chance for salvation is not in this age, but later.
Still,
we cannot help but wonder upon what God bases His decision to call or
not to call a certain person. God does state certain qualifications,
and gives some examples from which we can glean answers.
The
most poignant of scriptures on this question is I Corinthians 1:26-31,
where Paul writes: "For you see your calling, brethren . . . God has
chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and
God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things
which are mighty; and the base things . . . and the things which are
despised . . . and the things which are not."
Literally,
then, God picks those who are foolish, weak and despised — in the eyes
of this world, that is. He does so in order that those who are saved
are humble and don't take the credit themselves. He does it so all can
see that if God is able to save the weak now, He must surely be able to
save the strong later.
To
be sure, God looks for other qualifications as well — such as the
natural abilities He wants for certain future jobs, and a willing
attitude. Hence we see how Joseph and Moses and David and many others
were used by God in accord with their natural abilities, and will fill
places in His Kingdom that will utilize the same abilities.
Probably
one of the most important questions asked by those who consider this
topic is "Am I being called by God — how do I know?"
Notice
John 10:1-28. In these verses Christ likens the true believers to
sheep, with Himself as the shepherd. He says the true sheep will know
their spiritual shepherd because they will hear His voice and
understand His words. See especially verses 3-6, 14, 26-28.
The
point of the analogy is this: One whom God is calling will have his
mind opened to understand when he hears God's truth. One who is not
being called may hear the words, but, like a foreign language he does
not understand, those words will not be mixed with understanding and
belief.
God
calls, then, by opening one's mind to understand and believe the truth
when he or she hears it. Are you being called? You are if you are
understanding and believing the truth. Such is the clear meaning of
many verses, such as Isaiah 6:9-10, Acts 28:23-27 and Romans
11:8-10.
Of
course, once God has opened the mind of a person to understand
spiritual knowledge, He must bring that person into contact with the
truth so he or she may hear the call.
Key verses
This
topic is so fundamental and pierces through so many commonly held wrong
beliefs that it is important to highlight a few important verses one
may remember or mark in one's Bible: II Peter 1:10 — Christians are
commanded to make their calling and election sure. Matthew 22:1-14 —
God's calling is His invitation to become part of His work and prepare
for salvation now. John 6:44 — no one is called unless God initiates
the call. John 10:1-28 and Matthew 13:10-17 — God calls by
opening our minds to understand the truth, and those not called are
spiritually blinded.
Yes,
it can be an enjoyable thing to be invited to a social gathering or
party. But it is joy unspeakable to be among the few now invited —
called — by God to fulfill the great commission and qualify for
salvation and eternal life as children of God.
The GOOD NEWS October-November 1985
