Today we consider effectual calling and its benefits. We are never amiss to repeat and confirm the truths of God. Salvation is totally and absolutely of God. He alone draws the sinner to Himself in a way that cannot be precluded, prevented, or postponed- that is, an irresistible grace. Call is a command from a sovereign Creator and Ruler. All of this occurs in the face of a sinner who hates and resists the very God who calls Him. But the resistance does not persist, because the calling is effectual.
To change this from a theological explanation to a personal application, I ask the following question. What do you personally think is the greatest felt benefit of His effectual calling? Is it empowering to live righteously and for Him? Is it boldness to proclaim the Gospel, knowing that it will land on those He is calling? Is it peace and joy in the knowledge of His care for you?
For me it is the assurance that nothing will, and nothing can separate me from God. As Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And the thing that I feared most separating me from God was me. I would reject or neglect or displease or fail Him. But I can’t and won’t, because it says, “nor any other created thing.” I am a “created thing”, therefore, I cannot separate myself from Him. Can I reject or neglect or displease or fail Him? Yes, but it will be temporary, because His effectual calling leads to the perseverance of the saints. My faith will last to the end because He gave and sustains it in me. I am not passive in the process, and though I fail frequently, I am held tightly, securely, inextricably. Security, peace, joy, and confidence are the result as He trains me to trust Him. His training ground are trials coupled with the need to question and pray. He prevails; He sustains; He wins; I win; He gets the glory.
Question 35: What is effectual calling?
Answer: Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, to convince us of our sin and misery, to enlighten our minds in the knowledge of Christ, to renew our wills, and thus persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel. 2 Timothy 1:9; John 6:44, 45; 16:8-11; Acts 2:37; 26:18; Ezekiel 36:26; Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 1:24; 12:3.
Question 36: What benefits do those who are effectually called receive in this life?
Answer: Those who are effectually called receive in this life justification, adoption, sanctification, and the several benefits which in this life accompany or flow from them. Romans 8:30-32; Galatians 3:26; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11; Ephesians 1:5.
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