Question 35: What is effectual calling?

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.

DAY 1: 2 Tim. 1:9

Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

In beginning our lessons this week, it is important for us to distinguish between two types of calls. First there is the external call. Everyone who hears the gospel hears this call. It is the call rendered by the preacher. It is merely heard with physical ears (SEE Isaiah 6:9, 10; Matt. 7:26, 27), but there is never any application in their lives.

The second call is the one which we will devote our time to this week. It is the effectual call. In this passage, Paul calls it a holy calling. Both words used here for called and calling come from a root word keleuo, which means “to command, to order”. Called is the word kaleo and means “to call i.e. to name, by name”. It speaks very personally. If we could use a scenario with our children it would be like me calling, “Caleb!” versus calling all the children. There is specificity in this calling. It is much like the call that Jesus gave to Lazarus. It has been said that if Jesus had not called him by name, that all of the dead would have come out of their graves. Whether that is true or not, it is an interesting parallel. Jesus specifically called Lazarus with a command, “Lazarus, come forth”. This call is very similar to His call to dead sinners to come to new life in Himself as He resurrects them from the deadness of their sins.

Let us ask a question, “Does the salvation precede the calling or does it follow?” Paul says that salvation precedes the call. We could easily reference Romans 8:28-30 and see the plan of God from the beginning. As a matter of fact, this passage even states that for us. God did not save us according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace. God’s purpose is that we should be holy and a display of His grace. This same word used for purpose here can be found in several passages that reference God’s sovereignty in salvation (Rom. 8:28; Eph. 1:11; 3:11).

Our calling was given to us because of someone. Paul says it was given to us in Christ Jesus. We were not individually selected and just declared righteous without someone being penalized for our sin. God could not be holy and do such a thing. His very nature demands that sin be punished. Therefore, though God had planned that we be saved and called, He also planned for a substitution for those whom He would save and call. Our calling and our salvation is all wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ and it was all determined before time began.

Though it was determined before time began, Paul goes on in verse 10 to tell us that it has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. When He came, He abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Though the Scriptures teach that Christ was slain from before the foundation of the world, there had to be a point in time in which He came and was slain for the sins of men in order to fulfill the Scriptures. The same is true with our salvation. Though God had saved us and called us with a holy calling in Christ before time began, He still had to work in the lives of sinners to apply the redemption purchased by Christ through the effectual call in time.

DAY 2: John 6:44, 45

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

It is written in the prophets, `And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.”

John chapter six is the supreme text for the sovereignty of God in the salvation of men. Jesus makes it clear that men only respond to God because of His sovereign work in their lives. In verses 31-36, Jesus speaks about Him being the bread from heaven and that if anyone will come to Him, they will never hunger again. He also says that He gives life, not makes it available, to the world. However, we also see in verse 36 that though the people saw Him, they did not believe. Many of these same people were among the five thousand that were fed the day before. They not only heard the words of Jesus, but saw His miracles. There was no excuse for their unbelief, but there was a reason for it. Verse 37 tells us that the ones the Father gives to the Son WILL come to Him and when they do come to Him, He won’t cast them out. The salvation of God is effective. It is not passive. It does not wait till the sinner is ready, but moves upon the sinner to make him ready to receive the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verses 38 and 39 tell us that Christ came down to do the will of the Father. Jesus then tells us what the Father’s will is. His will is to not lose any of those that the Father has given to Him, but to raise them up at the last day. Christ’s saving power is matched only by His keeping power. He is able to save to the uttermost. His effective calling of us is not only efficacious, but eternal and irrevocable. Therefore we are secure in Him.

So how do we know whether or not we are given to the Son by the Father? Verse 40 tells us that the will of God is to believe in the Son. If we believe in the Son, then we are given eternal life and will be raised up on the last day. Our belief is the fruit of the effectual call and the evidence that we have been given to the Son by the Father.

Jesus then confronts the Jews concerning His claim to be the bread that has come down from Heaven. He simply says that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him. The word draws here is not how we would interpret it in modern English. It is not a wooing. It is not an appeal. The term helkuo means “to draw, drag off; to draw by inward power, lead, impel”. The word is used elsewhere in the New Testament. For instance, in John 21:11 the same word is used when speaking of Peter dragging the net full of fish to shore. In Acts 16:19 and 21:30 the same word is used to speak of Paul being taken forcefully into the marketplace and also out of the temple. Contrary to popular opinion today God does do a forcible work on man’s will. Man, in his sinful state will always reject God. However, once the effectual call comes to him, it changes his will. It causes him to willingly receive Jesus Christ. When this happens, what does Jesus say He will do to that man? He will raise him up on the last day.

Jesus then goes on in verse 45 to quote from Isaiah and communicate the truth He is teaching from the Old Testament. To put it simply, those who are taught, hear, and learn from the Father come to Christ. This is synonymous with the draw of verse 44. Just as Peter was not taught by flesh and blood that Jesus was the Christ, so too are those who come to believe the same thing about Jesus that Peter did. Therefore, they are those who are effectually called.

DAY 3: 1 Corinthians 12:3

Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

Paul is just about to get into the issue of spiritual gifts in the church. In doing so, he reminds the Corinthians of their former way of life by telling them that they were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however they were led. It seems that many of those within the Corinthian church had brought some of their pagan practices to the worship of God. This is not unheard of, for we find that we have done the same things, just not maybe in the same manner. Therefore there is a need for repentance. However, Paul does want to make it clear concerning those who are truly Christ’s and those who are not.

First Paul says that someone who calls Jesus accursed is not speaking by the Spirit of God. Many in the Corinthian church were spiritual babes and fleshly. They thought that experience should take prominence over substance. They are not unlike many in the church today who would rather have an experience than understand and obey the clear teaching of Scripture. These people would evidently bring in a practice that would put the in some sort of euphoric state wherein they would claim to be prophesying in the Spirit of God. It would sometimes involve ecstatic speech, both of which were common in pagan worship in Corinth. However, because of a background in Greek dualism (spirit is good, matter is evil), and the newly forming Gnosticism, many of the Corinthians were lapsing back into the mindset and practices of their former pagan lifestyles. John MacArthur says that it seems that it did not matter what was taught by leaders who claimed to be Christian, as long as they claim to be Christian. Sadly, there is much evidence to show the same trend continues today. The Gnostics believed that the supernatural Jesus could not have been embodied. Therefore the human Jesus was accursed. That was their perception of Him when brought into Christianity. They believed that His Spirit descended upon Him at His baptism, but left Him prior to His crucifixion. Paul is amazed that these who are supposed to have all these spiritual gifts are so deficient of any spiritual discernment.

So, he sets out to correct them. The first area that he corrects their spiritual gifts thinking is doctrinally. Simply stated, he says that if someone claims to be speaking by the Spirit of God and calls Jesus accursed, they are not speaking by the power of the Spirit of God. However, if someone does come and points people to the Lordship of Christ, then you can know that person is doing so by the Spirit of God. Here is a clear indication of someone who has known the effectual call. Paul uses the term dunamai. The term speaks to ability. Paul says that one does not have the ability to say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Now let’s be clear that there are many who run around and say that Jesus is Lord. That’s not what we are talking about. We are talking about someone who not only says it, but lives as though Jesus is Lord and points others to His Lordship. Again, how does one come to this place of saying that Jesus is Lord? It is through the effectual calling of the Spirit of God.

Scripture: 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.