The call

One thing everyone has to face up to sometime in their lives is the call of God. Is He calling you? We already know the answer. Yes He is. The thing is, have you answered the call or are you ignoring it?

There is an inevitability to some aspects of life. One of them, of course, is the end of life. We will all have to face that, unless Jesus comes first for us. We will face death, but, before this, we need to face our prospects once this life’s race is complete.

For the believer there is an assurance of eternal life with God in His kingdom. We have already begun that journey and are still citizens. We can live this life on earth in the confidence that we have answered the call and entered into the covenant He offered us.

Who is called?

For those that do not yet believe, or haven’t acted upon their belief, the call remains. He is calling everyone at this time.

“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Luke 5:32

Who are the sinners? Well, we are all sinners before we answer the call. He is not calling the righteous. This is in part because there are no righteous people but Him. What is He calling us to do? To repent. To have a life changing encounter with Him. To walk toward His will, His ways, His offer of a new life.

We are the ‘called-out-ones.’ Called out of darkness into the light of God’s Son, Jesus.

Called by the gospel

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

The preaching of the gospel is the call of God to all who will hear and respond to the offer of new life in Him. The gospel is the good news that Jesus has made the way clear for us to turn from our own ways to God’s ways and be saved.

It is a free gift. It cannot be bought, or earned, nor is there anything we have to do but to hear the good news, receive it, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, His cross, and confess Him as Lord and Saviour.

Saved. He is calling us all to be free. He is calling us into His liberty (Gal.5:13). He wants us to be delivered from the powers of darkness.

Called to be saints

Paul addresses people as being ‘called to be saints.’

Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints…

Romans 1:5-7

Called to be saints. Not just those who were at Rome, but for all people. The Greek word for ‘saints’ is hagnios, which means to be separated, to be made a holy person, sanctified, consecrated, or cleansed person in the sight of God.

We cannot be holy in our own version of holiness, or by our own will or works. Ritual will not make us holy. Ceremony will not make us holy. We become holy when we put on Christ, when we accept Him as Lord and He enters into our lives through His Holy Spirit. Only God can sanctify.

This sainthood is not an attainment, it is a state into which God in grace calls men.

W E Vines

We are being called by God to a right way of living. This can only come through faith in God’s Word. Jude addresses believers as the called.

Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,
To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:
Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Jude 1:1-2

Called, sanctified and preserved. First He calls us. He sends messengers, those who preach the good news, and the Holy Spirit works with them as they minister the Word to tug on our hearts and draw us to Him.

Called into the difference

We are called to be part of Christ, to enter into His Body, which means being part of the family of God, members of His communion, the people of God.

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:9

When we are in fellowship with Christ, the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel, who is Jesus, we become part of something amazing and divine. We enter into the kingdom of God and we are part of God’s Body, also called the ekklesia, translated ‘church’ in English. The Greek word ekklesia literally means ‘the called-out-ones.’

We enter into the difference. William Barclay said that the basis of holiness it to be different. We are different in that we have been made spiritually alive with Christ.

This difference is a separation. We are separated out from the world into the kingdom of God, even though for a period of time we will remain in the earth as witnesses of this difference, of this change and of this separation.

Response to the call

There are two possible responses or reactions to the gospel. Either we receive it or reject it.

In the Book of Acts, some people who heard the call of the gospel were ‘cut to the heart’ and believed, asking, “What shall we do?” and repenting onto salvation (Act 2:37).

Others were ‘cut to the heart’ and resisted, ‘gnashing their teeth’ and turned against the gospel to the point of martyring the messenger, Stephen (Acts 7:54).

One way or the other, the gospel is God’s powerful tool in opening the heart. It is His call to holiness. It is His call to liberty in the Spirit. It is His way to a changed life for the better forever.

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

Mark 16:15

The call is God’s opportunity for choice. It is extended to everyone. Our response determines our eternal destiny. God’s call is here today.