This follows on yesterday’s post about the three calls that God issues to all people. Perhaps, we should drop back a bit and discuss what we mean by a “call.” This discussion includes the degree to which God’s call is “Irresistible,” as the Reformers would put it. As with many theological questions, Christian scholars disagree on this subject.
My Reformed friends would argue that to a greater or lesser degree, God’s Divine Will cannot be circumvented. Psalm 33:11, quoting Isaiah 14:27, states, “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”(NIV.) This thought is echoed in Proverbs 19:21. “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” (NIV.)
In Steven Lawson’s book, The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon, the writer defines the term, “irresistible” in a quote from the great English preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
This irresistible call is distinct from the general call of the gospel. The former is extended only to the elect and cannot be resisted. The latter is extended to all who hear the gospel and is resisted apart from the Spirit’s effectual call. Spurgeon explained [as follows.]
The general call of the gospel is like the common ‘cluck’ of the hen which she is always giving when her chickens are around her. But if there is any danger impending, then she gives a very peculiar call, quite different from the ordinary one, and the little chicks come running as fast as they can, and hide for safety under her wings. That is the call we want, God’s peculiar and effectual call to his own.
This effectual call always secures its desired effect
One can certainly cite specific instances wherein God apparently directly intervened in the life of a specific person to do His Will. Numerous times in Exodus, God is seen as “hardening Pharaoh’s heart. See Exodus 7,8 9,10, and 14. Likewise, in 2 Chronicles 36:22, Cyrus II, King of Persia was “moved” to bring about God’s Will.
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing. (NIV.)
That Will manifested God’s purpose that the people of Judah should be allowed to return home. Of this event, Isaiah 45:13 elucidated. The prophet states:
I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness:
I will make all his ways straight.
He will rebuild my city
and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,
says the Lord Almighty.” (NIV.)
Some translations even refer to Cyrus as God’s “Messiah.” This is not to be confused with Jesus’ title of Messiah, however. Here, it merely means “one who is anointed” or “chosen.”
I realize here that I am entering into the discussion a topic that has raged since the time of John Calvin (1509-1564.) Further, I realize that I may be in violation of the line, “For fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” first uttered by Alexander Pope in his 1711 poem An Essay on Criticism, and sung by Frank Sinatra in the 1940 Tommy Dorsey song of the same name. Or, perhaps, “the Devil made me do it!” Flip Wilson as his character Geraldine.
I affirm that I am neither angel, devil, nor fool, merely an amateur writer submitting some thoughts for your consideration. The argument usually turns on the definition of “choice,” thus posing the question, “Does a person really have ‘free will?” Not choosing to open that “can of Worms,” I take the discussion in a different direction – a tangent – if you will. Remember that the title of this work is “The Call.”
The word for “called” in the Greek is kletos which generally means “invited” or “summoned.” (Strong’s no. G 6822.)
I would distinguish “invited” or even “summoned” from “commanded” or “impelled.” The former implies the ability on the part of the “invitee” or “summoned” to run away, either as a mere “no-show” or feverishly as one running down the street with his hair on fire. The latter implies compulsion as in a Legion of Imperial Storm Troopers delivered the message with orders to bring the “summoned” in.
The Apostle Paul, whom I will cite “early and often,” and who is frequently cited as the progenitor of the doctrine of election, himself states that God “calls” all to salvation. See 1 Timothy 2:4-6 (NIV.)
[God]… wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
In this passage, Paul uses the Greek word “panta,” which Strong’s indicates means “every manner of, all.” See Strong’s no. G 3956. In other words, Strong’s defines “all” as “all” in the normal course of English usage. Assuming, arguendo, that you will agree with my logic, I will proceed with the balance of the argument.
May I suggest that the order of these three “calls” is of utmost importance? If one does not affirmatively answer the Call to Salvation, there is nothing that follows for that person except death. To refuse to answer the call to Salvation is to choose a life apart from God. Paul says in Romans 3:23, “for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” N.T. Wright suggests many times in his writings and videos that this “death” about which the Apostle speaks is the choice to “no longer be human” for eternity. May I further suggest that the fate to which Wright refers is worse than any Dantean or Botticellian picture of hell.
Be that as it may, when one does accept the Call to Salvation, the next call follows, the Call to Service. Accepting the call to service is not unlike joining the Army. The Apostle Paul was fond of using military metaphors. To extend Paul’s metaphor, in the army, that there are two kinds of officers. There are “line” or field officers and there are “staff” officers. Field officers obviously, serve in the field. Staff officers support the field officers. No group is more important than the other group, despite the prevalent feeling of superiority by some field officers that I have known.
Abraham was called to service by God. In Genesis 12:1, “The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” (NIV.)
Exodus 3:7,10 is perhaps the most direct Call to Service under the Old Covenant. In the “burning bush” episode, God said to Moses
. . . I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out . . . [a]nd now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, [you, Moses] go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. (NIV.)
Isaiah 6:8 recounts Isaiah’s dramatic Call to Service.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (NIV.)
In the Gospels, Jesus called his Disciples to a life of service. See, for example, Matthew 9:9. “As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.” (NIV.)
Finally, Paul received the Call to Service years after his “Damascus Road” experience to which I referred yesterday, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Acts 13:2. (NIV.)
In Christian service, there are those called to serve in the field such as pastors and missionaries whether professional or volunteer. These field officers perform all sorts of labor for the Lord.
But just like the Army, there are staff Christians. These are the Christians who serve behind the scenes. Perhaps, they do not go out into the neighborhood to evangelize or stand in the foodservice line to give out food and water to the homeless. Nevertheless, their service is to provide prayer and logistical support to the field officers. As one progresses in life, in the Christian service as in the military, one typically migrates from field service to staff service, though this is not always the case. In Jesus’ eyes, service is Service as long as it is the service to which He has called.
May I submit that in each of the examples from the Bible and from real-life cited, supra, the person called could decline the call. He or she could say, “No, I’m not going to do that.” Have you ever declined a call to service that you knew was from God? I have. How did it feel? Not good in my case.
To the contrary argument that God had willed that each one of these people would do what they did because God had Willed it, I would suggest a re-reading of the story of the “Rich Young Ruler“ recorded in all three synoptic Gospels See Matthew 19:16–30, Mark 10:17–31, and Luke 18:18–30. Mark’s account is particularly telling as Mark homes in on the point in vv. 21,22.
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
In the literal, untranslated Greek, Jesus is said to ἠγάπησεν the man, the aorist intransitive form of the verb transliterated as agapeo. Strong’s defines agapeo as “to love, to be full of good-will and exhibit the same. . . to have a preference for, wish well to, regard the welfare of. . . the benevolence which God bestows . . .”
Clearly, Jesus would rather that the Rich Young Ruler had chosen to sell all and follow. However, Jesus makes a teaching point of the man’s refusal. Who knows, maybe this man was being offered the life that the Apostle Paul assumed?
But alas, he would not. The young man’s will was contrary to the Will of God, and “he went away sad.”
Thus, I offer for your consideration that God issues to all 3 calls: The Call to Salvation, The Call to Service, and the Call to Sanctification. Tomorrow, should the Lord allow, we’ll close the loop with the Cal to Sanctification.
johnthebaptist15 