1 Timothy 2:3-4 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
There is a measure of controversy regarding the means by which God calls people to salvation. Within Calvinism there is a belief that only the elect receive the ‘effectual’ call of God leading to salvation, while the rest of the world will receive the general call that doesn’t lead to salvation. Calvin made it clear what his belief entailed…
Calvin explains: “The calling is therefore a certain and specific calling, which seals and ratifies the eternal election of God so as to make manifest what was before hidden in God.” (Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God, p.70, emphasis mine) “Our Heavenly Father invites everyone to faith by the external, human voice; but he effectually calls by his Spirit only those he has decided to save. Now if God’s election, by which he ordains us to life is the cause of faith and salvation, nothing remains for worthiness or merits.”
Does Matthew 22:14 truly mean that there are two types of calls given by God?
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Paul seems to differ with John Calvins assessment.
Acts 17:30-31 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
When Paul preached to the Athenians, he declared God’s intent for all of mankind.
Has John Calvin disregarded the spiritual concept of being ‘justified by faith’?
Romans 3:28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”
Could it be that the only reason why few are chosen is because they are the only ones who believed?
One theologian has stated: According to the conversion of the sinner, God enlightens the mind John 6:45, he inclines the will Psalm 110:3 and he influences the soul by motives, by just views of his law, by his love, his commands, and his threatenings; by a desire for happiness, and a consciousness of danger; by the Holy Spirit applying truth to the mind, and urging him to yield himself to the Savior. So that, while God inclines mankind, and will have all the glory, man yields without compulsion; the obstacles are removed, and he becomes a willing servant of God.
John 6:45 “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.
Everyone who has heard and learned are those who responded to the message.
Hearing and Learning
What do people hear and learn that draws them to Christ?
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
The hearing is delivered by faithful servants commissioned by God to deliver His message of the gospel. The call goes forth to a stubborn and obstinate people.
Isaiah 65:1 “I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that was not called by My name.” (Rom. 10:20)
The learning appears to be the conviction of sin by the Moral law.
Psalm 119:7 “I will praise You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments.”
So the hearing is by the good news to repent and receive (Grace). The learning is given by understanding which is why they need to repent (the Law).
This is the gospel in a nutshell. By the law sinners gain knowledge of their position as law breakers, then the grace of God is exalted in Jesus Christ.
John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
In reality, people can only come to God by a sovereign call.
The Call to Repentance
How does God draw people to Christ?
Luke 14:23 “Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
The call of God is issued through His servants by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”
Who does God draw?
John 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
“here signifies a Divine power put forth upon the soul of man, by which it is made obedient to the heavenly call, and willing to close with the offer of Christ in the gospel” -Matthew Henry
The word does not necessarily imply force, still less irresistible force, but merely attraction of some kind, some inducement to come.
Jeremiah 31:3 “The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”
The manner of loving kindness was demonstrated perfectly at the cross. Jesus has become the manner in which God calls.
John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
The term ‘Loving kindness’ is the word Checed, in the Hebrew language.
Often translated as “mercy” or “compassion.” “Checed” is a central theme in the Hebrew Bible, reflecting the character of God as compassionate and faithful.
John 1:11-12 “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—
God’s loving kindness is extended to all, but His mercy and grace is only given to those who receive the call. The call doesn’t seem to differentiate between an effective or general call but the call is relative to the message of law (sin) and grace (redemption).
Sinners do not voluntarily seek after God.
Isaiah 65:1 “I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that was not called by My name.”
But to those who responded to the call, they are saved.
Romans 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
The response doesn’t indicate that people are responsible for their salvation, the work of salvation was exclusive to the Cross of Christ. But the response does indicate that people must believe in Faith after they have heard the call, indicated in Rom. 10 which indicates a response back to the Father.
To those who reject the call, they remain under judgement.
1 John 2:22 “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.”
Jeremiah 10:25 “Pour out Your fury on the Gentiles, who do not know You, And on the families who do not call on Your name;
For they have eaten up Jacob,
Devoured him and consumed him,
And made his dwelling place desolate..”
That All might be Saved
In returning to Matthew 22:14, does the call of God indicate that only an effectual call will bring salvation? Biblically, it is clear that only a few are chosen but it was not for lack of Gods call to all people.
God desires every person to call out to Him and receive His salvation. “Unfortunately, many choose not to – but all can; all don’t but all can call out to God for His mercy (not just ‘some’)” (G. Archer)
1 Timothy 2:3-5 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus”
How then does God “choose” His elect?
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
Initially we know why God chooses His elect—-for a purpose.
The Chosen
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
We also know that God’s chosen people were predestined before time began.
Romans 8:29-30 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
This doesn’t imply that God only chose those He predestined but that He called them before they came to Him.
Once they believed in faith, He then justified them through Christ’s atoning sacrifice and they in turn are glorified because of their adoption as sons and daughters of God.
The power of the Holy Spirit isn’t relegated to a divine call separate from God’s people, but rather it is through God’s people that God calls sinners to Christ.
Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The anointing of the Spirit is upon all believers in Christ. Scripture doesn’t show that God’s call is relegated to both an effectual and common call but rather one call whch is an invitation to come and receive eternal life.
2 Corinthians 5:20 “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”
Is there evidence of people hearing the call and rejecting it?
Yes there is.
The Condemned
Hebrews 6:4-6 “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.”
Enlightened (phótizó) – is the process of giving understanding to, or bringing something to light. By making the gospel evident to someone; believers share the truth of God’s redemption in Christ.
Tasted (geuomai) : is to experience something in part (as opposed to knowing it in full). Matthew 16:28 is an example of someone tasting death as expressed by Christ.
When someone tastes of the heavenly gift, they do not know it in full but only gain a partial knowledge of what lies ahead for those who believe.
Matthew 16:28 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
The fullness of death is Hell. Believers will only get a taste of judgement when their bodies die but will not experience the fullness of the wrath of God in judgement because Christ has paid their price.
The tasting of the Word of God is to know in part the context of the gospel of grace. The faithful believer can share the evidence of Jesus’ fulfillment of prophecy and likewise share the ramifications of offending God’s law(sin) and the consequences that accompany such an offense.
John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me.”
Unbelievers might taste of grace through believers, but do not receive grace because they do not have faith. When unbelievers taste the powers that are to come, they experience the Spirit of God by the call of the Spirit pressing upon their hearts, but they do not receive because they do not believe.
The True Testimony
The testimony of the Spirit of God is given through God’s people.
By sharing in the Holy Spirit, unbelievers through association share in the work of the Spirit.
The term share is the word metochos in the greek. In the New Testament it describes someone who shares in or is a partner in something. It conveys the idea of participation or fellowship in a particular context, often with a spiritual or communal connotation.
Many people attend church and share in the works of the Spirit through association. The joy of the Lord among believers, witnessing love and even receiving the expression of the gifts of the Spirit through faithful believers. It is these false believers whom Jesus condemns in Matthew 7 as having works that are not associated with relationship to Christ. Jesus condemns them by saying He never knew them.
The difference between someone who shares in the things of God and knows God, is evidenced by the infilling work of the Spirit.
Finally, to those who have come to as full of a knowledge of God as possible without truly knowing Him and then fall away, this does not indicate a loss of Salvation as some might imply, but rather a full revelation and call that has been rejected by an unbeliever. Because the Lord will not reveal any greater measure of His nature and call to unbelievers, the sad and hopeless consequence of rejecting God’s call has sealed their fate. It is then impossible to renew them to salvation.
I have witnessed the process of a convergence (an unbeliever hears God’s call and revelation of Himself), and is drawn to salvation, the rejection of His call by an unbelieving heart, and then a divergence (a cascade into darkness and hatred) that comes by way of moving apart from God into a position of rejection and hatred towards all that is holy.
I have concluded that God gives only one call to mankind. There is no Effectual or General call, there is but one call to salvation. The Spirit of God often uses God’s people to make the call, regardless of whether people were predestined or not.
Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”
Many are called, but few are chosen because Faith does not come easy. The necessity to lay ones life down for Christ is a predicament that conflicts with the pride of mankind. The gate is narrow because Jesus has made it so. Salvation is exclusive to a saving knowledge and anointing of the Holy Spirit because of the work of Jesus Christ is exclusive.
I believe scripture shows that God does not waste His peoples efforts in calling those He knows will not submit in faith. God leads His people to share the gospel knowing sinners will either repent or reject His call, and so all will be left without excuse in judgement.
U.T. 