The Effectual Call

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Tonight, we return to our study of the doctrine of salvation. We come tonight to the effectual call.

Let me just remind you of why we come at this point to this. We talked several weeks ago about the ordo salutis. Ordo salutis is simply Latin for the “order of salvation”—the order of events in which salvation occurs. Some of these are time oriented and others of them are logically oriented in order, but this is essentially the order that we have arrived at as we looked at the various Scripture and put together from Scripture itself an order. It begins, of course, in eternity past with election. And then at the moment of salvation, there is effectual call; there is regeneration, faith and repentance which are called “conversion.” Positional sanctification where we are set apart at a moment in time unto God. We are declared forever righteous before God’s throne in justification, and we are adopted into His family. All of those things occur at the moment of salvation. Then progressive sanctification and perseverance, that is, that process of becoming holy and the human side where we maintain obedience to the Lord and maintain our faith in Christ through the power of the Spirit. That is over the rest of our life here on Earth. And then, of course, our glorification is at the second coming of Christ. 

Now election, of course, is a divine act. We weren’t there; this happened in eternity past. Effectual calling and regeneration are also divine acts in which we have no input whatsoever. Faith and repentance are both divine and human. We believe and we repent but Scripture says that both of those are gifts from God.

Positional sanctification, justification and adoption are divine acts—God declares us righteous; God adopts us into His family; God sets us apart unto Himself. Progressive sanctification and perseverance are again a combination of divine and human acts. As we saw in Philippians chapter 2, we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling because it is God who is at work in us. And then, of course, glorification is solely a divine act.

So, you see the entire scheme of salvation. But when we look at what happens at the moment of salvation, the application of redemption as it is sometimes called by theologians, to us in time. It begins logically with the effectual call or effective calling. The word “effectual” is an older word; it is a word that has been used for a long time to describe this. But the word “effective” is a good word as well. It simply means “a calling that is effective or effectual. It is interesting that when you look at the New Testament, a common one-word description of Christians is simply the word “called.” You see it introducing a number of Paul’s letters. You see him use it throughout his letters. He refers to believers as the ones “called” by God. 

But what does it mean to be called by God in this sense. Well, let’s look first as we begin our study tonight of the biblical words. When you look at both the Greek and the Hebrew words that are translated “call” or “to call,” they are used in four very similar senses, whether you are talking Hebrew or Greek. First, they are used of the simple act of naming someone: “He was called John.” It is also used in terms of calling someone to a task or a state of life, for example, someone is “called” to ministry or “called” to service. It is used of that sense in both the Old and New Testament. Then there are two very specific ones that relate to salvation: two very specific senses of this word “call” that relate to salvation. The first is that it’s often used, the word “to call” or “call,” of extending an invitation or command to salvation that may be sinfully disregarded—that may be rejected. It’s also used of God’s drawing people into a saving relationship with Himself—you can see the last two are related but different. Now where does the evidence lead us? It leads us where it’s theologians for centuries: to the conclusion that there are two kinds of “calls” or “calling” in Scripture—two different kinds. 

The first is called the “general call.” The general call. Louis Berkhof in his excellent systemic theology defines the general call in this way: “It is the presentation and offering of salvation in Christ to sinners together with an exhortation to accept Christ by faith so that they can gain forgiveness. Essentially the general call is the proclamation of the gospel message. Every time an unregenerate person encounters the gospel, God is issuing a sort of general call for that person to believe the Good News. The elements or characteristics of the general call are that it is outward, that is, as an unbeliever, “I hear the Word coming into my ears.” God is not calling as it were inside—it is an external call, but nevertheless, it is a genuine call. It is also universal. The message of the Gospel is a universal message: God calls sinners to repentance and faith everywhere the Gospel is preached. You love some of those passages in both the Old and the New Testaments in Isaiah 55 where the sinner is invited, “Everyone who thirsts let him come. Let him come and drink of the water of life freely. Let him buy bread without money.” Also, Christ, in His ministry in Matthew 11:28, says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” It is a general, extensive call to anyone who will hear. It’s universal. And of course, Revelation ends with, “Come! Come and enjoy eternal life.” 

This general call, this proclamation of the gospel can be and often is rejected. We are going to look at those references in just a few minutes so I’m not going to have you turn there now. But you understand that. You have presented the gospel to people and God is essentially calling them through you through your sharing of the gospel and they reject it. They turn away from it. That’s the general call. And that’s that one sense of the word “calling” that we saw. 

But then there is another kind of call in Scripture, and it’s called the “effectual call.” That is what we are talking about tonight. The effectual or effective call. What is it? Wayne Grudem in his systematic theology defines it as “an act of God the Father speaking through the human proclamation of the gospel in which he summons people to himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith.” There is the general call offered to everyone but then there is this special effective call. A classic definition of it in the Westminster’s Confession of Faith and I won’t read through all of this, but I want to make a couple of interesting points here. Essentially God in His appointed and accepted time effectually calls, notice by “His Word and Spirit out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ.” Now notice how He does it: “enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone,”—borrowing from Ezekiel 36—“and giving to them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills,”—that’s key, God doesn’t drag anybody kicking and screaming into the kingdom. He renews their wills and gives them a willingness to come. “And, by His almighty power determining them to that which is good; and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet”—here’s the key—“so as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.

James Montgomery Boice in one of his books gives us an illustration of these two different kinds of calls. He says, “Imagine for a moment a man and a wife walking down the street. Someone behind them calls where they can hear the voice but can’t quite distinguish the words. The man, as men would be prone to do, ignores the call assuming that it is for someone else, and he just keeps on walking. His wife, on the other hand, assumes that someone is trying to get her attention and she turns around. Both heard the general call as it were, but she responded. Those whom God calls effectively not only hear His voice, but they respond by turning around and by believing on or committing their lives to Christ.” In the illustration, why did the wife turn? Well, because she was more curious, perhaps, or attentive. But in salvation, the reason one responds to the call of the gospel and the reason the other doesn’t is because of the effective work of God on the heart.

Now let me give you a biblical illustration of this. Turn with me to Luke 14. We are going to look at all that the Scripture has to say about this in a moment. But let me have you start at Luke 14. In Luke 14, you have the parable of the dinner—the parable of the banquet, verse 16: 

[Jesus] said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; [a general invitation is extended to many different people] and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ 

Now this is a pretty lame excuse. First of all, you don’t buy a piece of property usually sight unseen. Secondly, there was no pressing need to go look at the land. He could have come to the dinner. So, it’s an excuse. Verse 19,

Another one said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.”

Again, unlikely you would have bought the oxen without some observation of their work in the field. In an agricultural society, that would be compelling. Again, there was no compelling reason to miss the dinner to go do this. An excuse. Verse 20,

Another one said, “I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.” 

What does that have to do with anything? It’s a dinner. Excuses. 

The slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the crippled and bind and lame.” And the slave said, “Master, what you have commanded has been done, and still there is room.” And the master said to the slave, “Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.”

Now what is going on here? The first group that was invited were the Jews. They were invited by the Old Testament prophets to partake of the dinner. The fellowship with God. This pictures the general call. There was an invitation that went out, an open invitation to come. The second group, notice, aren’t so much invited as compelled. Verse 21 says, “Bring in.” Literally, “Lead them in.” verse 23: “Compel them.” A good translation of that Greek word in our language is “make them come.” This second group represents those sinners: tax gatherers; outcasts, who responded to the preaching of Jesus and the Apostles; even Gentiles, of course, responded. 

Now in Matthew, turn for a moment now to Matthew—keep your thumb there in Luke 14—look at Matthew’s version, Matthew 22, and I want you to see how it ends—the point—the moral. In Matthew 22 and verse 14: in a very similar account: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Now flip back to Luke. “The called” were those who first received the general call or invitation but refused to respond. Back here in Luke, look at the last verse, verse 24, “I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.” The few who are chosen represents the smaller group who were forcefully brought to the dinner. What’s the point? The point is that a general call went out but none of those who received the general call ultimately ended up enjoying the banquet—the dinner. It was only those whom the master sent out his slaves to compel them to come in. That’s the “effectual call.” And it is represented here by the ministry of Christ to the Jews. 

So, with that in mind, what are the characteristics of the effectual call? First of all, it is specific or particular. Not everyone is called in this sense. Again, Jesus says in Matthew 22:14, “For many are called”—in a general way—“but few are chosen.” It is very specific. Secondly. It is an inward call; it happens within the mind. Thirdly, and this is very important, it is efficacious or effective. Turn to Romans chapter 8, verse 29: remember this chain of salvation, verse 29, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.” Verse 30: “and those whom He predestined, He also called.” There is the effectual call. “And these whom He called, He also justified.” In other words, everyone God calls in this specific effectual sense will end up also being justified. 

Turn to John chapter 6. In John 6, we looked at this verse in detail when we were looking at moral inability, but John chapter 6, verse 44, Jesus says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” Now, here is a picture of God’s calling in the Greek word “draw.” “No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him.” This word “draw” we saw when we looked at it in detail occurs eight times in the New Testament. According to the most reliable lexicon, Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, it means “to compel by an irresistible superiority.” Sometimes it is translated, often in fact, in the New Testament, “to drag” as in “to drag to prison.” So, the meaning here is clear: no human being has the power or the ability to approach Jesus for salvation but when it happens, it happens only because the Father irresistibly compels him to come. Now that doesn’t mean He drags him against his will. It means that He makes him willing; He changes his desires. So, “summoned” might be a better word than “called.” We understand “summons.” You get a summons to court. But a summons to court is different because it does not provide in itself the power to get you to court. It is simply a call to come to court. You have to get yourself there. But God’s summons is entirely different. His summons provides in and of itself the power to come—the power to answer. The circumstances, of course, are always different for each of us. 

As I have thought about this, I was reminded of the night when my own life experienced salvation—when I came to faith in Christ, when I experienced the “effectual call.” I was eighteen years old. I remember sitting in the service, senior in high school, in February of that year. A man had come to teach in our church who was a visiting teacher. For the first time in my life, I really heard expositional teaching. It wasn’t a salvation message. He was preaching very simply on heaven to a bunch of believers. I sat there through most of the message and was fascinated by his approach. He seemed to be explaining the Scriptures in a way I had never heard. But then, when he came to the end, he got to Revelation 21 and 22. He came to what will not be in heaven. He simply talked about those verses and explained them item by item. As he did that, the Holy Spirit opened up my eyes. I saw myself. I saw the truth. I saw myself as God saw me and He drew me to Himself. Not against my will—I was more than willing to come. I was eager to come because He had done His work in me. Through the word, He had drawn me. Through the word, He was effectually calling me. I had heard the general call many times—I had sat in many services and heard the gospel. But that night there was a very effective call. 

You see, unregenerate people are spiritually dead; they are corrupt. They do not submit to God’s law. That’s depravity. Nor do they have the ability to submit to God’s law—that’s inability. So, it is perfectly understandable that sinners listen to the gospel and conclude that they are merely hearing the voice of an irrelevant preacher. That happens all the time. But sometimes as such a person listens to the message something miraculous happens. Listen to Robert Raymond: 

Mysteriously, imperceptibly he no longer hears simply the voice of the preacher. Instead, what he now hears is also the voice of God summoning him into fellowship with His Son and he responds to Christ in faith. What happened? The Scriptures would say the God had effectually called a sinner to Himself.

That’s exactly how it happens. 

The effectual call is also immutable. Immutable: cannot be changed. I love Romans 11. Turn to Romans 11, verse 29. Talking here about Israel in the context of God’s plan for Israel, Paul makes a categorical statement about the nature of God and His working with men. He says in verse 29, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” When God calls, it can’t be changed. When God chose Israel, they were forever His people. When God calls sinners to Himself, they are forever His people. Sealed. Signed. Delivered. 

That’s why when you come to Romans 8, what does Paul say? He says, “those whom He predestined, He called . . . and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He”—what?—“He glorified.” Nobody slips through the cracks. The calling of God is immutable.

It’s also holy—a holy calling. Romans 1:7 says, “We are called to be saints.” To be holy ones. John Murray in his excellent little book Redemption Accomplished and Applied, says the life into which the people of God are ushered is one that separates them from the fellowship of this present evil world and imparts to them a character consonant with that consecration. Listen to him: “If we find ourselves at home in the ungodliness, lust and filth of this present world it is because we have not been called effectually by God’s grace.” We are called to holiness. It’s a holy call.

Now there’s some illustrations of this effective call. Of course, you see it pictured in the raising of Lazarus. If we were to turn there, and I won’t do that because of time, you see Jesus at the grave of this dead man. Lazarus had no human capacity to respond to Christ. He had been dead for four days. Jesus was reminded by one of Lazarus’ sisters that his body was now stinking. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” What did He do? He prays and then He stands at the mouth of the tomb, and He says, “Lazarus, come forth.” It was a very effective call because Lazarus came forth. That’s a wonderful picture of what happens in the effectual call. At the moment of salvation, God says, “Come forth.” And we do.

There is also a wonderful picture of it in Paul’s life. I wish we had time to turn there, but we don’t. I encourage you to read it. As you read the account of Paul—here’s Paul. He’s on the Damascus Road and all of a sudden, Christ shows up and calls him to Himself. Interrupts his life as one writer puts of quiet desperation with himself. And then there’s Lydia. Turn to Acts 16. I will show you this one. Because it’s really fascinating to see how Luke writes Acts 16:14: “A woman named Lydia,”—this is the first convert, of course, in Europe, now over in Macedonia—“a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatire, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening [to Paul];”—and watch what happens—“and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.” That’s the effectual call. The gospel suddenly makes sense. God calls. Well, there are other illustrations, but we are going to move on tonight.

To the logistics—just a couple of things: Who is it that calls? Scripture is very clear, it’s primarily God the Father. Reference after reference makes the point that it is God the Father who calls. Just note Romans chapter 8. God is the One who decides to predestine us in the image of His Son; and those whom God the Father predestined to be in the image of His Son, He also what? Called. God the Father. Now why is that important? Sadly, we have often heard the gospel presented in such a way that it distorts the character of God the Father, as if He is hesitant to save sinners and Jesus Christ is constantly trying to convince Him. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s the Father who calls. If you are a believer tonight, it was because God the Father called you out of death into life. 

Sinclair Ferguson who was with us a few weeks ago in his little book, The Christian Life, writes, “Many a youngster knows what it is to have their father call them from play and to trudge home wet, late and dirty to His impending wrath.” I remember a few of those. “We, by contrast, are summoned by God the Father not to receive a row, but to His opened armed embrace.” Called by God the Father. 

How does He do it? What are the means God uses? The means is simply the gospel. The word is the instrumental cause. It’s the instrument that God uses. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul says, “God called you through our gospel.” You see, we are dead and can’t respond to the gospel in and of ourselves. But the tool that God the Father uses to call us is the gospel. As we hear it and as we respond to it because of His work. Now let’s go quickly to the application in the few minutes we have remaining.

What do we do with this? Well, I hope, first of all, that it’s a great comfort and encouragement to you to realize what God has accomplished already in your life. God doesn’t start something and not finish it. He has called you to Himself. He has committed His love to you; He has set His love upon you and that will never change. He will see that you are one day glorified. But let’s look at some specifics. First of all, make sure of your calling. I touched on this verse this morning: 2 Peter 1:10 says, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His call and choosing you.” You see, people can respond to the external or general call by walking an aisle, by making a profession, by joining a church, by praying even a prayer. You can respond to the general call and yet there not ever have been an effectual call. The one that produces salvation. Donald Gray Barnhouse who served at the Tenth Presbyterian Church from 1927 and 1960 wrote these words: 

If men heed no more than the outward call, they become members of the visible church. If the inward call is heard in our hearts, we become members of the invisible church. The first call unites us merely to a group of professing members. But the inward call unites us to Christ Himself and to all who have been truly born again. The outward call may bring with it a certain intellectual knowledge of the truth. The inward call brings us to the faith of the heart, the hope which anchors us forever to Christ. The one can end in formalism. The other in true life. The outward call may curb the tendencies of the old nature and keep the soul in outward morality. The inward call will cure the plague that is in us and bring us to triumph in Christ. 

Make sure of your calling. We are doing that in James. I encourage you to be here on Sunday mornings as we are investigating the difference between dead and living faith. 

Secondly, be faithful to deliver the external call, that is, the gospel. Be faithful to deliver it. What does Paul say in Romans 10? He says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ—the message about Christ.” It is the only way it happens. So be faithful to deliver it. Although, it is true that no one can respond to the general call apart from God’s call: listen carefully, it is through the general call or the sharing of the gospel that God does call effectually so no one is ever be saved apart from the gospel. And that is where our responsibility comes in. It is also a great joy and privilege because I know if I share the gospel and the Lord opens that heart and He calls through that word I share, that person will come to faith in Christ. 

Thirdly, trust God to use your sharing of the gospel to effectively call those he has chosen. We already looked at Acts 16:14 where the Lord opened Lydia’s heart. Paul laid out the message of the gospel and the Lord opened her heart. Trust God. Sow the seed. Be faithful to share the gospel, the external call—God’s general call to all men to come and believe. Trust God to do His work that you and I can’t do. 

Remember why you were called. Romans 8:28 refers to “called according to His purpose.” God called you for a purpose. Not just for one but for several. The New Testament is fascinatingly clear on this point. Remember why you were called—why God called you to Himself. Here are the reasons: we were called to be holy. Romans 1 says we are called as saints. Philippians 3 says we are called through this upward call of God in Christ Jesus as we dealt with this passage several months ago. We are talking about Christ likeness. The upward call of God in Christ Jesus is Christ likeness. God called us to be like His Son. First Thessalonians 4:7: “God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. Second Timothy 1:9: “God saved us and called us with a holy calling.” And 1 Peter 1:15: “like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” Match the One who called you.

We are also called to have fellowship with Christ. First Corinthians 1:9: “You were called into fellowship with His Son.” That was your calling. Your life isn’t about some set of rules. Your life is about a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 17:3 that eternal life was to know God and to know His Son. That is what eternal life is all about. That is what we were called into.

We are also called to enjoy freedom. Galatians 5, “You were called to freedom.” Freedom in what sense? Freedom from the law as a means to justification. Freedom from the slavery of our own sinfulness. We are not to use it as an opportunity to indulge our flesh, but we were called into that kind of wonderful freedom.

We were called to have peace in our relationships with fellow believers: Colossians 3:15: you were called into peace, the peace of Christ and that in one body. We are to be united, connected to one another. We are to dwell in peace. We were called into that peace that we enjoy with fellow believers.

We were also called for the purpose of having a life of proclamation and praise. First Peter 2:9: he says you have been chosen by God to be a “people for God’s own possession” in order that “you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Part of the reason God called you is so you would give Him praise. Your life would be a sacrifice of praise to Him.

He has also called us to a life of perseverance even in suffering for Christ. First Peter 2 says, “You have been called for this purpose,”—that is, to suffer patiently—"since Christ also suffered for you leaving you as an example for you to follow in His steps.”

And we have also been called, and this is wonderful, to receive the kingdom of God, eternal life and the glory of heaven. First Thessalonians 2, “Walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” That’s your calling. You have been called into His eternal kingdom and His great glory. First Peter 5:10, you were called “to His eternal glory in Christ.” What an incredible thing God did when He called us to Himself. Don’t forget why God called you. 

When we were on our vacation, we had the opportunity to tour the home of George Vanderbilt in Asheville, North Carolina, if home can be the right word to describe it.  The house was completed in 1895. George Vanderbilt was the wealthiest man of his day. He was the Bill Gates of the late 1800’s. He was staying in Asheville in a hotel there. He looked out of the room, and he saw this magnificent view of the Smoky Mountains and he said to his male secretary, “Buy me that view.” The secretary went and bought 125,000 acres. Then George Vanderbilt built a railway, his money was in railroads. He built a railway into the ground and property so that they could bring in the supplies to build him a home. It took a thousand men six years to build his home. It has 250 rooms. It is all hand cut limestone. European craftsmanship wood throughout. It’s a magnificent testimony of the creativity God has given men. 

Imagine for a moment how you would have responded if you could transport yourself back to that era. How you would have responded if George Vanderbilt decided to call you to be his own—to be his son; to be his daughter. How would your behavior have changed if you knew instead of Tom Pennington you were going to be Tom Vanderbilt? Well, we have a much higher calling and it’s because of that Paul says to us, Ephesians 4:1, “Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” Called to be saints. Called to belong to the Father, to be in fellowship with Christ. Walk in a manner worthy of your calling. Let’s pray together.

Father, thank you for this wonderfully refreshing truth, for the reality of your work in our hearts. Lord, we never would have responded to the general call of the gospel apart from the effectual call of You our Father. We thank You and praise You for Your work in our lives. Lord, help us to live in a manner, help us to walk daily, help our daily activity and behavior to be worthy of the calling with which we have been called. May your Son be glorified in us. We pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen