“Partakers Of The Heavenly Calling”

Hebrews 3:1

In the opening words of Hebrews 3, the Holy Spirit tells us three things about all true believers, all who trust the Lord Jesus Christ. All true believers are “holy”. All true believers are “brethren”. All true believers are “partakers of the heavenly calling”.

There are some people in this world described by the Holy Spirit as “The Called” (Rom. 1:6; 8:28). Those who are the called of Jesus Christ are God’s elect, those sinners redeemed by the precious blood of Christ who have been saved by his almighty, irresistible grace. All the rest of the elect shall be called; but those who are saved are “the called”. We have been called from death to life, from unbelief to faith in Christ.

All who are privileged to hear the gospel preached are called externally by the preaching of the gospel. But those who are saved, “the called”, have been called internally, effectually, and irresistibly by God the Holy Spirit. “The called” are like the Thessalonian saints. Their election, redemption, and calling is made manifest by the fact that the Word of God has come to them, not in word only, but in the power of the Holy Ghost.

I remind you once more, THERE IS NO EFFECTUAL CALL OF GRACE APART FROM THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL. YET, THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL WILL NEVER PRODUCE LIFE AND FAITH IN CHRIST WITHOUT THE EFFECTUAL CALL OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Salvation comes to chosen, redeemed sinners in the experience of grace by the almighty, irresistible, effectual call of God the Holy Spirit. It is this call of which David sang, when he said, “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee.” This is the call the Apostle Paul was talking about when he said, “God separated me from my mother’s womb, called me by his grace, and revealed his Son in me.” He was talking about this internal, effectual call when he wrote to Timothy, in 2 Timothy 1:9-10. God “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

Notice how the Apostle Paul describes this call of God. When he speaks of it, he seems to be so overwhelmed by it, in such awe of it that he cannot find words sufficient to describe it. He calls it…

· “An Holy Calling” (2 Tim. 1:9).

· “The High Calling of God” (Phil. 3:14).

· “The Calling of God” (Rom. 11:29).

· “Your Calling” (1 Cor. 1:26; Eph. 4:4).

· “The Heavenly Calling” (Heb. 3:1).

Let all who are numbered among “the called”, all who have been made “partakers of the heavenly calling”, give praise to God alone forever for his unspeakable, irresistible grace bestowed on us in Christ!