Chapter 48
“The Heavenly Calling”
"Wherefore, holy
brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High
Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.” -- Hebrews 3:1
In the
opening words of Hebrews 3:1 the Holy Spirit tells us three things about all
true believers, all who trust the Lord Jesus Christ: (1.) All true believers
are “holy”. (2.) All true believers are “brethren”. (3.) 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,”
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[1].
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.” Paul was talking about
this internal, effectual call when he wrote to Timothy. – 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: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher,
and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles" (2 Tim. 1:9-11).
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).
What is this call of God by which we are
saved? What is this heavenly calling of which all who believe the gospel have been made partakers
by the grace of God? It is described in many ways in doctrinal and
theological works: -- The Internal Call -- The Effectual Call -- The
Irresistible Call -- The Call of Grace. All those terms are good and accurate.
But how this call is described and explained in Holy Scripture. Here are seven
texts, seven divinely inspired passages of Scripture, in which our heavenly
calling is described.
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light."
This
internal, effectual, saving call of grace is a call out of gross darkness into
God’s marvelous light. As in the
creation of the world, God commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
so in the new creation of grace God the Holy spirit shines in the hearts of
chosen, redeemed sinners to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).[2]
Before
God saved us, we were like all other men, engulfed in the gross darkness of our
own depraved hearts and spiritual ignorance. God’s elect, in their state of nature, before
they are converted, are just like all other men, totally ignorant of all things
spiritual. We were all, by nature, ignorant of God, ignorant of ourselves,
ignorant of Christ, ignorant of sin, ignorant of righteousness, ignorant of
providence, ignorant of salvation, ignorant of the Scriptures, and ignorant of
the gospel. The natural man has absolutely no spiritual knowledge (John 3:5; 1 Cor. 2:14).
Now,
by the effectual call of the Holy Spirit, the eyes of our understanding have
been opened, we are now made to see light and walk in light, as the children of
light. God’s people are children of
light. They no longer grope about in darkness. They have the unction of the
Spirit, causing them to know all things. Believers have the mind of Christ,
enabling them to understand all things (Pro. 28:5; 1 John 2:20; 1 Cor. 2:12-13, 15-16).
Believers
understand the truth, believe the truth, and receive the love of the truth.
Every regenerate man or woman rejoices in both the character of God and the
ways of God. Believers all acknowledge their sin and sins, and the utter
sinfulness of their righteousnesses. All who
know God find the in the effectual blood atonement of Christ the solitary basis
for their hope and consolation before God. Saved sinners glory in the Lord,
declaring with Jonah of old, “Salvation is of the Lord!”
Being taught of God,
regenerate, enlightened, saved sinners have the ability to distinguish between
things that differ. They know no the difference between grace and works. They
know the difference between free grace and free will. We have been called out
of darkness into God’s marvelous light.
"For, brethren, ye have been called unto
liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve
one another."
We were by nature children of wrath, even as others; but now, in Christ we are freed from all the curse and condemnation of God’s holy law. We lived all the days of our lives as home born slaves, under the dominion of sin; but now, in Christ we have become the servants of righteousness. We spent all our days under the power and influence of Satan; but we are now Christ’s free men. How we ought to thank God for the blessed liberation of grace! Satan, like a strong man armed, held me in a bondage worse than that of Egypt. Grace has set me free! “The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand” (Deut. 6:20-23). “Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him. Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee” (Deut. 4:31-39). All who are born of God have been called unto liberty, even “the glorious liberty of the sons of God”!
Called unto the Fellowship
of Christ -- 1
Corinthians 1:9
"God
is faithful, by whom ye were called
unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
Not only
have we been called out of bondage and into liberty, we have been called into
the blessed liberty of intimate, sweet fellowship with the Triune God in our
all glorious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!
God
calls his people to abandon the world for Christ. Those who are called of God
are called to forsake family and friend, like Abram, and follow Christ. We have
been, and are continually called by our God, to “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.”.
The riches of this world, the recognition it lavishes upon men, and the
religion it cherishes, we must purposefully despise (Deut. 7:2-6, 25-26; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; Rev. 18:4).
This is
no great sacrifice. “The heavenly calling” of which we are now partakers brings us into
far better company than we ever knew before. We now have access to and communion with God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit and blessed fellowship with his saints on earth,
and even with his saints in heaven (Heb. 12:22-23). God’s house is open to us.
The Lord’s Table is open to us. The very throne of God is open to us! What a privilege! We have been called into
fellowship with the eternal God!
"But if the unbelieving depart, let him
depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace."
The call of God is a call to internal peace, peace of mind and peace of conscience; to which all men are utter strangers by nature. There is no peace to the wicked: but God has called us to peace. He has blessed us with it, with a peace that passes all understanding, with peace in the midst of the tribulations of the world, with a peace that the world can neither give nor take away. Our peace is a peace that arises from the blood and righteousness of Christ, and is part of that kingdom of God which is within us, into which we are brought by our heavenly calling.
We have also been called to
peace among ourselves, and with all men. "Let
the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one
body" (Col. 3:15). We have been called unto peace.
Called unto Holiness -- 1 Thessalonians 4:7
"God
hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness."
The call
of God is a holy calling. It is a call arising from upon a holy purpose, -- the purpose of God. It is a call
based upon a holy principle --
justice satisfied. It is a call that
has brought us into a holy position, -- justified
and sanctified in Christ. It is a call which makes us a holy people, -- “An Holy Nation”- - “A Peculiar People”-- “A Royal Priesthood.”
John Gill said, with
regard to this call of God’s elect, “They are called out of a state of
unholiness and sinfulness, into a state of holiness and righteousness; for
being created anew in righteousness and true holiness, and created in Christ
Jesus to good works, they are called to the exercise of them; to live holily,
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present evil world; ‘God hath not called us unto uncleanness,
but unto holiness’, (1 Thess. 4:7) and ‘hath
called us to glory and virtue’ (2 Pet. 1:3), to glorious acts of virtue and
goodness, becoming the nature of their call, and of him that has called them; ‘As he which hath called you is holy’ (1
Pet. 1:15).”
"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel."
We have been call by the grace of Christ. We have been called by the instrumentality of the gospel of the grace of Christ. We have been called into the blessed experience of the grace of Christ. We have been called to be partakers of and to enjoy all the blessings of the grace of Christ.
We have been called (1.) out of darkness into light, (2.) out
of bondage into liberty, (3.) out of the world into fellowship with God, (4.)
out of turmoil into peace, (5.) out of uncleanness into holiness, (6.) out from
under the curse of God’s law into the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and (7.)
out of the kingdoms of this world into God’s kingdom and glory in Christ.
"That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and
glory."
God has
called us to a kingdom that is glory. He has called us into the possession of
the kingdom of grace here, a kingdom that can never be taken away from us. And
he has called us to inherit a kingdom of glory hereafter. “The Lord will give grace
and glory.” This kingdom and glory to which he has called us is an
everlasting kingdom.
Can you
get hold of this? We have been called by the grace of God “to the obtaining of the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ”
(2 Thess. 2:14). "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with him in glory." All who are called are “called in one hope of their calling” (Eph.
4:4). All who are called have the same “promise
of eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15). All who are called are called to and
have been given the same glory for their eternal inheritance (John 17:22)
"Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath
begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:3-4).
[1] I remind you, 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.
[2] “When the apostle Paul was called by grace, a light surrounded him, as an emblem of that internal light which was sprung in him. After that, there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales, as a token of the removal of his former darkness and ignorance.” (John Gill)