The Call to Salvation

I want you to think with me in four categories when it comes to calling. The first category that we see in scripture when it comes to calling is the call to salvation, so the call to salvation, which is much what we talked about in previous messages. But this is where we need to realize, when we come to the Bible, the way the Bible talks about calling first and foremost is in reference to our salvation.

What Does The Call To Salvation Mean?

So, biblically, calling, more than anything else, biblically, calling is the gracious act of God by which He draws us to become disciples of Jesus and members of His church. The overwhelming majority of time we see calling in scripture, it’s referring to the call to salvation, the call to be saved by Christ, the call to receive His salvation by grace through faith in Christ, to become a member of His church.

If you look, turn over to 1 Corinthians 1 real quick, and you’ll see calling used all throughout this first chapter. 1 Corinthians 1, look at verse 1. And you might even, if you’re looking at a Bible, circle or highlight every time you see the word either “calling” or “chose,” and so just see the emphasis that’s in here on calling. 1 Corinthians 1:1, right out of the gate, “Paul, called by the will of God,” so you might circle it there, “to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes.” So circle called there, called by the will of God to be an apostle. Then you go down to verse 2, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus,” here it is again, “called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” So, the church in Corinth is described as the people who have been called to be saints.

Now you go down to verse 9, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.” So there’s calling there referring to being called into fellowship with Christ as a disciple of Jesus. Go down in that chapter to verse 22. I think of verse 22 kind of setting it up, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God,” and you might circle there in verse 24, that’s referring to Christians, those who, whether Jew or Greek, are called to salvation in Christ.

God Draws Us to Himself

Then you get down to verse 26, “For consider your calling, brothers.” So he picks up on that and he says, “Not many of you are wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” Verse 27, “But God chose,” so similar to calling, “He chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” So call, chose, over and over again in 1 Corinthians 1, describing how God draws people to Himself. He draws you and me to Himself.

It’s the same word that’s used when you go back to Romans 8:28, a verse that we oftentimes quote, “We know that in all things God is working together for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.” So that’s the whole picture, what it means to be a Christian, you’re called according to … And it fleshes out in the very next two verses, “For those God foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His son that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called. Those He called, He also justified. Those He justified, He also glorified.” So calling is described there as a picture of salvation.

So it’s Romans 8, it’s 1 Corinthians 1. It’s all over scripture. Isaiah 41, Isaiah 43, Matthew 4 and 9, Mark 2:14, Acts 2:39, Galatians 1:15, Ephesians 1:18, Ephesians 4:1-16, 1 Thessalonians 4:7, 2 Thessalonians 1:1, and then verses 11 and 12. 2 Timothy 1:9, 2 Peter 9:3-11, Jude 1 and 2. We can go on and on. All throughout scripture, we see scripture, the Bible, talking about calling in terms of salvation.

How Does The Call to Salvation Happen?

So how does that happen? Well, think about all we’ve talked about in previous messages in this series. The call to salvation comes through the proclamation of God’s Word and the power of God’s spirit. It’s evangelism. Evangelism is the means by which the message of the gospel is made known, proclamation of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit that brings about conversion, repentance, and belief in Christ. So you put that together, it’s just an awesome thought.

How does God … Well, first, think about it in our own lives. How has God called us to Himself? He has sent somebody in many of our lives, many people to us, proclaiming the message of the gospel of salvation. And God has used their proclamation of His Word in our hearts to call us. God Himself has called us to Himself through the proclamation of His Word in other people. And then you start thinking about that in other people’s lives. How is God calling more people to Himself? He’s calling more and more and more people to Himself through you and me proclaiming the gospel, the power of His Word and the power of His Spirit. So, calling, first and foremost, is a call to salvation.

Called To Freedom

And accompanying that, we see in scripture, is when we’re called to salvation of Christ, we’re called to freedom in Christ, we’re called to holiness in Christ, we’re called to suffering in Christ. Galatians 5:13, “For you are called to freedom, brothers.” 1 Thessalonians 4:7, “God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.” 1 Peter 2:20, “If when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God, for to this kind of suffering you have been called.” So when we’re called to Christ, we’re called to freedom, joy, suffering in Christ.

And here’s the glorious truth upon which we can bank our lives forever. This call to salvation forms the unshakable foundation of a disciple’s primary identity for now and forever, so that’s what Romans 8:28-30 is talking about. “Those He called, He also justified. Those He justified, He also glorified.” The whole picture is it’s like a done deal. Those who have been called have been glorified, will be glorified. The reality is, when you have received the call to salvation in Christ, your identity is secure for all of eternity.

Root Your Identity in Your Call To Salvation

And this is where … So, here’s why this is so important. We must always be careful to root our identity in our call to salvation. Here’s why this is important. We’ve got to be careful not to root our identity in a calling to some particular task or some particular job or some particular thing that we’re called to do at a particular point.

So yes, that call is real, but at the same time, that’s not intended to be our identity. Our identity is intended to be found in Christ alone, because 10 years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, 40 years from now, we may not be in that place. We may not be in that job. That may not be there, but 10 billion years from now, we’ll still be in Christ, and so this is the unshakeable foundation for our identity forever.

I think about my own life. Just a couple years ago, I was pastoring a church and loving pastoring that church, and would’ve loved to do that for the next 40 years. But the Lord called me to a different role, and not pastoring a church in the same way.

So, it’s a good thing that my identity was not found in being pastor of that particular church, because I wouldn’t have known what to do once that was gone, in the same way that now my identity is not in the role I have in an international mission board. So, we need to root our identity in the fact that God has called us to Himself, and before we’re anything else, we are children of His. And we have a security that is more important than anything else this world could ever offer us, the call to salvation, identity in Christ. That’s where we’ve got to start in our understanding of calling.