Effective Calling

Salvation Is Always Initiated By God

Effective calling is the calling of God into salvation. This is different form general calling. Effective calling always results in salvation hence the name “effective”. General calling is when God calls and a person rejects God’s calling.

Grudem defines Effective calling 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 are two aspects of the Effectual call. First is the external effectual call. This is when the gospel is shared with someone. It is simply the proclamation of the gospel. The internal effectual call is when the Holy Spirit leads a person to salvation based on the external call. Our job is the external effectual call. God’s job is the internal effectual call. Matt. 13:1-9

Matthew 13:1–9 NASB95

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. “Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. “And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. “He who has ears, let him hear.”

The internal effectual call is one that lands on the good soil of the heart. Notice it produces a new crop. This is indicative of making disciples.

3 Elements to the Gospel Call

Facts concerning salvation.

The three facts one must believe for salvation are:

All people have sinned Romans 3:23

Romans 3:23 NASB95

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

2. The penalty for sin is everlasting death. Rom. 6:23

Romans 6:23 NASB95

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

3. Jesus died a sacrificial death for our sins. Rom.5:8

Romans 5:8 NASB95

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Repentance and Faith are necessary for salvation

John 1:11–12 NASB95

He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,

One must receive Christ before They can be saved . The way a person receives Christ is through repentance and faith Luke 24:46-47

Luke 24:46–47 NASB95

and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Acts 20:20–21 NASB95

how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The right Gospel must be preached and a person must repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus for salvation.

6 Gospels

There seems to be confusion regarding what the gospel is. Bill Hull has identified 6 different gospels being preached. 5 are false gospels and 1 is the true gospel

Forgiveness Only Gospel

This gospel talks about the mechanics of salvation. You find this in a lot of the tracks that are passed out. It is a gospel that presents the facts about Jesus, but makes no mention of repentance, and does not discuss obedience to Jesus. It states that all you have to do is walk an isle, say a prayer, and get baptised.

This gospel leads to people that believe they are saved but are not. They have the mindset that I did what I was suppose to do, so I am good. It emphasizes that since I went through the steps of salvation, then I can live my life independent of Jesus.

Liberal Gospel

This gospel believes that as long as you are doing good in your society and culture you will be saved. This gospel mentions nothing of sin, repentance, or faith in Jesus. They are conformed by their culture. We see this happening in the United Methodist denomination.

This gospel lacks orthodox christian teachings and theology. This gospel basically teaches to be a good person and don’t upset anyone and you will be good in God’s eyes. It emphasizes loving everybody by not judging them. They believe that there is no such thing as hell.

Prosperity Gospel

This gospel is one that teaches that if you have enough faith you will have perfect faith and tremendous wealth. They emphasize the miraculous. They tell stories of healing and of God blessing people. Then tragedy is that the preacher of the prosperity gospel is the one who is wealthy and those that contribute to his wealth end up poorer.

This gospel breed entitlement. They have a name it and claim it because you deserve it mentality. This is gospel speaks nothing about repentance and sin. This is why you find many prosperity preachers failing morally.

Consumer Gospel

This is the gospel that is preached the most today. It preaches that the church is there for their desires. We have facilities, programs, convenience, entertainment and all the things you want to make your life better. This is so appealing because it is what people want.

We are a self-interest culture. This is shown by how people respond when things aren’t what they want. They will just leave and go to another church that preaches the same gospel.

This gospel makes God a caterer to the persons desires and is opposed to any type of struggle in life. They believe that God will fix all their problems and they will have a life of ease.

Religious Gospel

The religious gospel is one that is very legalistic. They teach that doctrine and theology are most important. This gospel lacks compassion and grace. Rather than evangelizing the lost they look down on them and judge them. They believe that as long as you think right then you will be saved.

Kingdom Gospel

This gospel is the proclamation of the rule and reign of Christ over all life. It calls people into a life of discipleship. Three characteristics of the kingdom gospel

It Grows By investing in a minority population

This means that most people will not be willing to accept it. We see this in the parable of the soils. Only 25% will accept the tru gospel

Teaches us to obey God by living intentionally in the middle of diversity & Ambiguity.

This means we are to live and love those who are different from us and share the truth of God’s word with them.

The Kingdom Gospel Is Slow But will ultimately permeate everything

It takes time for the gospel to fully permeate a persons life. It is a lifelong process.

This is the kingdom Gospel 1 Cor. 15:1-8

1 Corinthians 15:1–8 NASB95

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

People become Christians when they decide to follow Jesus.