Through
Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith
among all nations for His
name, among whom you also are the
called of Jesus Christ; To all who
are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans
01:05-07, NKJV).
In
the inimitable words of Dr. Who: “You've got a few cowboys in here!
Well, not actual cowboys, but that can happen.”
By
this I mean that the subject of divine calling is closely associated
with the issues of God's foreknowledge and His revealed mode of
operation known as predestination. These are not trivial subjects and
have been the source of much theological controversy for the last
2000 years.
The
two most prevalent positions in this regard usually reside under the
umbrellas of Calvinism on the one hand, and Armenianism on the other.
Both schools of thought, respectively, are named after their most
notable human adherents, and therein lies the first problem.
Human
beings have, at best, only a partial understanding of how God
operates, and that, to be legitimate and even remotely accurate, must
be based on Scripture alone, since that is the vehicle through which
God reveals Himself.
Calvin
believed and taught that God's sovereignty (His unlimited authority
over all Creation) takes precedence over all His other divine
attributes, and from that starting point, argued that God alone
determines who will be saved and who will spend eternity in Hell.
Expressed in colloquial terms (informally), Calvinists believe that
God predestines individuals
for Heaven or Hell – some are born solely for Hell-fire, and some
for Heaven, and that divine predestination overrules everything else.
While
this represents a very high view of God's authority, it does so at
the expense of all His other revealed characteristics, not the least
of which is His sacrificial love (called agape
in Greek). While God has
all
authority in Heaven and earth, He is
love. Note the difference. Authority is His possession,
while love is His very
nature.
If
Calvin is correct, then all the invitations in the Bible to choose
to follow Jesus, and to come
volitionally (a voluntary act of
will) into
His Kingdom, are lies. Why? Because God's sovereignty and
predestination make human choice an utter illusion.
Armenias
believed virtually the opposite of Calvin, in that his teaching made
human will more powerful than God's authority. Taken to its logical
conclusion, Armenianism postulates that it is possible to lose
your salvation, since it was by
your own choice that you attained it in the first place.
Consequently, by making a subsequent choice to turn away, you may
“give it up”.
While
this retains the truthfulness of all the invitations in Scripture to
voluntarily believe and be saved, it completely negates all the other
promises and declarations about God being able to “keep you”.
Here
are just a few:
For
the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
(Romans 11:29, NKJV).
“My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. “And I
give them eternal life, and they
shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all;
and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
“I and My Father are one.” (John 10:27-30, NKJV).
being
confident of this very thing, that He
who has begun a good work in you will complete it until
the day of Jesus Christ; (Philippians 1:6, NKJV).
Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His
abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to
an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade
away, reserved in heaven for you,
who are kept by the power of God
through faith for salvation ready to
be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5, NKJV).
Thus
we see the problems with human schools of thought that do not take
into account the whole counsel of
God.
The
Bible clearly teaches that salvation is a gift that can be accepted
or rejected. It also teaches that once accepted, the gift cannot be
lost or returned. It is irrevocable.
It
also contains repeated warnings to keep
yourself in the love of God, and not
to turn away, and to
examine yourself to see if you are in the faith,
and endure to the end
of this life.
So
what can we conclude about these invitations
to salvation, this being the called
of Jesus Christ? How do we reconcile
(bring into agreement), the two apparently contradictory inclusions
of warnings about falling away with repeated promises that we are
secure?
I
believe it is this: both are true. While this may appear
contradictory from our limited human intelligence, it is unreasonable
to expect that we finite beings can ever really comprehend an
Infinite Being. And the key point of reconciliation is this: once we
sincerely and fully accept by faith God's call to eternal life, we
are changed. We move from death into life. We are born
again. We are new
creations.
These
transformations, once accomplished by God are undoable. No power in
Heaven or earth can separate us from the love of God poured out in
our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Once we are His, we are His forever.
So
why the warnings? I believe these are for those who presume
(suppose something the be the case
without actual evidence) that they are saved for reasons other than
sincere faith and a transformed life. Those who use grace as a
license to sin.
But,
beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes,
things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.
(Hebrews 6:9, NKJV).
In
the end, we can be certain of our security in Christ. He gave His
life for us. Therefore being the
called of Jesus Christ is a
priceless eternal possession and something that, if we understand all
that it means, must
fill us with immeasurable joy.
Love,
Dad
