The Calling of God..

We recently learned about "the calling of God" in Bible school. In my opinion, this is one of the most confused concepts in Christendom, and therefore, I'm so grateful for a pastor who unashamedly teaches the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). What is the "calling of God"? What are we called to? What is our "calling" in life? Often times, sincere believers will go their entire lives convinced that they're called to "this" and "that", yet never see it actually fulfilled. It can be unbelievably frustrating! How are we expected to "lay hold" (1 Tim 6:12) of our calling if we do not readily know what this calling primarily consists of?

Thankfully, as with every issue life presents us with, God's Word possesses the priceless solution. So many Christians remain confused or ignorant of their "calling" simply because they don't take heed to the wise counsel the very God they serve provides us with. Do we honestly believe God would have us to be confused? Of course not. He simply wants us to fall in love with His word, and in doing so, our calling (both personal and corporate) will be realized! Friend, Jesus will never say anything that He has not already revealed in His divine Book! I believe He has done this on purpose. Proper Christianity cannot be adequately realized aside from a perpetual adherence to the counsel of Scripture. It is our plumb-line! Thus we see the dire need to truly KNOW this holy book, from cover to cover, even to have it bound to our very foreheads (Deut 6:4-8)! We're to wholly eat it up (Rev 10:8-9)! This is the means by which we can rightly possess the "mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16). And such a "mindset" is so essential when dealing with concepts as these, the "calling" of God. Our life's experience depends on it: "My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman" (Prov 7:1-4).

So what are we really called to? What does the Bible teach?

Overall, our primary "calling" is to become God's eternal inheritance: Paul prayed "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his CALLING, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Eph 1:17-18). Any individual or lesser calling can only be adequately realized in this context; the greater includes the lesser (Rom 1:1; 2 Tim 1:11; Heb 5:4; etc). To seek a personal ministerial calling above this primary calling of God is to put the cart before the horse. Rather, ministry gifts and callings are simply the overflow of God's overall purpose with man, and our response to Him. Sadly, we've seen the awful fruit that is produced from such a contrary and backwards vision (Prov 29:18; Amos 8:11-12; Matt 9:36; etc). Even the apostle Paul recognized that he had a "calling" (Rom 1:1; 1 Cor 1:1; etc), but also a "high calling" (Phil 3:14). For him, the greater included the lesser. The Amplified version of these verses say, "[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, by having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones)...". The Message Bible says that Paul is praying this "so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do..." (Eph 1:18).

The Hebrew words for "call" mean "to accost a person; to call out; to encounter hostilely or accidentally; to invite". The Greek words mean "to invite; to call aloud; to urge on; to incite by word or command; to call towards oneself".

What is the Lord inciting us towards? What is He urging us toward? To what are we invited to? Again, it is substantial!

We are not called to simply partake of a mere church building, be a faceless number in a crowd, nor a spot on a pew. The calling of God is far deeper than that; We are called to obtain His glory: "Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess 2:14). Our "hope" is His glory (Col 1:25-27)! And His glory is His person (Exod 33:13-14)!

What else does the Bible say that we're called to?

- We are called to glory and virtue (2 Pet 1:3)
- We are called to inherit a blessing (1 Pet 3:9)
- We are called to the patient endurance of suffering (1 Pet 2:20-21)
- We are called out of darkness and into God's marvellous light (1 Pet 2:9)
- We are called to fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim 6:12)
- We are called to eternal life (1 Tim 6:12)
- We are called to holiness (1 Thess 4:7)
- We are called to be holy as God is holy (1 Pet 1:15)
- We are called to liberty (Gal 5:13)
- We are called to be a revealer of Jesus (Gal 1:15-16)
- We are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:9)
- We are called to sonship (Jn 10:33-36; Ps 82:6; Zech 12:8)
- We are called to the Holy Ghost baptism and fire (Acts 2:38-39)
- We have a "high" calling (Phil 3:14), a "heavenly" calling (Heb 3:1), and a "holy" calling (2 Tim 1:9).

What a precious truth! These are the callings of God! This is the fountain from which all other "works" and "callings" are to flow. May we always seek to make our calling and election sure (2 Pet 1:5-10), be counted worthy of this calling (2 Thess 1:11), lay hold of our calling (1 Tim 6:12), and abide in our calling (1 Cor 7:20-24). How wonderful that God's gifts and callings are without repentance (Rom 11:29), for "faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it" (1 Thess 5:23-24)!