Are You Being Called?

Many wonder if they are being called of God. How can you know? Are feelings sufficient on such a vital matter? What is a calling? What does God’s Word say? You need to know.

Most believe that God is trying to save the world now! This thinking goes something like this: God and the devil are at war over the fate of mankind. This is seen as a desperate struggle between good and evil—God and Satan.

Let’s put this another way: Is today the only opportunity for all human beings to choose or to reject Christianity? Must all people “decide now” to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour? Is this what the Bible teaches? The answer is an emphatic NO! If it were yes, then God is failing miserably in His battle with the devil for control over the fate of all men. In other words, God is “calling” all of mankind, but most are not answering!

Consider! In 1920, when my father was born, there were about 2 billion people on earth. There are now about 6.7 billion—and more every day. Approximately 2.2 billion, or one-third, believe—to one degree or another—in the name of Jesus Christ. This represents a total that includes every conceivable brand of the over 2,000 different forms of professing Christianity. Approximately another one-third of mankind has heard of Christ but has not accepted Him and does not claim to follow Him. Finally, the last one-third of all people on earth know nothing about Christ. Many in India, Africa, Japan, China and parts of South America and Southeast Asia have never even heard of Him. Are they condemned to be lost, having never had an opportunity to understand what they missed or why—having no opportunity to be “called”?

When speaking of Christ’s name, the Bible plainly says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Further, Romans 10:13 states that men must call on this name to be saved. Understand! It is obvious that all who have not yielded to the God of the Bible and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior are certainly not saved! Countless billions have died in this condition. Most have assumed that the only other option for these is that they were lost to salvation and that God long ago planned this for the vast majority who have ever lived.

If the war to win souls is as most supposed Christian ministers depict it, then the devil is much stronger, and much more effective, in his effort than God is. This is the only other possibility—unless there is a third category containing the vast majority of people. But it must be a category that has not been recognized. There is!—God is simply not calling the masses of humanity today.

But He is calling a select few!

Called and Chosen of God

The Bible plainly speaks of those who have been called by God. Notice what Paul said to the Thessalonian brethren: “Faithful is He [God] that calls you…” (I Thes. 5:24). As a warning to the Galatian congregation, who were losing sight of the true gospel, he said this: “I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel” (Gal 1:6), and later added, “This persuasion comes not of Him that calls you” (Gal 5:7-8). To the Corinthian congregation he wrote, “For you see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (I Cor. 1:26).

Christ Himself spoke on many occasions about the Christian calling. You may be familiar with His statement, “For many are called, but few are chosen,” found in both Matthew 22:14 and 20:16. Later, adding meaning to the second part of this phrase, He explained this to His disciples: “You have not chosen Me but I have chosen you” (John 15:16), and then “But I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (Jn 15:19).

When placed together, these passages explain that God is calling a few people—actually a very few—out of the world for His supreme purpose. Those who respond to His calling are then “chosen,” going on to repentance, baptism and conversion.

What About You?

After reading some of the literature from The Restored Church of God, many come to recognize that they have been brought into contact with extraordinary understanding. They find themselves learning things that they have never heard before. They notice that the Bible makes sense—that it is not as hard to understand as they had previously thought. Then, feeling a growing need to act on what they are learning, many wonder, “Am I being called by God?”

Sometimes this question takes the form of “Am I undergoing ‘conversion’?” or “Should I get baptized?” or even “Have I come in contact with God’s true Church?” At best, most are unsure of how to answer these basic questions, and many have absolutely no idea whatsoever how to even properly address them.

This brief article will make plain, from God’s Word, how to know if God is calling you. I intend to keep it simple, virtually impossible to misunderstand. After all, this question is one of the most important you will ever face. Properly understanding its answer is of paramount importance to your life!

I first began learning God’s truth when I was 17 years old. Before God called me, I had not known a single one of the true doctrines of the Bible. The calling process for me began when I heard the voice of a man named Herbert W. Armstrong, being broadcast from Pasadena, California. This was 1966, and it was immediately evident to me that I was hearing things from this man that I had NEVER heard before—and with plain scriptural proofs to back them up. I remember being astonished at how clear the Bible became—and how much fun it was to study. Prior to this—throughout the time I attended the well-known, respected denomination of my youth—I had always found the Bible boring and hard to understand.

Actually, people of all ages and backgrounds puzzle over just what a “calling” is. Many reduce it to little more than a particular feeling that comes over them, which they attribute to God. Millions in the world feel “called”—in some cases to the “church,” in other cases to the “ministry,” or “missionary work,” in still other cases to work with children, and in yet others to serve in the medical profession or even in the military. Ignorant of what God says, so many people are left to rely on mere feelings, assuming that their lives—and the paths they choose—are divinely inspired. They attribute this “inspiration” to being called of God. Sadly, most never learn that these “callings” have nothing to do with following the true God of the Bible.

A true calling from God is far more than a kind of abstract feeling that human reasoning concludes is from God!

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