Trumpet Ministries,The Divine Calling
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There are numerous passages in the New Testament stating that the members of the royal priesthood are called out from the world for the special purposes of God. We already have mentioned a few of these passages.
In addition:
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:39)
"As many as the Lord our God shall call." Not to everyone but to those whom God shall call.
For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. (Acts 18:10)
God has those who belong to Him in a special manner. There were many such in Corinth.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
"Called according to his purpose."
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) (Romans 9:11)
"The purpose of God according to election."
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: (I Corinthians 1:26)
Not many are called to be members of the royal priesthood. We are not speaking of being called to be saved, because God is willing that all be saved. Whoever will choose to do so may come to the Lord.
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ before the world began, (II Timothy 1:9)
Compare:
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written [have not been written] in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)
It must be obvious to the reader that we are not endlessly repeating some remote verse of the Scriptures. The concept of calling and election are major premises of the Old and New Testaments. They have been abandoned in our day because of the pressure of humanistic thinking. Humanistic thinking would never permit the doctrine that some people were specifically called out from the ranks of mankind to occupy a special place in God’s Kingdom.
Humanism is man making himself God. Humanism is of the spirit of rebellion against God. We are rebelling against God when we tell Him that He cannot love Jacob and hate Esau before they were born; that He cannot harden Pharaoh’s heart; that He cannot give Egypt as a ransom for Israel, His chosen people.
We shall never understand God or His salvation until we are willing to let God be God, to call out from the world whomever He wishes, to exalt one person and put down another. The potter has authority and power over the clay. We are in no position to question God’s rights or His judgment.
There are other verses we could add to set forth the doctrine of Divine calling. We think we have included enough, and the inquirer can discover many additional passages. Salvation is of the Lord. God knows those who belong to Him. If we are to grow in the Lord and minister effectively we must recognize that we are saints—holy ones called out from the world by the Lord. We must recognize also that throughout the world there are others whom God has called to be part of the royal priesthood. God will show each one of us his particular role in building the Body of Christ.
In addition we are to be bearing a true witness of God so the secular governments will have a moral light by which to govern people according to God’s will. Christians are the salt of the earth. They make the earth palatable to God. They are the light of the world so all people may understand how they can live in the will of God.
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