https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/1656364844467
March 30, 2011
What is the effectual calling? (1689.10)
This is what the old school baptists
summarized it.
"1. Those whom God hath predestined unto life, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call,(1) by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ;..."
Sing F Lau
Please note very carefully... it is the
calling of an elect out of his NATIVE STATE of sin and death to that SPIRITUAL
STATE of grace and salvation.
The effectual call to a state of grace and
salvation is, by the powerful and sovereign will of the Triune God (God, Word,
and Spirit), without any assistance or cooperation of man.
It is an act of God, separate and
distinct from and prior to the gospel call... which is a call out of the state
of ignorance and unbelief to a state of knowledge of the truth and faith.
The former is the calling of the dead
in trespasses and sins.
The latter is the calling of God's
children to faith in Christ.
And what transpires in the effectual
call is carefully stated...
"... (2) enlightening their minds
spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God;(3) taking away their
heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh:(4) renewing their wills,
and by His almighty power determining them to that which is good, and
effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ;(5) yet so as they come most freely,
being made willing by His grace. (6)".
Two SPECIFIC THINGS are mentioned here:
Firstly: what is done to the object:
- Enlightening the MIND...
- Replacing the HEART...
- Renewing their WILLS.
Second: the good determined for the
object:
- by His almighty power, therefore
ALWAYS effectual... 101% success rate
- that which is good is ETERNAL
SALVATION bound up in the person and works of Jesus Christ. Each is effectually
UNITE to Christ, the fount and spring of their eternal redemption.
- The 'drawing' spoken of here is
WITHOUT the gospel means. It is the effectual drawing of the elect still dead
in trespasses and sins to Christ... to a state of grace and salvation.
- In this sense, the effectual
drawing/calling is IRRESISTIBLE GRACE. How can a dead man possibly resist the
free act of the almighty God to raise him from his state of sin and death?
Sing F Lau
The chapter on Effectual Call has four
paragraphs.
The four paragraphs can be summarized
like this:
Para 1: The definition of the effectual
call
Para 2: The effectually called who have
the gospel call
Para 3: The effectually called who are
incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the gospel.
Para 4: Those who are not effectually
called
Para 1 spells out what effectual call is:
God's work of bringing a man out of his native state of sin and death to that
of grace and salvation... man being completely passive in that he contributes
NOTHING... in fact he was very active in enmity against God when God
effectually called him.
Para 2 spells out the fact of those
effectually called who do have the GOSPEL CALL... and states the relationship
between the effectual call and the gospel call, THAT IS... the effectual call
ENABLES a man to answer to the gospel call. That DOES NOT implies that every
effectually called man will respond positively to the gospel call, neither that
every effectually called man will have the gospel preached to him.
- The fact stated is simply one
ENABLING the other, one making the other possible... nothing more.
Para 3 spells out those effectually
called who do not have the gospel called... and this paragraph EMBRACES a far
wider group than the reformed folks would want to admit: they limit it to ONLY
those who died in infancy and mentally challenged adults. But the phrase,
"SO ALSO all other elect persons, who are incapable of being outwardly
called by the ministry of the word" most certainly includes God's sentient
children (effectually called to grace and salvation) in remote places... they
are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word.
However, the gospel regeneration must
reject and deny this simple fact.
Para 4 tells us that WITHOUT the
effectual call of God... no amount of outward religion can eternally save
anyone, 'save' in the SAME - SAME - SAME sense that the effectual calling of
God saves.
With this outline of the chapter, we will now proceed to the next paragraph.
Sing F Lau
A common and popular error concerning the effectual call needs to be stated here. Many RBs, being gospel regenerationists,
understand the effectual call as God's act of blessing their gospel preaching,
making it effectual in bringing the dead to eternal life, and conversion to the
truth.
Whether they like it or not, such an idea
explicitly implies that without their preaching ministry, there would be no
effectual call... i.e. the eternal salvation of God's elect is intimately bound
up with their activities! They unashamedly conditioned the eternal salvation of
God upon their preaching activity.
They are adamantly not contented to accept that their preaching ministry is to feed and nourish the lambs and sheep of God. They insist that they have an indispensable role in bringing lambs and sheep into being!
Sing F Lau
Paragraph 2 reads:
"This effectual call is of God's
free and special grace alone, not from anything at all forseen in man, nor from
any power or agency in the creature,(7) being wholly passive therein, being
dead in sins and trespasses, until being quickened and renewed by the Holy
Spirit;(8) he is
thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and
conveyed in it, and that by no less power than that which raised up Christ from
the dead. (9)"
This effectual call is further
defined... because of man's inclination to pervert and twist its gracious
nature.
The effectual call is POSITIVELY:
- of God's free and special grace
alone... THUS excluding even the gospel ministry of the gospel
regenerationists! "Alone' means 'alone,' it does not mean 'alone PLUS.'
Elementary, sir!
- being quickened, from the state of
death, to eternal life. No one can do any good to the dead but the Life-giver
Himself, and ALONE, without the deluded gospel regenerationists' aid.
- being renewed... saving graces are
worked in the effectual called. Without these saving graces worked in the heart
by the indwelling Spirit, the quickened would still be quite impotent... made
alive but still without strength nor power.
The effectual call is NEGATIVELY:
- NOT from anything at all forseen in
man...
- NOT from any power or agency in the
creature...
- Man being WHOLLY passive in the
effectual call...
- Man being dead in sins and trespasses
and sin...
What more needs to be said!
NOTE the word 'thereby.' It is an
adverb, and means "by that means; as a result of." By the means of
effectual calling, or as a result of the effectual calling, a man is enabled
towards something.
That means the effectual call is completely apart from the gospel call, finished and accomplished; thereby enabling something else distinct and separate from the effectual call!
Sing F Lau
Sorry, there is one VITAL issue
overlooked in paragraph 1.. the phrase, "by His Word and Spirit" -
God's agents of effectual call.
So many new school Calvinists glibly
take 'His Word' as referring to their preaching ministry of the word or the
written Scriptures. But that does violence to the whole paragraph and chapter.
The preached word (gospel proclaimed)
blessed to the conversion of the already regenerated elect is vastly different
from God’s Word (Christ) and Spirit who are the active Divine Agents in the
effectual calling of the dead unto eternal life.
We must not confuse the two. The word
‘word’ (whether with an upper or lower case ‘w’) SOUNDS exactly the same in each
case, but the CONTEXT and the SENSE are entirely different.
A biblical distinction is the essence of sound
theology. The Framers were clear. Therefore ‘His Word’ can’t possibly mean
‘gospel preaching’ in a context of effectual calling unto eternal life and
salvation.
The gospel is not an instrument used in begetting eternal life in the elect. It is instrumental only in the conversion of those whom God has effectually called unto eternal life. It is instrumental in the gospel call to faith in Jesus Christ. But it is a massive theological blunder to think that Christ, the Word of God, is not active in the work of the new creation in effectual calling.
Bill Taylor
@Sing "The preached word (gospel
proclaimed) blessed to the conversion of the already regenerated elect is
vastly different from God’s Word (Christ) and Spirit who are the active Divine
Agents in the effectual calling the dead unto eternal life." AMEN and
AMEN!
Sing F Lau
"... effectually to call... out of
that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation
by Jesus Christ..."
To effectually call a man out of his
native state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation REQUIRES...
REQUIRES... REQUIRES these divine and sovereign activities:
- justification: the righteousness of
Christ applied to him personally. Righteousness was ALREADY imputed to him when
Christ died on the cross. That is the legal justification. What is legal is
made personal at the effectual call. The state of sin is the state of
condemnation... and this must be dealt with by justification.
- regeneration: the state of death must
be dealt with. With the righteousness, applied, the Holy Spirit has the divine
warrant to regenerate. Sins brought death and condemnation. Righteousness
applied brings justification and life.
(Please note: the effectual call and
regeneration are NOT, NOT, NOT synonymous; the latter is a subset of the
former. This is another popular error!)
- adoption into the family of God and
given right to all the privileges belonging to God's child. The Spirit of
adoption is given to dwell in him, working all the saving graces.
Without justification AND regeneration
AND adoption there can be no effectual calling out of the state of sin and
death to grace and salvation.
A state of grace and salvation necessarily REQUIRES justification applied personally, regeneration, and adoption... anything less, there can be no grace and salvation.
Sing F Lau
"Those whom God hath predestined
unto life...."
These and these ALONE are the object of
the effectual call.
God purposed eternal redemption for
them, and Christ accomplished the eternal redemption for the same people, and
the Triune God applies it to individuals among those predestinated unto life.
"... and He is pleased in His
appointed and accepted time, effectually to call..."
The timing of the effectual call to
grace and salvation of an elect is SOLELY the prerogative of God... some are
effectually called while in the womb, others on their death bed... some in
their childhood, others in adulthood, some in their prime of life, others
when withered...
It is solely God's prerogative alone...
not even the most eloquent preacher can hurry God!
Preachers who rush God and apply all sorts of gimmicks and psychology and manipulation are up to making disciples of those still DEAD trespasses and sins....
Sing F Lau
"... effectually to call... out of
that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation
by Jesus Christ..."
ONCE effectually called to grace and
salvation, a man is PERFECTLY, COMPLETELY and WHOLLY fitted for eternal glory.
Nothing further is needed for glorification at all.
Eternal salvation is BY GRACE ALONE plus
NOTHING. Eternal salvation DOES NOT need any man's aid, effort, contribution.
Eternal salvation is NOT God's grace PLUS man's work to make it effectual... it
is made effectual by the almighty power of God when His elect were in a state
of sin and death. By His almighty power, He DETERMINES them to that which is
good.
God, "by His almighty power
determining them to that which is good" declares the old school baptists!
The almighty power of God is all that is needed to determine them to that which
is good (eternal redemption in Christ Jesus)... no need for any aid or
assistance from man. SHAME to those who insist otherwise!
But God is not only interested in the
eternal salvation of His chosen people. He also desires their WELL-BEING as
they journey through this world to enter into the blessedness of their eternal
inheritance.
God is mindful of the well-being of His children. He appointed the gospel ministry towards that end. He delegated this work to the church, commanding her to FEED the lambs and sheep of Christ, to make disciples of them, to gather them into NT churches, to teach them, "that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:12-13.
Michael G. Morrow
Seems like those old school Baptists
believed God used his word in their effectual calling..you reckon they just
kinda looked at a Bible lying on a shelf and felt called? BTW...please give
biblical examples of people being "called" in the womb...called...not
anything else just effectually called so that they did not need to be called by
God in the time of their lives. Thanks
Sing F Lau
Morrow, I have given them many times but you
won't have them!! <LOL>
You may want to prove that the old
school Baptists believed God used his word in their effectual calling!
And don't mistake "His Word"
in para 1 as the MINISTRY of the word in the outward call stated in para 3.
The effectual call is a calling to life and the eternal Life-giving Logos is the divine Agent in that work.
Sing F Lau
In para 1, the old school baptists said
this:
"... by His almighty power
determining them to that which is good” (original wording)
A new school baptist updated that
statement into this:
“... by His almighty power, causes them
to desire and pursue that which is good” (Dr Peter Master’s revision).
Are the two statements saying the same
thing?
What does the former say?
What does the latter say?
Is '... God determining them to that
which is good..." the same as '... God causes them to desire and pursue
that which is good...'?
Are you thinking???
How truth is often so subtly perverted
by revisionists reverenced by others! The NKJV does the same with the good ole
KJV.
Take a look here:
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2011/05/monergism-degraded-into-synergism.html
