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| Jesus summoned dead Lazarus to life - Apt illustration of the effectual calling. |
Feb 11, 2026
Soukyu
Sir, I want to ask about this effectual calling
in the 1689 Baptist Confession.
1689:10:1 "Those whom God hath predestinated 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;2 enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God;3 taking away their heart of stone, and giving to 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"
This says that those who have been
effectually called will be DRAWN TO JESUS CHRIST. And this Effectual Calling is
in the Vital facet of our Salvation.
[NOT "will be drawn" as though it is a separate future event from the effectual calling; the effectual call effectually draws an elect to Christ, uniting him to Christ. The effectually called ARE drawn to Christ and united to Him. sing]
And just now u taught us that Regeneration is a subset of Effectual Calling; in fact, regeneration is included in the Justification of life
So regeneration is also a subset of (vital)
Justification
[In the effectual calling of an elect out of his native state of sin, condemnation and death to that of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ, these three Divine activities MUST take place:
- application of Christ's righteousness to an elect personally, vital justification by grace;
- the application of righteousness by God warrants the Holy Spirit to regenerate the justified one. That's why vital justification is called the justification of life - Romans 5:18.
- The adoption of the regenerated by the Father, and the bestowal of the gift of the Spirit of adoption to dwell in the adopted.
- These divine activities, in that number and order, MUST happen in order to effectually call an elect out of his native state into the state of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ. sing. ]
So, is it correct to say that only in the
Vital phase of Justification of life,
the Elects are enabled to come to Christ n know Christ as our God?
Effectual Calling also leads to Vital Adoption
and Vital Definitive Sanctification besides Vital justification.
[To effectually call an elect out of his native state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ, There must be:
- vital justification by grace; righteousness of Jesus Christ is freely applied to an elect personally.
- regeneration, vital definitive sanctification; definitively separated from death unto eternal life;
- vital adoption of the born again, and bestowal of the Spirit of adoption. sing]
I am
just curious as to which stage an Elect come to the knowledge that Christ
is our God.
Without being "evangelised"?
But the exact wording here is DRAWING THEM TO
CHRIST
This could also mean enabling them to come to
church to know who the true God is.
Sing
Absolutely not. The context is the Effectual
calling an elect out of his native state of sin and condemnation to that of
grace in Jesus Christ - to be vitally united to Christ.
The effectual call ENABLES a child of God (an elect already regenerated) to answer/response to the gospel call.
The gospel call is dealt with in 1689.14
Soukyu
But then, those who have been effectually
called, how do they bring themselves to respond to the gospel call if they
don't bring themselves to the church first? Esp when no one has shared the
gospel with them yet?
Esp. when the Particular Baptists don't subscribe to evangelism?
Sing
Romans 10
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved.
14 ¶How then shall they call on him in whom
they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not
heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be
sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.
Soukyu
I know but this is the preaching in the
church
Sing
@ "...when the Particular Baptists don't subscribe
to evangelism?"
You likely get this fable and lie from the new school Reformed Baptists.
Soukyu
My Q is, after an Elect has been effectually
called but has not heard the gospel yet, how and by what means can the Elect go
and find out that the church is the right place to go?
Sing
@ "I know but this is the preaching in
the church."
Show that this is preaching in the church?
Soukyu
So, you are saying that after an Elect has been
effectually called, he needs to be evangelised coz he doesn't know abt Christ
yet, and he doesn't know how to go to church by himself?
Sing
God did send Peter to Cornelius, Paul to the
Bereans, Lydia, and host of others.
The Lord God who effectually calls out His elect is also the God of Providence... causing His children and His messengers Christians to cross path, etc.
It boils down to what evangelism you are
talking about. I'm evangelising all the time without a few hours of church-organized "evangelistic outreach" activities on Sunday.
Evangelism is bearing witness in our daily
life.
Apostle Paul did REASON with you like this:
Romans 10:14¶How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they
have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Soukyu
If u use the last sentence here, then are you
equating that one has to share the gospel with others so that those effectually
called can come to Christ? Without this, those effectually called has no way to
come to Christ?
Sing
Coming to Christ requires some knowledge of
Christ..
That knowledge of Christ can be had from
different sources - in Paul's time in the first century, it's chiefly through
the God-sent preacher.
The emphasis is that there must be knowledge
of Christ for an effectually called elect to be CONVERTED to Christ.
Take a look here: https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2021/11/there-are-two-distinct-comings-to-christ.html
Soukyu
My Q was not on conversion. My Q is: after an
Elect has been effectually called, is he able to come to CHURCH on his own
WITHOUT hearing the gospel yet? If this is not so, then he will need someone to
preach the gospel to him, and this is evangelism
Sing
Yes, he is able.
The wise Lord can use all kinds of means or
situations to work for the conversion of the effectually called.
But the church is not the only place he will hear the gospel of his salvation. It's more likely that in the course of daily life, he will meet some Christians who share the gospel and tell him about the church.
Soukyu
U replied ABSOLUTELY NOT here last night
Sing
Yes, ABSOLUTELY
NOT.
"Drawing them to Christ" in the CONTEXT of effectual calling has absolutely nothing to do with "enabling them to come to church to know who is the true God."
In the effectual calling, an alienated elect is DRAWN TO CHRIST... DONE, IMMUTABLY UNITED TO CHRIST, COMPLETED.
Soukyu
Come to think of it, it should be at our
Vital Adoption stage in our Effectual Calling where we are adopted by the Holy
Spirit as God's children and the Holy Spirit indwells in us, which enables us to
love our brethrens 1 Thes 4:9 and 1 John 5:1. So we start searching our
brethren in church, and this leads us to Christ
Soukyu
So it is WITHOUT the need to hear the gospel that we are enabled to go to church once we have been EFFECTUALLY CALLED, and this
leads us to Christ
Sing
I wonder what's the point of knowing all these things, but this detailed knowledge won't help you settle down in a
church of Jesus Christ.
"...ENABLED..." Yes.
Enabled to do many spiritual things. Read
Cornelius account in Acts 10 BEFORE his encounter with Peter.
It is the Holy Spirit who regenerates.
God the Father adopts, not the Holy Spirit.
Those adopted by the Father, God gives the
Spirit (of adoption) to dwell in the adopted.
Romans 8:15 KJT — For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
