|
22:14 called … chosen. Only those who are chosen will be seated at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and this election does not depend on any previous ethnic or moral status (8:11, 12). See theological note “Effectual Calling” on p. 2146.[1] effectual calling When
God called the world into being, the universe did not hesitate to
comply with the command. God’s desired effect in creation came to pass.
Likewise, when Jesus called the dead Lazarus from his grave, Lazarus
responded with life. There
is also an effectual call of God in the life of the believer. It is a
call that brings about its desired effect. Effectual calling is related
to the power of God in regenerating the sinner from spiritual death. It
is sometimes referred to as “irresistible grace.” Effectual
calling refers to a call of God that by His sovereign power and
authority brings about His designed and ordained effect, or result. When
Paul teaches that those whom He predestines, He calls, and those whom
He calls, He justifies, the call to which he is referring is the
effectual call of God. The
effectual call of God is an inward call. It is the secret work of
quickening or regeneration accomplished in the souls of the elect by the
immediate supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit. It effects or
works the inward change of the disposition, inclination, and desire of
the soul. Before the inward effectual call of God is received, no person
is inclined to come to Him. Everyone who is effectually called is now
disposed to God and responds in faith. We see, then, that faith itself
is a gift from God, having been given in the effectual call of the Holy
Spirit. The
preaching of the gospel represents the outward call of God. This call
is heard audibly by both the elect and the nonelect. Human beings have
the ability to resist and refuse the outward call. He will not respond
to the outward call in faith unless or until the outward call is
accompanied by the effectual inward call of the Holy Spirit. Effectual
calling is irresistible in the sense that God sovereignly brings about
its desired result. This sovereign work of grace is resistible in the
sense that we can and do resist it in our fallen nature, but
irresistible in the sense that God’s grace prevails over our natural
resistance to it. Effectual calling refers to the creative power of God by which we are brought to spiritual life. The apostle Paul writes: And
you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,
following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of
disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,
carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in
mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we
were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
(Ephesians 2:1–5). We
who were once children of wrath and were spiritually dead have become
the “called out ones” by virtue of the power and efficacy of the inward
call of God. In His grace, the Holy Spirit gives us eyes to see what we
would not see and ears to hear what we would not hear.[2]
[1] Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2015). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (p. 1711). Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust. [2] Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2015). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (p. 2146). Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust. | 
