Yesterday I told you all about how one little list was going to take us on quite the adventure.  Well, my little SonShines, away we go!  Grab your travel mugs and Son-glasses and join me on the pages of HIStory!  First stop on our tour of seven divine calls to the Christian from God:  The call to salvation.   

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.  For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family.  And those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called he also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30, NRSV).

One of the most selectively quoted Scriptures I hear is that of Romans 8:28.  The hope that all things will work for good is just too tasty to resist, increasingly so for those who live outside of God’s light.  Unfortunately, the misuse of the words just doesn’t make room for the Word that lies therein.  Oh, we know that all things work together for good, but the majority of people overlook the fact that it is God bringing those things together and that He only does so for those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.  Meaning they have accepted the gift of salvation and are being made to be more like Christ by their Heavenly Father.

Long before your decision to give your life to the Lord, God decided that He would ask it of you.  Salvation isn’t simply an open casting call.  It is an extremely intimate invocation to the individual.  A summoning from The Spirit to ours, the call to salvation is personal and predestined with all the uniqueness and love that sort of forethought brings.  

The idea of predestination is a slippery beast to wrap one’s head around…or at least it is for this one.  Freewill and predestination go together like bananas and beef jerky, yet they are both very real gifts from God, just like that beef jerky---I can live without the bananas.  I digress.  Extremely.  Ephesians 1:11 clears up a bit of the confusion for me and the two become like peas and carrots in this tiny mind of mine…freewill and predestination, that is.  Bananas and beef jerky will never mix.

“In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of Him who accomplishes all things according to His counsel and will” (Ephesians 1:11, NRSV).

See, freewill is about our individual destinies, but God is going to work things toward His purpose no matter what our will might be.  Our destinies cannot be fulfilled without us, but God’s purpose is beyond the scope of our freewill.  It is beyond the reach of the individual decision. 

Predestination and freewill don’t clash.  They aren’t even in the same time zone.  And you were worried that I had lost my mind after the banana/jerky incident.

God is no telemarketer.  He calls only those chosen in accordance with His will.  If you are on the list it is because He already knows how you will answer, even if you have yet to decide.  How we live out our salvation is up to the individual but the end result remains the same.  All things will be worked together through and for the purpose of our Sovereign Lord.  That purpose is to conform His children to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family.  His family.
 

Father,

Help us to understand the complexities of your Word.  Give us wisdom to study from Scripture and apply your Truths to our lives.  Shape us, Abba, into the likeness of your Son so that we can be members of your family.  Thank you so much for thinking of us and seeking us, choosing the hearts you know will choose you.  Your love is wonderful, your will divine.  Father God, we thank you for the call to salvation!

In the name of Christ Jesus we pray,
Amen.

Leave a Reply