Effectively Called to Christ Mark 3:13-19

Text: “And He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth (calls, and continues to call) unto Him whom He would: and they came unto Him.”

Mark 3:13. 

          “Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also CALLED: and whom He called, them He also justified (just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned): and whom He justified, them He also glorified (yet future).  What shall we then say to these things?  If God be for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:30. 

Good morning, effectively called Christian!  If you and I are Bible-believing, Spiritually regenerate Christians this morning, then it is only because Christ called us with the effectual call of God the Holy Spirit, quickened us (made us Spiritually alive) by that same God the Spirit; redeemed us by the supreme price of His own sinless and precious Blood; and justified us by His bodily resurrection from the dead. 

His full Atonement Sacrifice was made for you and for me – ‘His people’, and no one else.  God is at all times Sovereign Lord over all His Creation, and at all times does exactly as He pleases.  All praise, and thanksgiving, and glory to His Holy Name!  Amen.  (Psalm 115:3)

“And she (Mary) shall bring forth a son, and thou (Joseph) shalt call His Name JESUS: for He shall save HIS PEOPLE from their sins.”  (Matthew 1:21)

This Heavenly and prophetic message from “…the angel of the Lord…” was the truth then, and remains the full truth today – the Word of God given will never change or be denied by Him. (Matthew 1:20-25) Christ came to save His people from our sins.  Glory to His Name!

From before the very foundation of this old world, the Lord God Jehovah has known, “…them that are His…”; and has sent Christ Jesus to save us, according to His own inspired (God-breathed) Word.

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth (knows, continues to know, and has always known) them that are His.  And let everyone that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity.”  (2 Timothy 2:19)

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (God-breathed), and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.  That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”  (2 Timothy 3:15-17)

God’s Effectual Call: The late Free Presbyterian theologian, Alan Cairns, in his Dictionary of Theological Terms, notes, “The term used by the Westminster Confession of Faith and catechisms to cover the subject of regeneration.  According to the Shorter Catechism, ‘Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel.’” (Question 31, The Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647 AD)

Archibald Alexander Hodge, an American Presbyterian leader, was the principal of Princeton Seminary between 1878 and 1886.  Hodge viewed the doctrine of Effectual Calling: “Effectual calling denotes the internal, special, life-giving call of the Spirit, experienced only by God’s elect, in contrast to the external, general call extended to all who hear the Gospel.  This effectual call is the exercise of Divine power upon the soul, immediate, Spiritual, and Supernatural, communicating a new Spiritual life and thus making a new mode of Spiritual activity possible.’”  (A.A. Hodge 1823-1886)

Cairns further explains: “The effect of this call is to persuade and enable us to receive Christ as He is freely offered in the Gospel.  That is, it leads us to repentance and faith.  This order is important.  Repentance and faith are acts of the regenerate man, whose ability to perform them is solely by virtue of the change wrought by the Holy Spirit in effectual call.”  (Alan Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms, page 133)

“And He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth (calls, and continues to call) unto Him whom He would: and they came unto Him.  (Mark 3:13)

The effectual call of God’s Spirit through the Gospel of Christ and Him Crucified for sinners, is not only given to God’s elect alone, but it is an irresistible call to Eternal life in Him.

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“Let us notice in these verses, how many of the twelve who are here named, had been called to be disciples before they were ordained apostles.

“There are six, at least, out of the number, whose first call to follow Christ is specially recorded. These six are Peter and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Matthew. In short there can be little doubt that eleven of our Lord’s apostles, were converted before they were ordained.  It ought to be the same with all ministers of the Gos­pel. They ought to be men who have been first called by the Spirit, before they are set apart for the great work of teaching others. The rule should be the same with them as with the apostles, — “first converted, then ordained."

“It is impossible to overrate the importance of this to the interests of true religion. Bishops and presbyteries can never be too strict and particular in the enquiries they make about the spiritual character of candidates for orders. An unconverted minister is utterly unfit for his office. How can he speak experimentally of that grace which he has never tasted himself?”  (J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels 1816-1900)

The Effectual Call of God to sinner’s souls, is irresistible, and always ends in justification.

Thought: Speak, Lord, Thy servant heareth – Christ calls us to serve Him today.