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Romans 10:14–15
“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (v. 14).
Effectual calling refers to the ultimately irresistible summons to faith and repentance that the Holy Spirit gives to His elect that results in their conversion to Christ. This call comes as part of God’s work of regeneration to cause us to be born again, that work wherein we are given new hearts to trust in Jesus alone for salvation (John 3:1–8). The bodies of all those whom the Father draws will be raised to eternal resurrected life on the last day (6:44).
This effectual call is often called the inner call of the gospel because it is granted to our hearts, minds, and spirits inwardly. The Holy Spirit, in other words, convinces us by working inside us. We must note, however, that the inner effectual call ordinarily happens in conjunction with what we call the external call of the gospel. In this external call, the gospel is proclaimed to lost sinners. The external call presents the basic truths that God is holy, that human beings are sinners estranged from Him, and that we can be reconciled to Him by trusting only in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Romans 10:14–15 is one of many places in Scripture that describe the external call. Having noted that the way to salvation is to confess Christ with our mouths and to believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, Paul goes on to say that people can call on Jesus only if someone proclaims the gospel to them (vv. 5–15). God performs the works of regeneration inside His elect, irresistibly calling them to faith in Jesus, but this call usually comes as people hear the preaching of the gospel with their ears. This external hearing is not absolutely limited to hearing with the ears, for God can convert people through the reading of Scripture or the reading of a sermon as well. The point is that the Holy Spirit brings people to faith in and through the presentation of gospel truth from something or someone external to us. We are “born again,” Peter tells us, “through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).
While the internal effectual call comes from the Holy Spirit only to the elect, the external call of the gospel goes forth to all people from the church. God has called His church to make disciples of all nations, preaching the gospel to every tribe and tongue (Matt. 28:18–20). We do not limit our proclamation of the gospel only to some, but we give it to all, knowing that God will use it to bring His elect people to faith in Jesus Christ.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Because we do not know who the elect are, any person to whom we proclaim the gospel could be one of God’s chosen people who need to hear the truth and to be set free from sin through faith in Christ. We proclaim the gospel to all people, even those who seem to us to be the least likely to believe it. No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace, so we can freely share the gospel with all, knowing that He will use it to bring His people to faith.
For further study
- Deuteronomy 30:11–15
- Joshua 24:14–15
- Acts 17:22–31
- 2 Thessalonians 2:14
The bible in a year
- Psalms 19–22
- Acts 19