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Acts 16:11–15
“One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul” (v. 14).
Not everyone who hears the gospel of Jesus Christ believes it. Certainly, some individuals reject it at first and then later come to trust in Jesus. Nevertheless, others never believe. Why, then, do some people believe the gospel and others do not?
The answer cannot be that there is something inherently better about the one who believes that is lacking in the one who rejects the truth. If that were so, then salvation would be grounded in the individual who is more righteous, more spiritually aware or sensitive, or otherwise more worthy of salvation than the nonbeliever. Paul tells us explicitly, however, that the Lord chooses people for salvation based on nothing in them, good or bad (Rom. 9:10–12).
Scripture clearly teaches that all people since Adam and Eve (except Jesus) are born in sin and therefore spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1–3). It is not that we are wholly unable to make choices; it is that we cannot make God-pleasing choices in and of ourselves. Since the Lord commands “all people everywhere” to believe in Christ and repent of their sins, faith in Jesus certainly counts as a God-pleasing choice (Acts 17:30–31). So if we cannot make God-pleasing choices in and of ourselves and saving faith is a God-pleasing choice, the Lord must do something if we are to believe in Jesus and be redeemed.
In other words, God must enable us to trust in Jesus, and He does this through effectual calling and regeneration. Like foreknowledge and election, effectual calling and regeneration are so closely related as to be practically indistinguishable. We will leave regeneration for our next study; here we will note that regeneration logically follows effectual calling in that regeneration is the effect of the Lord’s actually changing our hearts, whereas effectual calling is God’s opening our hearts and minds to the truth of the gospel. Acts 16:14–15 gives us an example of the Lord’s effectual call in action when it says that He “opened [Lydia’s] heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” Consequently, Lydia believed and was baptized.
Effectual calling is a work of God’s grace, and since the elect are effectually called and their final salvation is certain, this grace must be ultimately irresistible (Rom. 8:29–30). This means not that the elect never oppose the Lord’s grace but only that His grace will finally break through. Dr. R.C. Sproul writes, “Grace is irresistible in the sense that God’s saving work overcomes whatever resistance we set up against it.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
God’s effectual call to the elect occurs in conjunction with the outer call of the gospel. One consequence of this is that we do not have to devise special tricks or programs to persuade people of the truth of Christ. We simply need to faithfully proclaim the gospel and trust that God will use it to convert His elect people. The Lord works through churches and individuals as they preach Christ truly and clearly.
For further study
- Psalm 119:18
- Luke 24:45
- Acts 2:37
- Hebrews 10:32
The bible in a year
- Song of Solomon 6–8
- Galatians 2