Chosen and Called

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.”¹   Ephesians 4:1

“The position” - Our "position" or "standing" is a reference to the footing that believers enjoy having had their sins and thus the offense to God's holiness satisfied by means of the finished work of Christ.  Christ walked in holiness and perfectly fulfilled the Law of God, then gave himself a perfect sacrifice, successfully and completely fulfilling in every regard the requirements of God's Law.  The stature or standing that the Law, successfully achieved, would convey is what is in view.  It is that righteousness that is imputed to us by means of grace through faith.  That "Calling" is that to which we are called.

“Saints by calling” - This phrase from 1 Corinthians 1:2 - "Saints" is actually an adjective.  It fulfills the place of a noun in the sentence and thus is accorded the word "ones" as in "Holy Ones" or "Saints".  However, the adjectival or descriptive idea remains.  These are "Holy Ones"  To be "holy" is to dedicated to God pure, perfect or worthy of God.  "By calling" is likewise an adjective.  Both words are in the Dative  or instrumental case.  The dative refers to the person or thing to which something is given or for whom something is done.  Those who were redeemed were called ones, called to to be holy, saints before God.

“…to make certain” - The only Biblical way to make certain is to examine one's life and to make certain that there are the evidences present the Bible says will be present when one is redeemed.  This is what the Lord told us.  Redeemed people, children of God live like children of God!  It is inescapable.

2 Peter 1:10 - Making a calling and election sure means to be reliable or firm; verified or trustworthy, that is, pertaining to what is known with certainty.  This expresses the bull’s-eye Peter has been shooting at in vv. 5–9. Though God is “sure” who His elect are and has given them an eternally secure salvation the Christian might not always have assurance of his salvation. Security is the Holy Spirit revealed fact that salvation is forever. Assurance is one’s confidence that he possesses that eternal salvation. In other words, the believer who pursues the spiritual qualities mentioned above guarantees to himself by spiritual fruit that he was called (cf. v. 3; Rom. 8:30; 1 Pet. 2:21) and chosen (cf. 1 Pet. 1:2) by God to salvation. never stumble. As the Christian pursues the qualities enumerated by Peter (vv. 5–7) and sees that his life is useful and fruitful (v. 8), he will not stumble into doubt, despair, fear, or questioning, but enjoy assurance that he is saved.

“…a high calling…” - It is "high" in the sense that it is lifted up, a superior calling to all other pursuits that men can pursue.

Who called us? - Surprisingly, this question is often shoved aside.  But it a legitimate, even essential question that MUST be answered if we are to make sense of the "calling" issue.  Arminian friends would sweep this question aside as unimportant.  They would assert that what IS important is that we ANSWER the call by responding with our will.  But the point of the of the matter is that the that calling begins the process and initiates the matter of coming to the Lord.

“But if” - These two statements summarize the differences between the two views.  Arminianism is essentially put forth in the first view - becoming saved is essentially a matter of human choice - entirely and completely resistible.  In the second view, it a matter of the choice of God, selected by the liberty of the of the individual, but a matter of the movement of from beginning to end nevertheless.

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[1]  This year I am often using MacArthur’s devotional “Strength for Today” as a starting point for my comments. Quotes from MacArthur’s Devotional are in boldface.