Your calling tells you that you have a divine Caller.
Paul called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. . . God is faithful; by Him, you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Your calling tells you that you have a divine Caller. God has called you because of his grace (Galatians 1:6). God desires a relationship with you. God summons you to join his work in the world. The fact that you have a Caller means your life is one of response. As you hear God’s call, you respond, at first in faith, trusting God for salvation through Jesus Christ. Then, as you continue to pay attention to God’s call “into his own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12), you will live your life worthy of the calling to which you have been called (Ephesians 4:1).
Calling isn’t just something to be studied by theologians and other intellectually curious people. Rather, calling is a reality that defines, shapes, and transforms our lives. If we’re going to experience the fulness and richness of the Christian life, then we need both to understand the idea of calling and to live fully and richly as called people.
We learn that Paul is “called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (1 Corinthians 1:1). Like the Old Testament prophets before, Paul’s ministry isn’t something he dreamed up for himself. Rather, it is something to which God summoned him on the basis of God’s will. Calling assumes and reinforces the sovereign authority of God to govern our lives.
But calling is not something reserved only for people with special religious functions. In fact, 1 Corinthians 1:2 affirms that all Christians are “called to be saints,” that is, to be God’s special people. All Christians are set apart by God for a relationship with God and for participation in God’s work in the world.
Notice the priority of relationship with God in the previous sentence. This is crucial. We miss so much if we think of calling primarily as a summons to action. Yes, to be sure, God calls us to do things and to avoid other things (Colossians 3:15; Galatians 5:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:7). But, most importantly, God calls us “into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). This fellowship is mainly in relationship with the triune God through Christ, though it is something we share with all other Christians. We are called to fellowship with Christ, through whom we experience fellowship with other believers.
Though Paul understands that he was called to be an apostle, he does not tend to use the language of calling as we do. He does not say, for example, that everybody has a calling to a particular line of work. Paul does affirm that we can live our calling to God in and through a variety of work situations (1 Corinthians 7:24), but he doesn’t associate calling with a particular career, as we would tend to do. Paul would not have said, for example, “My calling is to be a tentmaker” (which was his day job). Rather, in Paul’s view, our primary calling is to God and his work. This calling affects everything in life, including our daily work. It’s possible to think of our work as a calling, with a small ‘c,’ only if we see it as a place to live out our primary Calling, with a capital ‘C.’
One of the most important things we can say about the doctrine and experience of calling is that both of them highlight the importance of the Caller. Our calling isn’t something we make up. Our calling doesn’t emerge from our sense of purpose or even from our awareness of human need. Now, our calling might indeed give us a powerful purpose for living and it often awakens our awareness of human need. But our calling is really best understood as God’s calling in our lives. It is first and foremost God calling us into a relationship with God and service to God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. This service will be lived out in a variety of ways, through our secondary “callings,” if you will.
Paul’s teaching on calling lets you know, in no uncertain terms, that you have a divine Caller. God has called you because of his grace (Galatians 1:6). God desires a relationship with you. God summons you to join his work in the world. The fact that you have a Caller means your life is one of response. As you hear God’s call, you respond, at first in faith, trusting God for salvation through Jesus Christ. Then, as you continue to pay attention to God’s call “into his own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12), you will live your life worthy of the calling to which you have been called (Ephesians 4:1). In the process, you will become more and more like God. Why? Because “the one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
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