Las Vegas, Nevada Church
Affiliated with the Intercontinental Church of God and the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

It’s All About Godly Calling      printer-friendly     MP3

I marvel at the times I am contacted by members in the Body of Christ who do not fully appreciate Godly Calling.  It is one of the most neglected and least understood elements of the Word of God and the Salvation Process.  How can we give diligence to make our calling and election sure if we are not clear what Godly Calling is?

I often hear individuals informing me what church they are going to attend.  Some say that all the churches of God are the same or that any Sabbath-keeping church is fine.  Still others relate they float around to a number of different churches of God.  One individual told me he rotates between seven different churches.  Another told me he was going to attend for one year with each of the major groups.  Is any of this biblically justified?  Do these decisions reflect the will of God?  Absolutely not!

Where in the Bible can you show servants of God and firstfruits making a wide variety of choices?  Once one is called out of the world and into the Salvation Process, they belong to God and are used to carry out His will.  They are referred to as servants of God, slaves to Jesus Christ or soldiers in God’s Army.

The word servant is actually “slave”:

NT:1401 - Servant

doulos (doo'-los); from NT:1210; a slave (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntary; frequently, therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subservience):

KJV - bond (-man), servant.

(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary)

SLAVE

Paul spoke of himself as a "servant," a word sometimes rendered as "bondservant" but frequently also as "slave" (Romans 1:1; Titus 1:1). Christians, especially ministers, are not hired servants but slaves committed to service to Jesus. A slave does not manage his own life. The person who calls himself a slave of Christ acknowledges that the Savior has power over him. --Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary

SOLDIER

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. –2 Timothy 2:3.  See also 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:11-18 and 1 Timothy 1:18.

The following are all referred to as servant-slaves of God and Christ:
 

We are bought with a price and become God’s property.  We no longer have the free choice the world has. Our lives are forfeit for Christ.  We follow commands, take directions and go where He says to go.
 

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. –1 Corinthians 6:20

Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God. –1 Corinthians 7:23-24

 Let us take a sampling of the individuals from the above table and see how God ruled their lives.
 

Notice in the cases of David and Paul that they desired to do something but were forbidden by God from doing so.  Why should we think that God would treat and deal with us differently?  We are all given a high calling of God.  Notice…

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. –Philippians 3:14

Now the commentaries…

[Of the high calling of God] Which is the end or result of that calling. God has called us to great and noble efforts; to a career of true honor and glory; to the obtainment of a bright and imperishable crown. It is a calling which is "high," or "upward"-anoo (NT:507)-that is, which tends to the skies. The calling of the Christian is from heaven, and to [the Kingdom]; compare Proverbs 15:24. He has been summoned by God through the gospel of the Lord Jesus to secure the crown. It is placed before and above him in heaven. It may be his, if he will not faint or tire or look backward [fall away]. It demands his highest efforts, and it is worth all the exertions which a mortal can make even in the longest life. –Barnes’        

The prize belongs to those who respond wholeheartedly to God's upward call, [away from self and toward new heights of spiritual attainment] in Christ Jesus. –Wycliffe

The Bible is replete with verses demonstrating how God controls our life and decision making.

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. - Isaiah 30:21

And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house. –Acts 11:12

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost [Spirit] hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  –Acts 20:28

Some firstfruits say they will choose where they live and just what they will do for a living.  What does God say?

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. –James 4:13-15

If God is the one who decides where the firstfruit lives and what his or her career will be, how can one declare that they will be choosing what church of God they attend?  We cannot even declare that we will obey God, keep the commandments or move forward in the Salvation Process without acknowledging our dependence on God to do so.  Notice…

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.  And this will we do, if God permit. -- Hebrews 6:1-3

[If God permit] This is not to be interpreted as if God was "unwilling" that they should make such advances, or as if it were "doubtful" whether he would allow it if they made an honest effort, and their lives were spared; but it is a phrase used to denote their "dependence" on him. It is equivalent to saying, "if he would spare their lives, their health, and their reason; if he would continue the means of grace, and would impart his Holy Spirit; if he would favor their efforts and crown them with success, they would make these advances." In reference to anything that we undertake, however pleasing to God in itself, it is proper to recognize our entire dependence on God. –Barnes

This attitude is mixed all through the words of Paul:
 

But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. – Acts 18:21

That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. – Romans 15:32

But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. –1 Corinthians 4:19

For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. –1 Corinthians 16:7

This is to be our attitude.  It is God’s calling.  We are His.  He makes the decisions and issues the commands.  Our only choice is to obey or fall away.

John said…

He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease. – John 3:30

And he [Christ] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. – Colossians 1:18

We are not the one making all these physical and spiritual decisions; God is.  If we are immersed in the Word of God, it is directing our lives in every area including our career, where we live, what we eat, how we treat people, how we interact with authorities, how we spend our money, how we keep the Sabbath and Holy Days and what church of God we attend. 

We are to live by every word of God [Matthew 4:4].  The Word of God is the mind of God and Christ.  The mind of Christ works in and through us and MUST have the preeminence in all our thoughts, meditations and decisions.  We are to be totally reliant on God.

It is ALL about Godly Calling!!!

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Las Vegas, Nevada Church of God - part of The Intercontinental Church of God and The Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association - Tyler, Texas