Propounded at some recent meetings.
What is the difference between the calling in Romans 8:30, Ephesians 4:1, and the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in the gospels, “For many are called but few are chosen”?
IN each of the three Scriptures you cite the word calling has a somewhat different significance.
There is first of all the general call from God which reaches men in the gospel. To this the Lord’s words in Matthew 22:14 refer.
Then there is the particular call or, as it is sometimes termed, the effectual call, which reaches the individual soul when the gospel is received and obeyed in faith. Romans 8:30 refers to this.
Thirdly, there is the place to which we believers are called, characterized by certain relationships and privileges and imparting to us a certain character. This is the vocation or calling of Ephesians 4:1 and 4.
If a large business firm sent word to the head of a commercial college that they had half-a-dozen posts to offer to enterprising young men the result would probably be as follows: —
1.The issuing of a general “call” by the head of the college to his students, inviting their applications.
2.Many applications received, and after careful sifting the chosen six “called” into their new posts by definite appointment.
3.Each of the six would now have a new “calling” in life with responsibilities and privileges, and they would have to behave suitably thereto.
This may serve as an illustration of the difference.
When does a soul become indwelt by the Holy Spirit? Does being “sealed by the Spirit” and the indwelling of the Spirit take place at precisely the same time?
The answer to the first part of your question is found in Ephesians 1:13. That verse furnishes us with the divine order which is always observed, viz., first, hearing “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation”; second, believing the gospel third, the sealing of the Spirit. Having heard, we believe; having believed, we are sealed. Hearing, believing, sealing is the invariable order.
If the Acts of the Apostles be searched, differences can be discovered as to details in connection with the reception of the Spirit by one and another; in one case baptism preceded it, and in another it followed it, and so on. But the order just indicated is always observed and there is no variation as to that, though in an exceptional case a short interval may elapse between believing and sealing.
The answer is therefore that we become indwelt by the Spirit when we believe the gospel of our salvation, ―the tidings of the crucified and risen Saviour. To believe merely so much truth as John the Baptist preached does not bring with it the scaling of the Spirit as Acts 19:1-6 shows. What we believe is clearly therefore of the utmost importance.
When we speak of the sealing of the Spirit we allude to one great aspect or feature of His indwelling. The Spirit’s indwelling is one of the great characteristic features of this dispensation, and it is His indwelling that is the seal. By putting His Spirit within us God sets His seal upon us and marks us out as His.
This being so the sealing of the Spirit and His indwelling must clearly take place at the same time. His work in us producing the new birth is, of course, another matter entirely. He works in us before He indwells us.