Is it true that one must first be called by God to be saved? What does it mean to feel conviction?
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Asked February 28 2014
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Brandie Childers gillispie
Supporter
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Tim Thornton
Supporter
Yes it is true that our experience of salvation begins with calling. There are two ways that called is spoken of in Scripture 1. External, with our physical ear we hear the gospel. The preaching of the gospel is a call to all men to repent and believe in Jesus for salvation from your sins. Matthew 20:16b....... For many are called, but few chosen.” 2. Internal, this is referred to as the effectual call because it is accompanied by the power of God who gives, and involves all of the persons of the Trinity The work of the Son in calling- Jn. 5:24-26 24 “ Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, Jesus is still speaking today not audibly but effectually. Eph. 2:17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. The He here is Jesus who during His earthy ministry was never in Ephesus but when faithful preachers of the word preach Jesus is calling those who are the called according to his purpose. Eph.4:20-21 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: Rom. 8 speaks of the called in this way :28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. In the following verses Paul shows how calling fits with all of the other glorious benefits of salvation. Rom. 8:29-30 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. The work of the Holy Spirit in calling - while it is the Content of the word Spoken by Jesus to the inner man that comes to us in the preaching, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that makes us alive. Eph. 2:4-5. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), Jn. 3:5-6 Jesus answered, “ Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The work of the Father in calling - all of this Devine activity is traceable to the will of the Father Jms.1:17-18 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. The second part of the question is; What does it mean to feel conviction? The feelings of conviction flow from a kind of inditement in the mind, conscience, and will that is irresistible - Our mind which formerly was always ready to rationalize our sin and seek for someone or something else to blame is now settled to see what God sees as true about me. My conscience which formally was negotiating making promises I could never keep is now silent in agreement with that God knows the truth about me, no more deals that involve my lying worthless offers. My will is humbled to submit to to whatever terms my righteous God decides. My feelings are now a blend of utter despair of any hope in myself and full of hope that there is mercy to be had from My gracious God. In this posture and place I hear the most glorious news I never could have imagined believe on The Lord Jesus Christ and You will be saved.
Albert Perkic
Supporter
Everybody is called by God and through the influence of The Holy Spirit He is always drawing us to Himself. Psalm 95:8 says 'TODAY, IF YOU WILL hear His voice Do not harden your hearts'. For many people it may take a lifetime for them to come to the point of repentance(turning to God). To feel conviction is a time when God through the Spirit is revealing the true state of our beings, that we are sinners. Sometimes some of us have to reach rock bottom before we acknowledge our state. The greatest revelation though is in knowing His unconditional love for each one of us, though we are sinful. Then that brings us to the point of repentance. What a blessing to know we have a God who truly loves us!
Bruce Lyon
Supporter
John 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. How does this happen? When the gospel message that God the Father gave to Jesus to give to us is preached, the good news message about the coming Kingdom of God, that message carries with it the power of God's Holy Spirit that enables those who hear to come to believe in Him and in His beloved son Jesus, and in that way it is given to them by God the Father. Those who reject the message and reject the drawing power of God's Spirit will not come to believe in the lord Jesus. John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father Who has sent me - commissioned me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. God draws men/women by the foolishness of preaching the good news about the coming Kingdom of God which they must believe in order to be saved! Luke 8:10-12: And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God - the word about the kingdom (Mat:13:19). Those by the way side are they that hear; then comes the devil, and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. So we see that Satan - the devil does his best to see that those who hear the word about the Kingdom are deceived by false religion and thus takes the word out of their hearts lest they should believe. That deception has been taking place since Jesus' resurrection and continues to this day. The one message Satan does not want preached is the gospel - good news about the coming Kingdom of God. It should make one wonder why we don't hear much preaching about that coming Kingdom when that is all that Jesus talked about?
Steve Nearman
Supporter
All men ARE called of God to salvation. Joh 3:16-17 The Father had a plan to reconcile mankind before the foundation of the earth Eph 1:4, Rev 13:8, 1 Per 1:20. Jesus Christ summited to the Father’s will and executed his plan becoming the lamb of God that took to himself the penalty for all sin Luke 22:42. The Holy Spirit is the messenger delivering to mankind God’s plan for reconciliation of man to God Joh 16:8-9. The Lord is not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance. 2Pet 3:9 God’s will is that ALL be saved (brought into a relationship with God by the removal of sin). For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to ALL men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, Titus 2:11 Jesus is the only true light of EVERY man of which John the baptist gave witness of, that ALL through Christ might believe (Joh 1:4-9). Love requires free will. Without the freedom of choice it is not love, but rather some form of involuntary compulsion. God wants man to chose Him, but allowing the individual to accept or reject. At some point in each and every one’s life God will make Himself known and present in a way that is clearly understood that he is God (Rom. 1:20) and wants a relationship with him or her. The scriptures show that it is the goodness of God that leads man to salvation Rom. 2:4, 1Joh 4:19, not the fear of hell and eternal punishment. To feel convected is the working of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. It is how He makes manifest that there is a God, all men are sinners and that we need a relationship with him to overcome sin in our lives. Joh 16:8 The only sin that is not forgivable is rejecting the Holy Spirit, God’s messenger of salvation. If a person has rejected the gospel message, i.e. blasphemy against the Holy Spirit Mat 12:31, Heb 6:4-6, there is no hope of salvation for that person, for Jesus is the only mediator between God and man 1 Tim 2:5. There is no other way into heaven Joh 14:6. Jesus is the only door Joh 10:1-9, Rev 3:20.
michelle perry
Supporter
This is my own opinion on this subject. If you called upon the Lord to save you and chose to live a life in His Guidance and trust Him with everything in your life that He will work it out to His good, then you either believe you are saved when You chose to walk with Him and accept Him as your Savior or rejected His free gift of Salvation outright when you called upon Him in the first place. It is a matter of choice. You either accept the free gift of Salvation and walk with Him and His ways or you don't. Those are your only two choices with it. As to walking with Him and walking out your life and salvation with Him on a daily basis, you have to learn from Him whom you have chosen to Live life by. This is by drawing nearer to Him daily and work out your own salvation. You cannot work out someone else's walk and you alone are responsible for your own walk with the Lord until the end of times. You can pray for your loved ones to accept Him, and if they do great, but you cannot walk their walk for them that is up to them to do alone with Him and the Holy Spirit to work through in Life. God gives us the initial choice to either serve him or serve the devil. When you choose Him you work out your salvation in Him through the choices you make daily. Yes, we will all sin and repent of poor choices but that is how it works. That is just my opinion for what it is worth. Being convicted of the sin in our lives takes work in our walk with Him to acknowledge and repent of and to be cleansed from on a daily basis. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our wrong thinking, our poor choices and actions, so we will go before the Lord we serve to clean up our act and steer us back in the right direction we were called to go when we accepted Jesus as our Savior and acknowledged the gift of salvation He offered us when we chose to follow Him.
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