Called To Go!

Called - Who to a Do!

August 16, 2020

As followers of Christ, you have been chosen by God, set apart, gifted, enabled, and empowered to fulfill a very unique calling. Last week we were talking about our calling by God. I said your calling is more about who, before you do.

Our starting point was Ephesians 4:1, when Paul wrote --

1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. - Ephesians 4:1

God wants you to live a life worthy of His calling. You're considered holy by God. Which means you’ve been set apart and chosen. Church isn't just someplace that we go, it's not an add-on to our lives, you are the church. The called out ones, called to go into this world and to share the power and grace of Jesus Christ. You're called by God to do that. You're His church.

My hope is that we will experience God stirring within us. That we will have a sense of passion for God. That we would recognize, and more than that, we would believe God is empowering us for His calling.

So, the question always comes back to what am I called to do? We think there’s something God has put out there that has our name on it. But I believe there are so many possibilities for us. As I said last week, I really believe we are called to a who, before we go and do.

So, I want to address what we are called to do. And next week, we will look at some of the specifics of our calling.

When you think about your calling, I don’t think we consider it part of our calling. But it’s really the cornerstone. God has called us to salvation. That may seem strange for a calling, but that is our starting point. It has to be.

Before God calls you to a job, before He ever calls you to a ministry, God calls you to Himself. That’s great news! The beauty and power of having a relationship with Jesus is that it really doesn’t matter what your past looks like. It doesn’t matter how bad you’ve been. If God has called you to Him, to be adopted into His family, then once you say YES to God, your sins are forgiven. That sinful past is erased and God now declares you righteous! Isn’t that cool?!

There’s actually a theological phrase for this -- it’s EFFECTUAL CALLING. Effectual calling is one part of the salvation process in which God calls a person to belief.

So, after we’re called by God, and I know I’m moving quickly through this. Once you’ve said yes to God, He now expects you to grow spiritually. God doesn’t expect us to say, “Now that I’m saved, I can take it easy until life ends.” We are called to grow spiritually. There are 2 words to describe this. The first word is discipleship. Discipleship is really the process of learning the teachings of Jesus, then putting those teachings into action, to live them out. A second word is . . . Sanctification. Sanctification literally means “to make holy; set apart as sacred; consecrate.” Both discipleship and sanctification have the same root idea. Change from the inside. The inner change leads us to live differently.

It’s kind of what I spoke about last week, when I said we are to be different from the world. Called to live a holy life. God has called you to be set apart. He’s called us to serve, to use our unique gifts, our spiritual gifts, which we’re going to talk about next week, to make a difference in the world.

We are to be transformed by God. The key component when it comes to sanctification is that we really are changed. Think about it - - it’s the process of becoming more and more holy. We are to demonstrate spiritual growth and maturity.

It’s not to be hidden away in a closet, but shown to the world about who Christ is in our lives. It’s to be able to forgive and be forgiven. To give and to receive. To serve and be served. To love and be loved. It’s so vital to who we are called to be and it’s all demonstrated in our character.

When you read Paul’s letters, he really struggled with Christians who were not growing spiritually. He would tell them you’re supposed to be eating steak, but here you are still on a bottle drinking milk. It’s the call to allow ourselves to grow and be intentional in growing in who Christ is calling us to be.

And even in the midst of all that, Paul acknowledged he still had more growing to do, which is true for all of us. In Romans 7, Paul said -