Calling and Clarity by Koskela Doug;

Author:Koskela, Doug;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eerdmans
Published: 2014-11-20T14:30:22+00:00

Biblical Witness to General Calling

What portraits of general calling are found, then, in the Bible? To even begin to answer this very large question, we will need to narrow our focus. For the purposes of this discussion, let us concentrate on general calling as it pertains to those who are already committed to the Christian faith. I say this because a common use of the term “call” in Scripture has to do with the call to salvation. You can see this especially in the New Testament letters — 1 Corinthians 1:9, 1 Corinthians 7:17-24, and 1 Peter 3:9 all use the term in this way. In some Protestant traditions, people tend to think first of the call to salvation when they hear the phrase general calling. In these traditions, general call — given to all people — is often differentiated from effectual call, which is given only to the elect. This is not how the term general calling is being used in the present discussion. To be sure, I would not want to draw too sharp a line between the call to salvation and the call to Christians to live a certain kind of life. In fact, Ephesians 4:1 blends these together nicely: “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” (Second Thessalonians 1:11 brings these dimensions of calling together in a similar way.) A complete vision of salvation will include living the kind of life reflected in your general calling. Still, given the focus of this book, let’s explore those passages that are primarily addressed to those who have crossed the threshold of faith.

Another way in which we will limit our focus involves the texts that refer to the calling of the people of Israel. Because these texts refer to God’s people collectively, you might be tempted to think of them in terms of general calling. However, given the discussion thus far, it is more accurate to think of Israel’s particular vocation as an example of a collective direct calling. That calling had a critical and irreplaceable role in God’s work of salvation, and we would not do justice to its particularity to think of it in terms of general calling. Paul’s repeated references to Israel’s calling in Romans 9–11 make this especially clear. In that light, our exploration of biblical texts on general calling will be directed elsewhere.

It should be clear by now that our analysis will need to do more than just examine biblical references to the term calling. As you have seen throughout this discussion, calling is a multivalent term. It is used in different ways in different contexts. On top of that, many of the most fruitful passages in terms of describing a general calling do not use the term at all. We will look for examples, then, of two sorts of biblical texts that articulate a general calling. First, let’s examine some examples of texts that offer a vision of general calling.

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