God's Call on Your Life

Survey the Scriptures, beginning in Genesis and continuing all the way through Revelation, and you will soon realize that God's call is on every believer's life. It is common to hear preachers speak about God's special call on their life to make a fulltime profession of ministry. But the Bible tells us that all who confess Jesus as Lord, all true believers in Christ are "called… with a holy calling" (2 Tim. 1:9).

Take a close look at that verse, 2 Timothy 1:9, because it is one of several key verses concerning God's call on your life, first as a sinner called to salvation, and then as a sinner saved by grace called to holy living. The context is Paul's challenge to Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. In verse eight he says, "Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God." Not only are we not to be ashamed of the gospel, but we are to understand and accept the fact that we will suffer for the sake of the gospel. We are to further understand that God will see us through that suffering by His own power.

In verse 9, Paul points out that, by His power, God has both "saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began." "Before time began," before anything or anyone was even created, God chose to save you from the judgment and from eternal separation from God. "Before time began," before anything or anyone was even created, God chose to call you to a life of holiness. Now our salvation and calling have "been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (v. 10).

This side of creation, in Christ, sin and death have been defeated at the cross and the empty tomb. In its place, we have been given both life and immortality. In Christ, we have been given the ability to live a life that is holy, a life of righteousness. In Christ, we have also been given life eternal, a life lived in heaven with Jesus forever. And it is all made possible through the gospel of Christ, which we believe with all our heart and for which we suffer with Christ.

Basically, Paul told Timothy that God calls every true believer to a new and different life. God is calling us to a life lived by faith in the Son of God, a life lived in the power of the Spirit. God "called you in the grace of Christ" (Gal. 1:6), and by His grace He has set you apart to live for Christ. The changed life, which is true Christianity, is part of the calling of God on the life of the believer. Follow God's call on your life and live for Him. Amen.