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“Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” [1]
God saved us and “called us to a holy calling,” according to the Apostle’s testimony.
The concept of “a holy calling” suggests several possibilities.
For instance, is the Apostle suggesting that the calling is holy?
Or does he mean that we are called to that which is holy?
Is the Apostle speaking of himself and Timothy?
In that case, he would be suggesting that those in vocational ministry, and only those in vocational ministry, have a “holy calling.”
Is the concept broader than that, encompassing all believers?
In that case, then believers need to be encouraged to view their life and service in a light that is quite different from what most appear to have assumed.
And these are only the first questions to arise from this portion of the Word!
Clearly, the meaning of what the Apostle wrote can be significant for believers.
Since the Word of God is inspired by God, and since no portion of the Word of God is superfluous, it should follow that the answer will be worthy of careful consideration.
Therefore, I invite you to join me in exploring what the Apostle wrote concerning “a holy calling.”
*GOD SAVED US* — I will focus on the eighth verse in a future message.
Today, I want to jump ahead and focus on this ninth verse.
It is not that suffering is insignificant or that we should run from suffering, rather, when we suffer we need to remain focused on who we are and what God has done for us.
Therefore, though the order for considering these two verses is reversed in my presentation, there is a rational behind my decision.
Christians who are called to suffer will be sustained by the power of God.
The God who sustains us in our suffering is the same God who saved us.
In light of this knowledge, let’s focus on God and on the salvation He provides.
We who are Christians know there is a God.
Moreover, we know that God delights to receive all who come to Him in the manner He has provided.
This essential truth is not necessarily popular nor is it well-received in contemporary society.
In popular thought, good people go to Heaven—they deserve to go to Heaven.
Of course, because they are good, and because “good” is defined by our standard, almost everyone goes to Heaven.
Only those whom we have decided are unworthy of Heaven will be excluded.
Our standard sets a rather low bar for going to Heaven; this is apparently so in order to ensure that no one’s feelings will be hurt—we are very sensitive about injuring delicate feelings.
Tragically, this attitude has become regnant in contemporary society, even insinuating itself into the life of the churches.
However, the promise of salvation is exclusive.
The Master has warned, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” [MATTHEW 7:21].
Surely you will agree that this is quite a stern warning against presumption.
Here is a precept to hold in your mind: Good people do not go to Heaven; redeemed people go to Heaven.
Jesus continued by delivering a strong warning against presuming against the Holy One, “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” [MATTHEW 7:21-23].
Surely an impartial reading of the words recorded lead readers to understand that Jesus does not anticipate that “good people” go to Heaven.
In fact, He states rather emphatically that there will be many—many—claiming to have performed great signs and miracles in His Name who will be excluded from the presence of the Lord God!
Immediately before He spoke of the exclusion of many from the precincts of Heaven, Jesus had warned those listening, “Enter by the narrow gate.
For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” [MATTHEW 7:13, 14].
Consider a few other instances when Jesus made statements concerning the exclusivity of those who were acceptable in the sight of God.
One statement that is immediately recognised by almost all Christians is that in which Jesus testified, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me” [JOHN 14:6].
The gate is narrow and the way is hard; and Jesus is the way!
One major reason the way is hard is that those who wish to come to God must come through Jesus.
There is no other approach to God.
Goodness will never suffice.
In fact, as Isaiah has said, “Our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” [ISAIAH 64:6].
If an individual is trying to come to God through the church, through sacraments or ordinances, through prayer or personal piety or even through attempting to perform specific good deeds, they will be disappointed!
Jesus bluntly said, “No one comes to the Father except through me!”
For the sake of any outside of Christ I emphasise the exclusivity required to come to God by appealing to another instance of Jesus’ teaching.
Recall that the Master also taught, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” [JOHN 6:37-39].
Soon after He had spoken those stunning words, Jesus again stressed the exclusive nature of salvation by stating emphatically, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.
And I will raise him up on the last day” [JOHN 6:44].
If the Father does not draw an individual, they cannot—cannot—come to Jesus.
Exclusive?
Absolutely!
Recall the divinely provided commentary of Jesus’ testimony to an inquisitive Pharisee.
Jesus told Nicodemus, “Whoever believes in [the Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” [JOHN 3:18-21].
According to Jesus’ own testimony, the world is divided into “saints” and “ain’ts.”
There is no possibility of claiming kinship to the Holy One except through faith in the Son of God, and such faith is impossible if God does not draw the individual to believe.
The disciples learned this lesson quite well.
Haled before the Sanhedrin, Peter and John testified, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” [ACTS 4:12].
Paul has written of this Jesus, “There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all” [1 TIMOTHY 2:5, 6a].
Similarly, John the Apostle has written, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” [1 JOHN 5:12].
Thus, while the need for salvation is universal because, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” [ROMANS 3:23], and though “[Christ] died for all” [see 2 CORINTHIANS 4:14, 15], salvation is given solely to those who believe [see 1 TIMOTHY 4:10].
All mankind does not go to Heaven; only those who are born from above through faith in the Son of God are welcomed into God’s Heaven.
The Christian, the one who is born from above, the one who has rested in Christ the Lord, the one who is redeemed from sin and who has received the forgiveness of sin, the child of God has the promise of God that she or he shall be received into the glory of God.
In our text, Paul is not saying that he is saved and that Timothy is saved to the exclusion of all others; the Apostle is embracing the truth that all who have faith in the Son of God are saved by God.
“Salvation belongs to the Lord” [PSALM 3:7].
The Apostle refers to the call to faith in God, the call that each believer has received.
Note as well that the salvation in view is in the past tense (aorist tense in the Greek); this is something that has already taken place.
In other words, Paul sees salvation as secured in Christ Jesus at the cross and applied to each one who believes.
The Lord has provided an infinite salvation in that His sacrifice was infinite—it could not be otherwise since He is God, that that sacrifice was accomplished in His death.
This is the promise of the Word.
“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Therefore encourage one another with these words” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18].
It is a glorious promise for the saved people of God.
Draw encouragement from the Apostle’s words concerning that day—surely it is near.
“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Behold!
I tell you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’
‘O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?’
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
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