Saints by Calling

Many people in our day have misunderstood God’s calling. They consider every ‘calling’ in the New Testament to be similar to the way Jesus individually called the apostles to follow Him. With the apostles, He did indeed pick them out by name from among His followers.

Some people think that God’s omniscience, His divine quality of being all-knowing, means that no one really chooses Jesus. Rather, God has pre-chosen each follower of Jesus. After all, He knows beforehand whether you are a follower of Jesus.

The flaw in this reasoning is just that, it is human reasoning. Human reasoning is applied to things beyond creation, things beyond the scope of man’s understanding.

While it is true that there are some passages of Scripture that are difficult to explain because, on the surface, they sound like God arbitrarily chose those who would follow Jesus, they must harmonize with all other Scripture. It is apparent from many Scriptures that God does not hand-pick anyone to follow Jesus. He did not choose you or me before our birth as if to say we had no choice but to follow Jesus.

This kind of thinking is disastrous. It would say to a person who has come to faith in Jesus and who follows Jesus with all their heart that they might not be among the ones preselected. For that reason, they are doomed!

The early Christians endured mocking, “Where is the promise of His coming?” The Apostle Peter reminded his readers, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:3-9) That does not sound like God chose some to be saved but did not choose others. He wishes for ALL to come to repentance.

The Apostle Paul wrote that we who are Christians are saints by calling (1 Corinthians 1:2). That means that we are not saints by arbitrary choice, or individual choice, or by divine decree. It means that God has called us to be followers of Jesus. Then he leaves it up to each individual to respond to His call.

It really is as simple as an advertisement on television or that you receive in your email or that you see on a huge billboard along the highway. The advertisement is a call to everyone hearing or seeing the ad. It is an invitation to accept the offer. There may be terms to fulfill. There may be something to buy. It may be a limited time offer. Whatever the case, the offer is made and nothing is final until YOU make a decision and respond to the ad. You must answer the call.

Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) He did not qualify His offer. It was extended to ALL people.

God really does want every person to turn to Him. He extends His arms of love to all. He offers forgiveness and acceptance to all. His mercy and grace are extended to us by calling.

Some people like to say that our salvation is all Jesus, that we can do nothing to receive salvation. Even the grocery store teaches us that we have to respond to the sale ad to receive the gracious benefit being offered.

God has done everything. He has provided a sacrificial Lamb as an offering for our sins. And He has called us to follow Jesus.

Saints by calling: 

   God has called.

   We must responded.

Mark Stinnett

December 22, 2024

There Is No Faith Pill

When you go to the doctor, what do you want his response to be?

• You must change your diet? No.
• You must eat less and exercise more? No.
• You must slow down and rest? No.

Our society often expects immediate relief, a quick solution. All too often, we expect a pill to heal. And yet, most often the quick remedy is no remedy at all but an aid so the body can heal itself.

This kind of quick-fix thinking has bled over into Christianity. For many churches salvation is by faith alone, but a faith that is little more than mental assent to the deity of Jesus. Just ask Jesus into your heart, embrace him as your Savior, say a prayer and you’re saved.

That characterization will sound critical to some. And yet, Jesus did not call upon people for mental acceptance; He asked for more.

Yes, the gospel proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God. That, you must accept and believe!

Yes, the gospel proclaims that Jesus is the Savior of the world. That, you must accept and believe!

And yet, the gospel proclaims that Jesus is both Lord and Christ. He is King!

It is a startling realization for some that the cross of Christ was not the end, but the beginning. “It is finished” were the words of Jesus as He completed God’s will as a willing sacrifice for the sins of mankind. However, before ascending to heaven Jesus continued to teach His disciples. And what did He teach??

To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. 

— Acts 1:3

Jesus kept telling His disciples about the kingdom of God. His death on the cross was indeed for cleansing, but it was also to inaugurate a new covenant. The coming of the new covenant marked the coming of the kingdom of God on the earth.

At the end of Mark’s gospel Jesus…“was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” (16:19) Peter, in the first declaration of the gospel after the death of Jesus, declared Him to be both Lord and Christ. All these describe One who was enthroned as King!

There is no faith pill that magically makes you a disciple. The King of Kings demands allegiance!

Faith in Jesus demands a radical change of allegiance from all the things of this life to Jesus. Loyalties no longer lie with possessions, family, career, or country. Allegiance to Christ demands loyalty to the King, and only to the King. Allegiance demands loyalty in good times and bad, when life is easy and when life is difficult.

Allegiance to Jesus is first a call to bow in awe and submission, and then to rise up to action. Action may be the discipline of prayer; action may be that of restraining one’s desires; action may be the display of a godly frame of mind in demanding circumstances; action may come with enjoyable service; and action may come with costly and difficult sacrifice.

The cross marked the beginning of a new covenant. Your embrace of salvation at the cross of Christ marks your new beginning in the kingdom. You die to self promising allegiance to Jesus and it will not be easy. His death and your death mark new beginnings. You have died to yourself. Rise to allegiance to Christ where the promise is life everlasting.


Mark Stinnett

September 29, 2024

Who Is Worthy of the Gospel?

Who is worthy to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Are there people who are so despicable or who are so entrenched in sin that they are not even deserving of the gospel message?

Imagine for a moment that you arrived in a foreign country (no language barrier). In this country there are actual idols of wood, stone, silver and gold. The people who live there willingly bow to their ‘gods’ that are no gods at all.

The gods they worship deeply influence their thinking and behavior. One of their many gods is a god of war. As a prominent god in their culture, violence is justified as a tribute to this god. To you and me they would seem blood-thirsty and brutal. Yet, violence has become their way of life.

Another one of their gods is a god of sensuality. So, the people accept all kinds of sexual practices as normal. To us, their practices are a perversion of what God intended when he created mankind. However, their gods approve, even promote, acts that we would call immoral. A prostitute in their culture could be just as prominent a citizen as a successful and respected businessman in our society.

Because of our values based on biblical teaching we would find their beliefs, attitudes and practices barbaric and completely immoral.

Is there any hope for those people? How many barriers must be hurdled to reach them with the gospel? Many gods; sensuality and immorality; violence. 
Hopeless!

Would you waste your breath sharing the gospel with a prostitute in that foreign land of idolatry and paganism?

There was a prostitute in a land of idolatry, sensuality and violence and her name was Rahab. (See Joshua 2.) The people of Jericho were so deeply entrenched in sin that God had decided that it was time for judgment – they were to be wiped off the face of the earth!

Nearly 700 years later God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh, a city filled with idols, the capital city of a nation given to war and sensuality. Jonah did not think they were deserving, but God wanted wanted them to be warned...and they believed!

Nearly 800 years later the Apostle Paul entered another city of idols and he was completely repulsed. Yet he found a way to speak to the people of Athens by observing that they were religious. He spoke God’s message and there were some who believed.

There was no preaching in Jericho. It was too late; it was time for judgment. Yet, Rahab the harlot believed in God. In faith she made a desperate plea and she and her family were spared from destruction. She then followed God.

Are there people that you know, like Rahab the harlot, who would surely not listen to the gospel. Would you think that they are unworthy of the gospel?

Are there people who are so different in their thinking, their beliefs, their values, that you find their way of life repulsive like Paul’s Athens?

Is there a place in this world to which you would refuse to go, like Jonah’s Nineveh?

If these examples teach us anything, it is that God is looking for genuine faith, but not all believers will be found in our nice, clean Midwestern neighborhoods. In truth, no one is ‘worthy’ of the gospel.

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient.
Hebrews 11:31

We must never think anyone is a lost cause!

Mark Stinnett