A.The Lord’s church is His called-out body, and Christians are His called-out people.
1.The English word “church” is translated from the Greek word ekklesia, which literally means “called out” (ek – out of, away from + kaleō – to call).
2.The Lord’s church is comprised of individual persons, i.e. Christians, who have been called.
B.For these explanations to suffice, we need to understand the Bible’s answers to these questions:
1.Christians are called out by what?
2.Christians are called out from what?
3.Christians are called out to what?
4.Christians are called out for what?
II.CALLED OUT BY WHAT?
A.The calling of Christians does not occur through some mysterious voice, vision, dream, or feeling, but rather it happens simply through the preaching of the gospel.
1.Notice 2Thessalonians 2:14 - “It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2.In every example of conversion to Christ in the Bible, it was always the gospel that affected the conversion.Even when Paul saw a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus, he still had to obey the gospel call in order to be saved (Acts 9:1-22; 22:1-16).
B.Even though this calling happens through the preaching of men, let us understand that it is truly the call of God Himself.
1.Notice in 2Thessalonians 2:14 that Paul said “He” (i.e., God) “called you through our gospel.”Paul and others preached the message, but it was God who called through the message.(This is evident and implicit in many of the passages we will notice in this lesson.)
2.Paul praised the Christians at Thessalonica for accepting the preaching of the gospel “for what it really is, the word of God” (1Thess. 2:13; see also 1Thess. 1:4-5).
III.CALLED OUT FROM WHAT?
A.Those who respond to the gospel call come out from the world of sin and darkness.
1.The whole world is eligible to heed the gospel call of God regardless of race, previous religion, or nationality (Matt. 11:28-30; 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 17:30-31; Rom. 9:23-26; Rev. 22:17).
2.All those who hear the gospel are called upon to come “out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1Pet. 2:9).Darkness is a figure of sin and separation from God (Eph. 5:7-13) from which believers are freed when they respond to the gospel call.
B.For a believer to be called out from the world indicates that a separation has taken place between the believer and the world.
1.This is a spiritual measure of separation, for Christians are not required to physically depart from the world (1Cor. 5:9-10).
2.Notice 2Corinthians 6:14-18.
a.The spiritual separation between Christians and unbelievers should be as clear as the distinction between righteousness and lawlessness, light and darkness, Christ and Belial, and God and idols.
b.Notice how God calls out the believer: “‘Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord, ‘and do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you’” (vv. 17-18).
IV.CALLED OUT TO WHAT?
A.Christians have been called out of the world and into the kingdom of God.
1.Notice Colossians 1:13 – “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”
2.Christians have been called “to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel” (Heb. 12:22-24).
B.Within the kingdom of God, we have been called to many wonderful things:
1.Fellowship with the Son of God (1Cor. 1:9);
2.Freedom from spiritual bondage (Gal. 5:13);
3.The peace of Christ (Col. 3:15);
4.The promise of eternal inheritance (Heb. 9:15);
5.The marvelous light of God (1Pet. 2:9).
V.CALLED OUT FOR WHAT?
A.Christians are called out for salvation through sanctification and faith.
1.Let us notice 2Thessalonians 2:12-13.
a.Earlier we considered verse 13, which says, “And it was for this He called you through our gospel…”
b.“This” in verse 13 refers verse 12, which states, “…God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”
c.Thus, we see that God’s gospel call leads us to sanctification and faith, and sanctification and faith leads us to salvation.
i.The gospel is God’s word, and God’s word is the means by which the Holy Spirit sanctifies (sets apart) God’s people (John 17:17; 1Pet. 1:2).
ii.Faith comes by hearing God’s word, i.e., the gospel call (Rom. 10:17).
2.A similar message is stated in Romans 8:29-30 – “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
B.The gospel calls on Christians to keep themselves sanctified and faithful unto God.
1.Sanctification does not happen passively or without a person’s consent.Read 1Thessalonians 4:1-8.
a.The gospel calls upon Christians to sanctify themselves by observing these practical matters of godly behavior (see also Gal. 5:19-26; Eph. 4:17-32).
b.Notice especially verses 7-8:
“For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”
2.Likewise, it is within Christians’ power to maintain, build, and practice their faith in Christ.
a.As we saw above, faith comes by the word of God (Rom. 10:17), so it behooves all Christians to study and understand God’s word.
b.Knowledge alone is not sufficient for saving faith, for true faith provokes actions stemming from belief in God and His word (Heb. 11; Jas. 2:14-26).
3.Thus, by following God’s word in the gospel, Christians walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which they have been called (Eph. 4:1).
VI.CONCLUSION
A.These Bible answers teach us that the church (Christ’s called-out body, the assembly of Christians) is called by the gospel of Christ from the world of sin into the kingdom of Christ for the purpose of salvation by sanctification and faith.
B.Now the question is: Will you heed the call?
1.If you have heard the gospel, then God has called you.Will you answer?
2.Come out of the world and enter the kingdom of Christ by obeying that gospel call.
a.Confess your faith in Jesus as Christ and the Son of God (Acts 8:37; Rom.10:10).
b.Repent of (turn away from) your sins (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30-31).
c.Be baptized (immersed) in water for the forgiveness of your sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38).
d.Walk faithfully with the Lord for the rest of your days (Col. 1:23; Rev. 2:10).
3.Take hold of the salvation for which God has called you and never let it go.
