Wouldn’t it be strange to think that in this modern world when we are surrounded by a cacophony of noise, that the Almighty God might be trying to call us to Himself? Could it be that we are failing to understand how His call comes to us, if indeed He is calling us.
I was surprised to see in 1 Corinthians the number of times St Paul told the Corinthians that God had called them to Himself, and how many of them had responded to His call. Here are some of the examples.
1]. God Calls Numbers Of People To Respond To Him And To Become Part Of His Church.
[In the Greek New Testament the word “church” translates the Greek word ekklesia meaning “the called out ones.” From ek = out of” and klesia from kaleo= I call.]
1Co 1:2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
In this verse we have 3 different concepts. One is the church composed of those whom God has called out from the world to belong to Him. The second is the concept that He called them and set them apart in Christ [sanctified ] to become His holy people. The third is the fact that they responded to His call and called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 1:9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
We see here that God had a purpose in calling them to Himself, namely that they would have fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ. This implies a close relationship with Christ Himself.
1Co 1:24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. AND 1Co 1:26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
God’s purpose in His world was to call to Himself people from different backgrounds such as Jews and Greeks. As they responded to Him they would discover His power and His wisdom. 1Co 1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
God had chosen them to belong to Him and called them to Himself. This was not some arbitrary choice but they were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God. [1 Peter 1:1-2, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To the temporary residents dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and set apart by the Spirit. In His divine omniscience, as He called all people to Himself, He knew beforehand who would respond to Him and who would reject Him, but He kept on calling all of them. He does so throughout our lives.
2]. GOD WANTS THOSE WHO FOLLOW HIM NOT TO MAKE SUDDEN CHANGES IN THEIR SITUATIONS
God in His wisdom knew of the great change that would come in the lives of those who responded to His call. He used St Paul to advise these new converts not to make sudden changes in their situations but initially to remain in the same situations they were in when they responded to His call.
1Co 7:17 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.
1Co 7:18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.
1Co 7:20 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
However, they could make changes in their circumstances when it was possible to do so. 1Co 7:21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. The time would eventually come when those who were slaves and those who were free were seen to be one in Christ, as St Paul reminded the Christians in Galatia, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal 3:28.
3]. God Is Still Calling People To Himself Today
There are many ways in which God calls us to Himself. I can remember perhaps the first time I began to think good things about Jesus. A couple from the country called into our place in Ipswich after visiting their severely disabled son in a nearby institution. It seemed that he would never be able to leave that institution. Their daughter aged about five began to tell me about her brother and said something like this, “Timmy is different, but Jesus loves him.” I remember thinking Jesus must be very kind to think that this little child, who would probably make no contribution to the world, was worthy of His love. It’s strange that I can still remember her saying those words some 70 years later, but I can now see it now as part of God’s call to me to respond to Him. I was a little bit softened by her words.
Can you remember from your past when for a moment your heart softened towards God? It may have been during a scripture lesson at school or when you learned to sing a certain hymn. It may have been a family member or a friend who shared something about Jesus with you and you can still remember those words. Or it may have been part of the sermon or part of a testimony that someone gave, that softened your heart for a moment.
God is calling people today to come to Him repenting of their sin and asking Him for His forgiveness. As St Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38, 39.
We are among those who are now “far off“ [in time and space] whom God is calling to Himself. Some 61 years ago I realised that God had been speaking to me in many ways and so I acted on the words in Revelation 3:20. It is a picture of the Risen Christ standing at the door of our lives, knocking and wanting to come in to share His life with us, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Rev 3:20.
As I prayed the prayer, Christ did come into my life and completely transformed it. I had responded to His call on my life and what a life it has been. Some years later I felt called to ask a beautiful, intelligent young woman to be my wife. And praise God, she felt called to say “Yes!” Responding to the call of God on your life opens you up to receive all that God has for you in His loving mercy and grace.
Perhaps He has been calling you to respond to Him as you have been reading these words. You might be helped by reading about my own personal experience in this article on my blog site. It is No.022 on this site http://www.jimholbeck.blog
Blog No.564 posted on Monday 20 January 2025
holbeck 
565. The Danger Of Putting People Into “Categories.”
There are 2 words in particular in New Testament Greek that are translated by the English words “accuse” or “accuser.”
The first is “diaballo” meaning to throw against, a form of which is used of Satan as the diabolos, the accuser. He throws accusations against us.
The second is “kategereo“ translated as accuse. It is the basis of our English word category, which is to divide things or people into different groups, classes or areas.
Though this latter Greek word does not appear in the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint [LXX], the concept does appear. And it appears very early.
Categories Can BeUsed To Deceive People
Just consider the temptation of Eve by the serpent or the Devil or Satan in Genesis chapter 3. Gen 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
We notice what the serpent was doing. He was accusing God as being not truthful. He suggested that God had lied to Eve about the forbidden fruit and tempted her to partake of that fruit to become wise and be like God, knowing good and evil.
In other words, the serpent was putting God into the category of being a liar, not to be trusted. But he was also putting Eve into the category of being a victim, of being a victim of God’s lying statements which would prevent her from reaching a greater fulfilment in life.
Victim Mentality, A Result Of The Fall Of Humankind
We can see how victim mentality became part of the experience of the human race so early. First of all, we see it being adopted by Adam. When he was confronted by God in the garden and asked how he knew he had sinned [by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] he immediately went into the victim mode and accused Eve of being the source of the problem by tempting him to eat of the fruit. In other words, ”Hey, I’m the victim here! Eve is to blame, not me!” Humans have been projecting their sins onto other people ever since.
How about Eve? She also immediately goes into victim mentality. She projects her sin onto the serpent. Gen 3:13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:13. Or in similar words to Adam, “Hey, I’m the victim here. The serpent is to blame, not me!”
Victim mentality has become part of the world’s way of dealing with situations that arise in life. Millions of people throughout history have deliberately or even unconsciously seen themselves as victims of the shortcomings or evils of other people. They accuse those other people of sinning against them. As we have seen, accusing others is the meaning of the Greek word [katagoreo] which is used 22 times in the Greek New Testament. Perhaps we could see this process as deriving from the tendency to put people into categories, often where they by no means belong. The problem with categories is that they do not accurately contain the characteristics we think they should contain.
Perhaps one of the greatest groups who saw themselves as victims were the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day. They saw themselves and their fellow Jews as being the victims of false teaching, by Jesus. He didn’t fit their category of being a true prophet. Thus He had to be got rid of. However, when one of their leaders, Saul of Tarsus met the risen Christ on his way to Damascus, he realised that his categorising of Jesus was a wrong classification and that Jesus was indeed all He claimed to be. From that point on he was totally committed to Jesus and His kingdom.
In fact, St Paul [as Saul became known] was able to recognise that Jesus had broken down all categories in uniting all people to oneness in Himself. As he reminded the Galatian church, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal 3:27-28. For those of us who have had the opportunity to fellowship with believers from all nations, that truth is real. We really are one in Christ, focused on Him and on His love and grace.
The Problem Of Seeing Ourselves As Victims In Today’s World
It is so easy to see ourselves as the victims of other people. We may see ourselves as suffering from bad government because the cost of living is much higher now than in previous years. Or there are more restrictions on free speech. But those authorities whom God has allowed to govern must do so, looking to the Lord for His guidance and blessing. Otherwise, they will not be fulfilling His purpose for His people.
We can so easily use categorising in the church. We can put individuals into the category of some church movement we dislike or believe they will follow implicitly every doctrine that that church upholds.
We can do it in politics as well. Though I didn’t notice it in the brief time I spent living in the USA it seems that people have to declare their allegiance to either the Democratic party or the Republican party and that there is not a lot of cooperation between the 2 groups. Hopefully, their unity in Christ may eventually overrule to their benefit and to the glory of God.
Or the native people of more primitive lands may have a victim mentality towards those peoples who later settled in their lands. But many of them got rid of seeing themselves as victims and took hold of the opportunities offered to them. They realised that God could help them and enable them to prosper and make positive contributions to all the people of their lands. Some outstanding leaders have emerged in many lands as they transitioned from a “victim” mentality to a “Christ-centred” mentality.
As we look at our own lives as individuals, we need to see to what extent we see ourselves as having a victim mentality regarding other people or groups. St Paul reminded us as believers that we don’t have to see ourselves as victims of other people’s accusations, but we can realise that have become more than conquerors through Him who loved us, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:33-37.
No longer victims but now MORE THAN CONQUERORS!
Blog No.565 posted on Tuesday 28 January 2025.