Effectual calling (or effective calling
), in
Calvinist
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
soteriology
Soteriology (; ' "salvation" from wikt:σωτήρ, σωτήρ ' "savior, preserver" and wikt:λόγος, λόγος ' "study" or "word") is the study of Doctrine, religious doctrines of salvation. Salvation theory occupies a place of special sign ...
, is a stage in the ''
ordo salutis
The term ''ordo salutis'' (Latin: "order of salvation") refers to a series of conceptual steps within the Christian doctrine of salvation.
Definition
''Ordo salutis'' has been defined as "a technical term of Protestant dogmatics to designate ...
'' in which God calls a person to himself. It is connected with, but different from ''external calling'', in which a person hears the
gospel message.
Wayne Grudem
Wayne A. Grudem (born 1948) is an American New Testament scholar, theologian, seminary professor, and author. He is a professor of theology and biblical studies at Phoenix Seminary in Phoenix, Arizona.
Biography
Early life and education
Grud ...
suggests that it is a summons from the
King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
of the universe that has "such power that it brings about the response that it asks for in people's hearts."
Grudem appeals to the story of
Lydia
Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis.
At some point before 800 BC, ...
: according to
Acts 16:14, "The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message" (
NIV).
[Grudem, ''Systematic Theology'', p. 693.]
See also
*
Irresistible grace
Irresistible grace (also called effectual grace, effectual calling, or efficacious grace) is a doctrine in Christian theology particularly associated with Calvinism, which teaches that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those wh ...
*
Prevenient grace
Prevenient grace (or preceding grace or enabling grace) is a Christian theological concept that refers to the grace of God in a person's life which precedes and prepares to conversion. The concept was first developed by Augustine of Hippo (354 ...
References
External links
"Of Effectual Calling" from
John Gill's ''Body of Doctrinal Divinity''
{{Christian Soteriology
Salvation in Protestantism
Christian terminology