Day 182

Of Effectual Calling.

Chapter 10, Paragraph 1.

“,…out of that state of sin, and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and Salvation by Jesus Christ;…”

Scripture Lookup

Ephesians 2: 1-6

Reflection

None of the elect begins life already converted. Every single one of them start off as sinners. There is no knowledge of Christ, no love for God, no desire to follow Him.

I’m sure the the thought has passed through the mind of many a believer that it would  be nice to be born already knowing the fruits of salvation. Looking back over who you were before you came to faith, you can see how sinful you were, how ignorant of the things of God, how wretchedly you acted in the past. How much sorrow and grief would have been saved had you been changed at birth?

Yet all of us are born into a state of sin and misery. Then, at a time of His choosing, God calls the elect to Himself, pulling us out of our sinful state into His loving arms through grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. As we will see the next couple of days, this transformation of the mind, heart, and will enable the believer to savor Jesus more fully than any immediate conversion without a sinful existence could. We have to know about our state of sin to understand what grace truly is. Sorrowful repentance deepens our love for what Christ has done on our behalf. Desiring to trust and obey Him demonstrates the different path we embark upon as Christians. All this glorifies God that much more.

Questions to Consider

• How has your pre-conversion life demonstrated the glory of God? How does your life as a believer give glory to God now?