“The Called”

 

 

What am I called to be?

How can I know?

You are called to be a Christian,

That’s for sure!

 

By whom am I called?

Is it the church?

The church is not a person,

Ouch, that hurts!

 

What am I called to do?

It’s not the same question,

To be and to do are not the same

By my comprehension.

 

Don’t mix up the two!

They are quite distinct,

You should never get drawn in

Before you think!

 

So, it is called to be:

Let’s get right back there,

We’ll get through this somehow

Don’t you fear!

 

Go to Romans chapter 8!

Start at verse 28

And if you are “the called”,

Therein is your fate.

 

It is not about doing,

But rather, it is a call to be

And it is clearly delineated

For you and for me.

 

 

Called according to purpose

The purpose of God,

Note the definite article:

It is “the called”.

 

That makes it a noun

Though the verb is implied:

What “the called” does

Is what the "to be" decides.

 

Whom God did foreknow

God also did predestinate:

Conformity to Christ’s image

Is the believer’s estate.

 

By the believer I mean

Any of the “born-again”:

Not them of physical birth,

But of the spiritual strain.

 

Born of the Holy Spirit

And indwelt by the same,

This is the “called to be”:

Aka born-again!

 

 

Whom He also did predestinate

Them God also called:

And these He justified

But this is not all…

 

For whom God justified,

Them He also glorified:

In His perfect foreknowledge

God did decide.

 

I choose to say no more

Than these verses say,

I dare not let my reasoning

Get in the way.

 

God’s knowledge is infallible

Whereas mine is flawed

I can only say what He says

Concerning “the called”.

 

“Called to be” is first

And determines what to do:

The fruit evidences “the called”

If in me and you.

 

Stewart Russell © October 26, 2022