Understanding the Full Scope of Your Calling
In a long, extended sentence, Paul demonstrated how to pray for other believers (Eph 1:15-21). First, he thanked God for those believers who came to mind. He did this “continually,” which means that whenever they came to mind, he prayed for them; and whenever he prayed for them, he did so with an underlying gratefulness which never went away (Eph 1:15-16).
When he prayed for them, he remained especially grateful for two things. He remained grateful for their faith in the Lord Jesus. This means that he recognized the incredible significance of their faith in Christ, which resulted in positional salvation. He also remained grateful for ways that they had shown love to other believers. This indicates that he recognized the profound significance of their Christlike behavior, which gave evidence of their ongoing, practical salvation, or sanctification.
The more believers you know, the more easily you may take for granted the supernatural significance of anyone who converts to Christ and grows in his grace. Paul did not take this for granted but remained profoundly grateful.
When Paul prayed for other believers, he also prayed for them to receive from God an increased capacity to understand the truth about Jesus, as revealed in Scripture (Eph 1:17-21). He desired for them to not only understand this truth, but also to learn how to translate this truth into a meaningful, skillful, wise approach to life. The result of this would not be receiving new revelation and insights from God apart from the incarnate ministry of Christ and the revealed canon of Scripture. Instead, it would be an enlightened mind which would see more clearly and comprehend more completely the message and meaning which God had already revealed.
Altogether, Paul prayed that the believers he named would understand three things more clearly: (1) the hope of God’s calling (Eph 1:18), (2) the riches of his inheritance (Eph 1:18), and (3) the greatness of his power (Eph 1:19-21).
What is “the hope of his calling?” Hope refers to a confident expectation, an unrelenting anticipation of what awaits in the future. This most likely refers to our future resurrection from the dead in a fully restored but sinless body into a life with God which will never end. Calling refers to the invitation which we have received from God. The pronoun his highlights God the Father as the one who gave the invitation (Eph 1:18). Later in this letter, Paul refers to the “hope of your calling” (Eph 4:4). The pronoun, your, in this latter instance shifts focus from God as the one who issues the call to believers as the ones were the recipients of this call.
As one who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and who has given evidence of genuine faith by showing love to other believers, you have responded to a divine invitation. This invitation guarantees your personal participation in the future resurrection and the eternal life which follows, delivering you from evil in all its forms forever. However, the implications and results, challenges and responsibilities of this calling permeate your life in many significant ways beyond the future resurrection event.
- God has called you to fellowship with his Son (1 Cor 1:9).
- He has called you to peace (1 Cor 7:15).
- He has called you to grace (Gal 1:6).
- He has called you to freedom (Gal 5:13).
- He has called you to his kingdom and glory (1 Thess 2:12).
- He has called you to holiness (1 Thess 4:7; cf. 2:13-14).
- He has called you to eternal life (1 Tim 6:12).
- He has called you to light (1 Pet 2:9).
- He has called you to suffering (1 Pet 2:20-21).
Now that, friends, is a lot to chew on. A new believer can neither know nor understand all that Christ calls him or her to be, to do, and to experience. He must understand the essential elements of the gospel message, but there’s so much more to discover beyond the first page of that never-ending story called “The Christian Life.”
On that first day of school in kindergarten, you became a student; but you had no idea what that would mean for you in the next twenty years of your life as you would eventually make your way through college. On the day you exchanged your wedding vows, you became a spouse; but you had no idea, despite weeks of premarital counseling, what your marriage would require of you and all that it would become. When you begin your new profession, welcome your first child into the world, move to a new country or neighborhood, or buy your first home, you know a lot of things on one hand and so very little on the other.
The Christian life is this way. God calls you to salvation and you respond in faith. He places within your heart a new perspective, an undying hope and confident expectation that never goes away. You will be raised from the dead someday, just as Christ himself. You will be with Christ in your restored body, unaffected by sin forever. You may know this to a degree and this hope will guide you through the remainder of your present life. But the hope of this calling will deepen and expand. It will influence you to many more discoveries in God’s Word that will draw you closer to Christ, pull you through many trials, and lead you to achieve greater things for God’s glory. The full view of your calling is far more expansive that you understand today.
As Paul thanked God for the faith and love he witnessed in other believers, he prayed that they would increase in awareness of all that their calling entailed, for it encompassed far more than their original faith and whatever glimmers of love shined through at the beginning. There would be more and richer experiences to come and they must understand their calling more clearly and completely to experience this for themselves. For this he prayed, and for this you may pray for other believers.
Thomas Overmiller serves as pastor for Faith Baptist Church in Corona, NY and blogs at Shepherd Thoughts. This article first appeared at Shepherd Thoughts, used here with permission.
Photo by Melissa Askew on Unsplash