CHAPTER 10
Of Effectual Calling.
I. All those whom God hath
predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and
accepted time, effectually to call,a
by his word and Spirit,b
out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and
salvation by Jesus Christ;c
enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of
God;d taking away
their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh;e
renewing their wills, and, by his almighty power determining them to that
which is good;f and
effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ;g
yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.h
a Rom.
8:30
; Rom. 11:7; Eph. 1:10,11.
b 2 Thess. 2:13,14;
2 Cor. 3:3,6.
c Rom. 8:2; Eph.
2:1-5; 2 Tim. 1:9,10.
d Acts 26:18; 1 Cor.
2:10,12; Eph. 1:17,18.
e Ezek. 36:26.
f Ezek. 11:19; Phil.
2:13; Deut. 30:6; Ezek. 36:27.
g Eph. 1:19; John
6:44,45.
h Cant. 1:4; Ps.
110:3; John 6:37; Rom. 6:16-18.
II. This effectual call is of
God’s free and special grace alone, not from any thing at all foreseen in
man;i who is
altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy
Spirit,k he is
thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and
conveyed in it.l
i 2 Tim. 1:9; Tit.
3:4,5; Eph. 2:4,5,8,9; Rom. 9:11.
k 1 Cor. 2:14; Rom.
8:7; Eph. 2:5.
l John 6:37; Ezek.
36:27; John 5:25.
III. Elect infants, dying in
infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit,m
who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth.n
So also are all other elect persons, who are incapable of being outwardly
called by the ministry of the word.o
m Luke 18:15,16 and
Acts 2:38,39 and John 3:3,5 and 1 John 5:12 and Rom. 8:9 compared together.
n John 3:8.
o 1 John 5:12; Acts
4:12.
IV. Others not elected,
although they may be called by the ministry of the word,p and may have some common operations of the Spirit,q
yet they never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved:r much less can men not professing the Christian
religion be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they ever so
diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature, and the law of
that religion they do profess;s
and to assert and maintain that they may, is very pernicious, and to be
detested.t
p Matt. 22:14.
q Matt. 7:22; Matt.
13:20,21; Heb. 6:4,5.
r John 6:64-66; John
8:24.
s Acts 4:12; John
14:6; Eph. 2:12; John 4:22; John 17:3.
t 2 John ver. 9-11;
1 Cor. 16:22; Gal. 1:6-8.
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