Bible Q & A

Q. Could you explain how if someone is trying to find the real God, he won’t unless God decides to “call” him? I thought we were free moral agents’ so therefore we choose: but this “calling” seems like we have no choice.
 
A. The key to your question lies in the term “moral.” Yes, we are free moral agents- we are free to act morally or immorally. We are free to obey or disobey the divine will. Even the Gentiles, said Paul, “do by nature the things contained in the law” (Rom. 2:14). God has not forced us to go one way or the other. All human beings have the capacity for good and for evil. We all sin (Rom. 3:23). But by the same token we all do good from time to time.

Our calling is irrespective of all of this. We are called to the Kingdom (Matt. 25:34). Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father draw him” (John 6:44). God attracts or “draws” those whom He is calling to the body of Christ which is the Church (I Cor. 12:13). He brings us to repentance (II Tim. 2:25; Romans 2:4).

Once we have been called and placed in the Church by the Holy Spirit, we are still free moral agents. We are still “at liberty” to disobey the divine will – but the penalty for stubborn continuance in so doing is stern and certain. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).Those who have been given the Spirit of God have a greater responsibility to “mortify the deeds of the flesh” through the power of the Spirit (Col. 3:5-8).
 
The Church of God, New World Ministries P.O. Box 5536 Sevierville, TN 37864