Man's Cry and God's Call

Joel 2:32 ~ "And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls."

The great tug-of-war between the absolute sovereignty of God in the salvation of man and the necessity of man placing faith in God is found harmonized throughout the Scripture, and truly found in this grand text for today. And though I cannot fully reconcile both ideas with all who may read this, I want to bring you to understand that both are true and necessary for salvation. 

If you are born-again as Jesus has commanded (see John 3:7) then you have experienced the sovereign work of the Almighty LORD and have also expressed the necessary faith from your heart. In truth, no one escapes the wrath of God unless the Almighty release him and no one flees the coming wrath except that they "pick up their heels" and run to Christ. So we see, in our text today, that those who call upon the name of the LORD are saved... and yet it is those whom the LORD calls.

Let us start from the point of God's sovereign will. Our text does say that among the survivors shall be "those whom the LORD calls." The survivors of what? I'm glad you asked. The preceding text tells us that it is those who are the survivors of the coming day of the LORD--the day of darkness and dread that will fall upon the whole earth (see Joel 2:31-32). All who are saved from God's eternal judgment are those whom God called to salvation. 

Not only is Christ the object of our faith, He is the Author of our faith. Hebrews 12:2 states, "...looking to Jesus, the founder [author] and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." And, being the "Founder" or Author of our faith means not merely being the One whom our faith is fixed, but being the One who originated our faith in the first place. It is God's own sovereign will that we should believe (see John 1:13).

People will ask, then, where does my "free will" come in to the conversation? And that is the problem with all mankind--our will is not free. Every person ever born has their will captive to sin, lost in the darkness with no possibility of producing light on their own. God must illuminate the darkened heart; He must give life to the dead soul. 

So we come to the second: man's necessary faith. Our text reads, "everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved." This is the response of faith that God requires. It is the humble and penitent soul who will bow before the God of Heaven and cry out for salvation in Jesus Christ. The world has, for the most part, dismissed the salvation of Christ--looking to Jesus as a rebuke against their love for sin (see John 7:7). 

But then there are those who are convicted concerning their sin. Consider what happened at the preaching of Peter on the Day of Pentecost. "Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' And Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (Acts 2:37-38).  Do you see it? I'm sure you do--both are working in this very text. The sovereign work of God in convicting those who heard and the call to faith by Peter through repentance. 

Beloved, have you ever been cut to the heart for the sins of your life--especially the sin of unbelief? Then, dear one, you have been moved by the sovereign work of God Almighty. Do as the Apostle Peter told the crowd that day and call upon the name of the LORD (see Acts 2:21). Do not harden your heart against the conviction of sin. Embrace that conviction as a gift from Almighty God and run to the LORD Jesus who will save all who call upon Him. 

Let us all, then, give thanks to the LORD Jesus for His salvation--a work of His sovereign will that moved us to believe. And, having believed and called upon the Savior, trust that His promise is forever certain--that all who call upon Him will be saved.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

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