Can You Hear Me Now?

Why is this an important spiritual question? Because God says salvation depends not on our works or best efforts but on responding to the call of Jesus the Christ. Romans 9: 16 says, "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy."

But how does God extend his mercy? God extends his mercy through the call to follow Jesus. "This is the work of God that you believe in (respond to) the one whom God has sent." (John 6: 29) Do you believe in Jesus? Is your life a response to his call?

Romans 9: 11 points out that this is the way God has always worked. From Genesis to Revelation, salvation is intiated by God as a gift of grace. The whole pathway of grace begins in God's call. It doesn't matter who your daddy is. Your history doesn't matter. Your lineage makes no difference.

This is all true "in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works, but by him who calls". (Romans 9: 11) This keeps what God sets forth out of his word consistent. We are all created equal. We live and are saved as we respond to God's call upon our lives. Jesus broadcasts that word to the world. "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He that believes (responds to my call), as the scriptures has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38)