The London Baptist Confession (1689)
Section 10. Of Effectual Calling
1. Those whom God hath predestined unto life, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call,1 by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ;2 enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God;3 taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh:4 renewing their wills, and by His almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ;5 yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.6
2. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all forseen in man, nor from any power or agency in the creature,7 being wholly passive therein, being dead in sins and trespasses, until being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit;8 he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it, and that by no less power than that which raised up Christ from the dead.9
Scriptural support
1 Rom. 8:30; 11:7; Eph. 1:10-11; 2 Thess. 2:13-14
5 Deut. 30:6; Ezek.36:27; Eph. 1:19
6 Psa. 110:3; Song of Songs 1:4
8 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 2:5; John 5:25
“The London Baptist Confession (1689) Section 10 Paragraphs 1 & 2”, 26 Apr 2009, Gilnahirk Baptist Church Web site. http://www.gilnahirkbaptist.org.uk/resources/worship/london.10.php (accessed 31 Jul 2010).
