What is the Difference Between Effectual Call and Normal Conviction?

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So it is a bit of a corrective to the view that when God calls us, he just moves us from one kingdom to another, that there's no willingness on our part.

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That's not what he's arguing. He's arguing that God does make us willing. We willingly choose him now, where before we willingly did not.

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One of the things he says that God does to make us willing is that in the work of conviction, he begins by showing us the depth of our need.

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So, you know, we all know that we have some needs. We would say, well, okay, I'm not perfect. But it's not until God opens our understanding to see exactly how desperately needy our situation is, that we really begin to think of the gospel as something that's valuable.

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And, you know, that's just human nature. If we have it all together and someone adds a little extra to our life, like, well,

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I know you've got everything a person could want, but would you like this as well? You say, well, that's a nice gesture. I don't really need it.

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But if a man is dying of starvation, you know, or thirst, and a man comes by with a plate of food or a cup of water, you know, there is such a desperation in us.

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We wouldn't let that man pass us by. We would plead with him. We would grab him. We would say, you know, I can't live another day without this.

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And that's an evidence of God at work. Not just admitting biblical truths, like, well, yes, we're sinners.

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We're all sinners. But when a man or a woman or a young person begins to feel those truths in a way that is unbearable, we know that God is at work.

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You see this in the Philippian jailer who cries out, what must I do to be saved? Or as Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost, you know, he doesn't open up a traditional kind of invitation and say, now here's what you need to do.

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The people cry out to him, what do we need to do? Yeah, in a sense interrupting, you know,

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I'm so desperate, you know, you're reading the Bible and you just stop halfway through a verse and you get on your knees and you say,

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God, I need you and I'm not willing to live another day without you.

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Um, this brings us to one question and that is, you know, what's the difference between the normal convicting work of the

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Bible where a person reads and their conscience is bothered and they say, you know, I kind of feel bad about myself and the effectual call.

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And the difference is that the effectual call is effective. It actually ends up, ultimately results in the person embracing

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Christ. Whereas what we would call kind of a common work of conviction, it fizzles out.

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You know, I feel bad, I go home, and then I forget all about it. More like a New Year's resolution to join the gym, right?

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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so that's the first one. Um, Chuck, what else does it, goes into the effectual call?

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Well, God not only helps us to see our need, shows us our need as it is with weight, but God also shows us the sufficiency and the perfection of Christ as a

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Savior, um, and that he's fit to be that for us. You would think that seeing our need would be enough to drive us to Christ, but it's not enough.

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He shows us that our need is not so great that Christ is unable to meet it, and that Christ is a sufficient

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Savior for not just sinners in general, but for me. So, he is willing and he is able, and nobody goes to the offended king if we're not convinced of those things.

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know, being, realizing your need is not enough. You've got to be convinced that there's someone who can meet that need.