The doctrine Salvation is one of the most crucial matters in the Christian church today, for the present, future and eternal life of every believer depends on its authenticity. We see a great number of people happened to be self-deceived and mislead by others regarding their salvation. Being identified with certain church, carrying a certain title, making a decision and praying a prayer… none of these can guarantee you assurance of salvation.
We read in 2 Peter 1:10:
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.
To be diligent is to “make every effort”, to work hard at accomplishing a task. Here we are told to be even more diligent to make our calling and election sure. In other words, we need to diligently make sure that we are called and elect.
In order to understand how to do this, and in order to find the key to true and lasting assurance, we must recognize that our calling and election is a matter decided by God, not by us. We are not being told here to examine anything that originates from us. It is not that we responded to the call, or that we ourselves have made a decision, or elected, to follow Christ. These words refer to specific acts of God directed toward us for His own purposes and glory. So, assurance does not come from what we have done with what God gives us, our assurance is based on the fact that our salvation, start to finish, is a work God has done through Christ.
Calling
The Calling in this verse refers to an invitation or command. We are called to salvation. This is referred to as the effectual calling and is mentioned by Paul in several of his epistles. This is God’s initiation of our relationship with Him. The truth is that as a carnal (lost) person, we on our own are dead and bound in sin and have no desire within ourselves to abandon our sin or come to Christ (1 Cor 2:14). As the great old hymn Oh, How I Love Jesus proclaims “Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.” This is absolutely true. If He did not love us first, we would never love Him. Hence Jesus tells us in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” This is the calling. And when God calls us, He means it (Rom 11:29).
We see then that God calls us to repent and believe (Matt 9:13), to come and follow Christ (Matt 11:28), and to produce good works (1 Peter 2:21; Eph 4:1). While we may see the fruit of regeneration in our lives as we repent of our sin and trust Christ, following Him and producing good fruit – these things are not the basis for our assurance. Although they are important evidence. The basis of our assurance is found in the fact that God has called us!
Election
Make your call and election sure: Election is thought to be a controversial and confusing topic doctrinally, but it really isn’t either. The word “election” refers to making a choice. When it comes to salvation the choice that really matters is not our choice, it is God’s choice! Biblically we see that election refers to God’s choice in saving sinners, and no matter what we believe about the doctrine of election, this we can all agree on – if God did not choose to save, no one would be saved!
We know that He does not call us based on what He sees in us, for any good we have done, or evil that we have shunned (Rom 9:11). And it certainly is not based on anything good in us. When God went looking for good among men He proclaimed in His Word, “There is none good, no not one” (Psalm 14:1-3; Psalm 53:3; Romans 3:12).
What we see in 1 Peter 1:1-2 is that the doctrine of election speaks to more than just God’s choice to save us. It is deeper than that. We have been chosen by God to salvation, but we have also been chosen for obedience.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
One of the purposes for which God has called, elected and sanctified us in the Spirit is to obey Him. Obedience is a mark of salvation to be sure, but it is not a reason for assurance. Our hope of assurance is found in the truth that when it comes to salvation God has chosen us. If we look to good works for assurance of salvation, then we are really just looking at self. Self cannot save us or give us assurance. If on the other hand we look to Christ and the promises He has given us through His Word, then we can truly be sure, because Jesus never changes, the Spirit never leaves, and God cannot lie.
We have been called and chosen by God for salvation, justification, sanctification, and glorification (Rom 8:30), so that we might produce good works for His glory now and forever as we enjoy the everlasting life we have been given because of the life and death and resurrection of Christ, our Lord and Savior. In order to make our calling and election sure we must look to the promises of God. His Word is sure, steadfast, trustworthy, and pure.
