James Foote
2. It Is Secret
Effectual calling is secret in itself, though known by its effects. Ministers give the common call aloud; they publish it openly; they proclaim it with an audible voice. It is addressed to the ear of the body; and the more publicly the better. “Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets; she crieth in the chief place of concourse; in the openings of the gates; in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof.”
It is not so, however, with the effectual call. It is true that it is generally given through an open and public medium, but it is itself secret. In the words of our Saviour, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” It is secret as to its seat, which is the heart, the soul – secret to others, as man can only look on the outward appearance, though the Lord looks on the heart. It is secret, as being an inward and spiritual work on the mind. It is secret too as to the precise manner in which the Spirit operates. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
The wind itself is invisible and, though there are certain general laws of nature which must apply to it and are in some degree known, we are far from thoroughly understanding the subject. So we have only some general idea of the special work of the Holy Spirit and of the means He usually uses, but we are very much in the dark as to the mode in which He reaches the soul. Generally, in the first instance, those who are the subjects of His divine operations cannot distinguish between them and the workings of their own minds. The change is secret, as it implies exercises of mind which only those who experience them can know about at first; for “what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?” To those indeed who are the subjects of this saving change, there is generally, more or less, an inward consciousness of it.
However, we can hardly conceive of that consciousness of spiritual life, and certainly cannot possess that life, unless it works itself out in the affections and conduct. Hence we say that, though secret in itself, it is known by its effects. In many cases, though not in all, it is also secret as to the time. The first saving impression, leading the sinner to accept the call of the gospel, must be made at some particular time; and it is possible in many cases to ascertain that time exactly; but in the great majority of cases, the time cannot be determined. In all cases, however, it is known, or may be known, by its effects. Here too it is like the wind: though in various respects it cannot be seen or explained, it is known in its effects, whether a breeze or a tempest, whether it causes the small leaf on the tree to quiver or bears the stately ship forward on its course. The spiritual effects which manifest the saving change are just the various graces and habits of the divine life.
Now this matter of the secrecy of the effectual call, thus explained, is capable of a very important practical application to your own case. Let it teach you that you need something more than an outward appearance of submission to Christ – you need sincere, mental submission; you need to yield to Him, not a constrained, but a willing obedience; you need to give Him your heart. You need also to examine, not only your outward actions, but also your inward principles and motives. As effectual calling, though secret in itself, is manifest in its effects, you are called on to consider well if these effects are manifest in you.
You are taught in Scripture, as plainly as words can teach you, that the righteousness of Christ is the only ground of acceptance with God, that faith is the only means of obtaining an interest in that righteousness, and that everyone that believes shall be saved – indeed is already in a state of salvation. You are also taught as plainly that, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature”; that “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His”; and that you ought to examine yourself whether you are in the faith and to prove your own self. Neither the one nor the other of these sets of lessons should be disregarded or perverted or explained away, but you should attend to both of them with equal care and learn them with equal readiness and submission.
Because effectual calling is secret in itself, give yourself to great searchings of heart and grasp the necessity of sincere, vital religion. At the same time, because this happy change is known by its effects, be on your guard against turning the grace of God into licentiousness, without infringing on the perfect work of Christ as the ground of your hope, or on the instrumentality of faith as the only, certain means of being justified. Be ready to give all the awakening and searching passages of Scripture their full weight, and to adopt and act on the fact that you can have no satisfactory scriptural evidence that you have undergone the inward secret change unless it is manifested in your life.
1Taken, with editing, from Foote’s Treatise on Effectual Calling. Foote (1781-1856) was a minister in Aberdeen, latterly in the Free Church. Last month’s section spoke of effectual calling as personal.