I. Howard Marshall described the believer's calling and election according to the New Testament. He wrote: "Sometimes Paul refers to those who have believed and been saved as 'the elect' (Romans 8:33; 16:13; cf. Colossians 3:12; 2 Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1). This language reflects God's deliberate choice to create people for himself and to deliver them from their sin. . . . God issues his call and the appropriate response by those to who it is made is faith. . . . God's calling is corporate, expressing both Jews and Gentiles (Romans 9:24). . . . He is also said to call specific individuals (Galatians 1:15). Paul does not say that God's calling makes the human response inevitable, or that the calling implies passing over of other people whom he has decided not to save" (I. Howard Marshall, A Concise New Testament Theology, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008) 172-73.
God calls all people to Himself through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Rest is a metaphor for salvation. It's not by our works but by God's grace that we are saved. We rest in God's work of salvation in Christ. The word Sabbath means rest. Jesus is our Sabbath rest.
The call of God to salvation is received by faith in Jesus Christ. Dr. Marshall stated that "the appropriate response by those to who it is made is faith." God calls all to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Matthew 9:13). That includes all of us for all have sinned (Romans 3:10; 3:23).
The call of God to salvation may be resisted and often is. A harsh warning is given to those who reject God's call of mercy. "Because I have called and you have refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, . . . I will mock when your terror comes" (Proverbs 1:24-26). God offers us a choice between His goodness that leads us to repentance and His severe judgment (Romans 2:4). "Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God" (Romans 11:22).
God calls us to be His children as one body in Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-14). For this reason, Dr. Marshall could say, "God's calling is corporate, expressing both Jews and Gentiles." While the call comes to us individually through the gospel of Christ, it is a call to be a part of God's people. The word for church in the original Greek language is ekklesia. It means called out. We are called out of the darkness of our sin into the light of Christ (1 Peter 2:9-10). We are called to be church, that is God's people in Christ.
