Called to Glory: Understanding the Purpose of God’s Call

Called to Glory: Understanding the Purpose of God’s Call

When Christians speak about the “call of God,” we can mean several different things. We may speak about someone being called into ministry. We may speak about God’s calling upon Israel. We may even speak generally about discovering God’s purpose for our lives. Paul uses calling in some of these ways, but there is another use that is particularly important to understanding salvation.

God calls people through the Gospel.

But that immediately raises another question:

What are they being called to?

The answer is much larger than simply being called to believe something. Paul repeatedly connects God’s calling with what God intends His people ultimately to become. We are called into fellowship with Christ, called to belong to God’s people, called to holiness, called to inherit His kingdom—and ultimately called to share in the glory of Christ.

This makes calling particularly important when we are trying to understand Paul’s teaching about predestination, election, adoption, resurrection, and glorification.

God Is the One Who Calls

Paul consistently presents God as the source of the saving call.

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

The Greek verb commonly translated call is kaleō (καλέω). Depending upon its context, it can mean to call, summon, invite, or designate. Paul uses the word and related terms in several ways, so we should not assume that every occurrence describes exactly the same kind of calling.

For example, Paul was specifically called to be an apostle. Israel possessed a historical calling as God’s covenant people. Christians are called saints. Believers are called to holiness, peace, freedom, and faithful living.

Context therefore determines what kind of calling Paul has in view.

But when Paul speaks about the call associated with salvation, one fact remains consistent:

God is the source of the call.

God Calls Through the Gospel

Recognizing God as the source of the call does not mean that we should separate His calling from the means He has chosen to use.

Paul gives us one of the clearest explanations in his second letter to the Thessalonians:

“To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:14).

There are two extremely important parts to this statement.

God called them through the Gospel.

God called them toward the glory of Christ.

The first tells us the means of the call.

The second tells us its destination.

God is the Caller, but Paul says that the call came through the Gospel. The preaching of Christ is therefore not something merely added after God has performed the real calling somewhere else. The Gospel itself is presented as the instrument through which God’s call reaches people.

Paul expresses something similar when discussing reconciliation:

“Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

God makes the appeal.

Human beings proclaim the message.

The Gospel is the means.

Christ is the One proclaimed.

And people are called to respond.

The Gospel Call Is Grounded in Grace, Not Human Merit

None of this means that the call originates in human goodness or accomplishment.

Paul says that God:

“has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Timothy 1:9).

The source of salvation is God’s purpose and grace.

The Gospel is not God’s response to human beings becoming worthy of salvation. It announces what God has graciously accomplished through Christ.

This distinction is important.

To say that God calls through the Gospel does not make salvation a human achievement. Neither hearing the Gospel nor responding to it creates the grace being offered. The message, the Savior, the promise, and the means of reconciliation all originate with God.

Grace provides what sinners could never provide for themselves.

Called to More Than Conversion

Sometimes we speak about God’s calling almost entirely in terms of the beginning of the Christian life. Someone hears the Gospel, believes, and is saved.

That is certainly part of the picture, but Paul’s language reaches considerably further.

Paul writes:

“We encouraged each of you and comforted you and urged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12).

Notice again where the call is going:

His kingdom and glory.

Calling therefore cannot be reduced merely to the moment someone first believes. God’s call brings people into a saving relationship with Christ, but it also points forward toward the destiny God has established for those who belong to Christ.

The call has an eschatological dimension—that is, it looks toward the future completion of God’s saving work.

We are not merely called from something.

We are called to something.

Called to the Glory of Christ

This is where 2 Thessalonians 2:14 becomes especially important:

“To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:14).

Paul does not merely tell us that God called them.

He tells us how and why.

Through the Gospel → to obtain the glory of Christ.

That should immediately remind us of Romans 8.

“For those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).

And then:

“And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

Romans tells us that those predestined to conformity with the Son are called and ultimately glorified.

Second Thessalonians tells us that God calls through the Gospel so that His people may obtain the glory of Christ.

Those passages illuminate one another.

Predestined to conformity with Christ → Called through the Gospel → Justified → Glorified with Christ.

Calling Fits the Destination of Predestination

This becomes particularly significant when considering the relationship between calling and predestination.

Romans 8:29 tells us the predetermined destination:

“to be conformed to the image of His Son.”

Romans 8:30 then says:

those predestined → called → justified → glorified.

Second Thessalonians 2:14 gives us additional information about that calling:

called through the Gospel → to obtain the glory of Christ.

The movement is remarkably consistent.

Predestination points toward conformity to Christ.

Calling points toward the glory of Christ.

And Romans 8 completes the sequence with glorification.

This is one reason I do not believe we should read the word called in Romans 8:30 in isolation and simply assign it a theological definition developed elsewhere. We should first ask how Paul himself uses calling and what destination he associates with it.

When we do that, glory repeatedly comes into view.

Does Calling Mean That God Irresistibly Causes Someone to Believe?

This is where theological systems can easily get ahead of the text.

Some understand the “call” of Romans 8:30 as an effectual call—an inward act of God given only to the elect by which God ensures that they will believe. Under that understanding, the call itself produces the person’s saving response.

But Romans 8:30 itself does not explain the mechanism of calling. It simply says that those predestined were called.

We therefore need to examine Paul’s broader use of the concept before importing a particular mechanism into the verse.

And elsewhere Paul explicitly says:

God calls through the Gospel.

That does not by itself settle every debate concerning grace, human response, election, or the work of the Holy Spirit. Nor should we pretend that one verse answers every question.

But it does establish something important:

The Gospel is not merely information given to people after an entirely separate saving call has already occurred. Paul can describe the Gospel itself as the means through which God calls.

Any theology of calling therefore needs to account for that language.

The Call Requires a Response

The Gospel is not merely an announcement that leaves its hearers with nothing to do.

God’s appeal through the Gospel summons people to reconciliation with Him.

“We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

The response does not create salvation.

It does not provide the sacrifice.

It does not remove sin.

It does not make Christ’s death effective by human achievement.

God has provided the remedy.

But the Gospel genuinely calls people to receive what God has provided in Christ.

Calling Also Changes How We Live Now

Although calling points toward future glory, Paul does not allow Christians to separate that future destination from present life.

Believers are called to holiness:

“For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7).

They are called to freedom:

“For you, brothers, were called to freedom” (Galatians 5:13).

They are called to peace:

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body” (Colossians 3:15).

And Paul urges believers:

“to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1).

The future destination therefore shapes the present life.

We are called toward glory, but we are called to begin living as God’s people now.

Paul’s Calling Shows That Context Matters

Paul’s own calling provides an important safeguard against forcing every reference to calling into one theological definition.

Paul says:

“But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…” (Galatians 1:15–16).

Here Paul’s calling clearly includes a particular vocation and mission.

God had set Paul apart for a purpose. Christ was revealed to him, and Paul was commissioned to proclaim Christ among the Gentiles.

This reminds us that the word calling does not carry one automatic theological meaning every time Paul uses it.

The question must always be:

Called by whom, through what means, and for what purpose?

Israel’s Calling Shows the Same Need for Care

The same caution becomes necessary when Paul discusses Israel.

In Romans 11 Paul can speak of Israel’s calling even while discussing Israel’s widespread rejection of the Gospel.

“For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29).

Whatever conclusions we ultimately reach concerning Romans 9–11, this should prevent us from assuming that the word calling itself always means an irresistible inward act that necessarily results in individual salvation.

Israel possessed a genuine historical calling from God.

Paul possessed a particular apostolic calling.

Christians are called to holiness and faithful living.

And the Gospel calls people into salvation and toward the glory God has prepared in Christ.

Context must determine which sense is intended.

Called Saints

Paul frequently describes Christians themselves in terms of calling.

“To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Romans 1:7).

The word translated saints, hagios (ἅγιος), fundamentally describes those who are holy or set apart for God.

Calling therefore establishes not merely a future hope but a present identity.

Those who belong to Christ are God’s people now, and they are to live in a manner consistent with the destination toward which God is taking them.

That is why holiness and glorification should not be separated completely from one another.

God’s people are being shaped now for what they will finally become.

The Call and the Inheritance

Paul also connects calling with inheritance.

He prays that believers will understand:

“the hope of His calling, the glorious riches of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18).

This fits naturally with Paul’s language elsewhere concerning adoption.

Children become heirs.

Heirs possess an inheritance.

And in Romans 8 those heirs are destined to be glorified with Christ.

The concepts begin to converge:

Calling → Adoption → Sonship → Inheritance → Resurrection → Glorification.

These are not unrelated theological subjects. They are different aspects of the same saving purpose of God in Christ.

Calling Helps Us Understand Romans 8:30

This brings us back to the passage where calling, predestination, justification, and glorification appear together:

“And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

If we read this verse by itself, it is easy to turn each word into an entire theological system.

But Paul has already told us what the predestination is directed toward:

Conformity to the image of God’s Son.

Elsewhere he tells us how God calls:

Through the Gospel.

And he tells us what that call ultimately leads toward:

The glory of Christ.

Romans 8:30 therefore sits within a much larger Pauline picture.

God predetermined the destiny → God calls through the Gospel → believers are justified → God’s children are ultimately glorified with Christ.

Called According to His Purpose

Just before Paul speaks about predestination, calling, justification, and glorification, he writes:

“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

What is that purpose?

The following verse immediately directs us toward it:

“For those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).

The purpose is not left floating without a destination.

God is forming a people who will ultimately bear the image of His Son.

Christ will be the firstborn among many brothers.

The children of God will receive the redemption of their bodies.

The heirs will receive their inheritance.

And those who presently suffer with Christ will ultimately be glorified with Him.

The Call of God Is a Call to Glory

When Paul’s statements are brought together, a coherent picture emerges.

God is the One who calls.

He calls according to His purpose and grace.

He calls through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Those who belong to Christ are called to holiness, peace, freedom, fellowship, inheritance, and faithful living.

But the call does not terminate in this present life.

It reaches forward toward the kingdom and glory of God.

Most importantly for understanding Romans 8, Paul explicitly says that God calls people through the Gospel so that they may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That gives calling both a means and a destination:

Called through the Gospel → Called to the glory of Christ.

And that fits perfectly with the destination Paul identifies for predestination:

Predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son.

The destination has been determined.

The Gospel announces God’s provision in Christ and calls people to Him.

Those who belong to Christ become His children and heirs.

And the final destination of those children is not merely forgiveness, nor merely restoration to what humanity once was.

It is conformity to the resurrected Son.

It is the redemption of the body.

It is sharing in the glory of Christ.

God’s call through the Gospel is ultimately a call to glory.