Chapter 10 - OF EFFECTUAL CALLING

1 God chose certain people for eternal life. At a time that He deems right, He uses His Word and Spirit to effectively call them out of their natural state of sin and death. He brings them to a place of grace and salvation through Jesus Christ. He enlightens their minds so they can understand spiritual things and the things of God. He replaces their hard, stony hearts with hearts of flesh, making them responsive to Him. He renews their wills and, through His immense power, directs them toward what is good. He draws them to Jesus Christ, and they come willingly because of His grace.

2 This effectual call comes only from God's free and special grace. It is not based on anything God foresaw in a person or on any power or action from the person himself. In this process, a person is completely passive, because he is spiritually dead in his sins. He remains in this state until the Holy Spirit gives him new life and a new heart. Only then is he able to respond to this call and accept the grace that is offered and given in it. This is a work of God's power, and it is no less powerful than the power that raised Christ from the dead.

3 God's chosen infants who die in infancy are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit works when, where, and how He chooses. This is also true for all of God's chosen people who, due to incapacities, are unable to be called to salvation through the preaching of the Word.

4 Though all people may hear the gospel message, and some may even experience a temporary work of the Holy Spirit, those who are not chosen by God will never be truly drawn to Christ by the Father. Therefore, they are unable and unwilling to genuinely come to Christ and cannot be saved. Likewise, individuals who do not embrace the Christian faith cannot be saved, regardless of how diligently they try to live morally according to their own conscience or the laws of their professed religion.