Reference: Call
Easton
(1.) To cry for help, hence to pray (Ge 4:26). Thus men are said to "call upon the name of the Lord" (Ac 2:21; 7:59; 9:14; Ro 10:12; 1Co 1:2).
(2.) God calls with respect to men when he designates them to some special office (Ex 31:2; Isa 22:20; Ac 13:2), and when he invites them to accept his offered grace (Mt 9:13; 11:28; 22:4).
In the message of the gospel his call is addressed to all men, to Jews and Gentiles alike (Mt 28:19; Mr 16:15; Ro 9:24-25). But this universal call is not inseparably connected with salvation, although it leaves all to whom it comes inexcusable if they reject it (Joh 3:14-19; Mt 22:14).
An effectual call is something more than the outward message of the Word of God to men. It is internal, and is the result of the enlightening and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit (Joh 16:14; Ac 26:18; Joh 6:44), effectually drawing men to Christ, and disposing and enabling them to receive the truth (Joh 6:45; Ac 16:14; Eph 1:17).
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But, going, learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice;' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
"Come to me, all ye who are laboring and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
"Again he sent forth other servants, saying, 'Say to those who have been invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and fatlings have been slain, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast.'
For many are called, but few chosen.'"
going, therefore, disciple ye all the nations, immersing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit;
And He said to them, "Going into all the world, preach the Gospel to the whole creation.
And, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that every one who believes in Him may have eternal life. read more. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes on Him should not perish, but have eternal life; for God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world may be saved through Him. He that believes on Him is not judged; he that believes not has been judged already, because he has not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light hath come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their works were evil.
No one can come to Me, unless the Father Who sent Me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It has been written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught of God.' Every one who heard from the Father, and learned, comes to Me.
He will glorify Me; because He will take of Mine, and will declare it to you.
And it shall be, that every one who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
And they were stoning Stephen, calling and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
and here he has authority from the high priests to bind all those calling on Thy name."
And, while they were ministering to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Separate now to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
And a certain woman, Lydia by name, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, was listening, whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul.
to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'
whom He also called, not from Jews only, but also from gentiles? As He saith in Hosea, "I will call that My people, which was not My people; and her, 'Beloved,' who was not beloved.
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the Same One is Lord of all, being rich toward all who call upon Him;
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, would give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the full knowledge of Him;
to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father.
Watsons
CALL, to name a person or thing, Ac 11:26; Ro 7:3.
2. To cry to another for help; and hence, to pray. The first passage in the Old Testament in which we meet with this phrase, is Ge 4:26, where we read, "Then began men to call on the name of the Lord," or Jehovah; the meaning of which seems to be, that they then first began to worship him in public assemblies. In both the Old and New Testament, to call upon the name of the Lord, imports invoking the true God in prayer, with a confession that he is Jehovah, that is, with an acknowledgment of his essential and incommunicable attributes. In this view the phrase is applied to the worship of Christ.
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and, having found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to pass that, even for a whole year, they met together in the assembly, and taught a great multitude; and that the disciples got the name "Christian" first in Antioch.
So, then, if, while the husband is living, she is married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but, if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man.