Theological Term of the Week: External Call
Thursday, June 23, 2022 at 3:00AM 
The invitation offered to all who hear the gospel; “the presentation and offering of salvation in Christ to sinners, together with an earnest exhortation to accept Christ by faith, in order to obtain the forgiveness of sins and life eternal.”1 Sometimes called general call, universal call, or gospel call.
- From scripture:
[Jesus] said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47 ESV)
I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:20-21 ESV)
- From the Canons of Dordt, Head III-IV, Articles 8 and 9::
Article 8: The Serious Call of the Gospel
Nevertheless, all who are called through the gospel are called seriously. For seriously and most genuinely God makes known in his Word what is pleasing to him: that those who are called should come to him. Seriously he also promises rest for their souls and eternal life to all who come to him and believe.
Article 9: Human Responsibility for Rejecting the Gospel
The fact that many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not brought to conversion must not be blamed on the gospel, nor on Christ, who is offered through the gospel, nor on God, who calls them through the gospel and even bestows various gifts on them, but on the people themselves who are called. Some in self-assurance do not even entertain the Word of life; others do entertain it but do not take it to heart, and for that reason, after the fleeting joy of a temporary faith, they relapse; others choke the seed of the Word with the thorns of life’s cares and with the pleasures of the world and bring forth no fruits. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13).
- From Living for God’s Glory by Joel Beeke:
..[T]wo calls need to be distinguished: and outward or general call that everyone hears, which can be rejected (John 7:41b-42; 10:20; Heb. 12:25), and an inward call that God extends to the elect, which always results in conversion (Matt 22:9; Acts 2:39; Rom. 9:11; 1 Tim. 6:12).
With the outward call, the gospel is preached and a call to salvation is extended to everyone who hears the message. God is serious about offering Christ to all hearers. …All men without distinction are invited to come and drink freely of the water of life in Christ Jesus (Isa. 55:1-7; John 4:14). Forgiveness and salvation are promised to all who repent and believe (2 Thess. 2:14; Rom. 10:15).
- From Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray:
We may properly speak of a call which is not in itself effectual. The is often spoken of as the universal call of the gospel. The overtures of grace in the gospel addressed to all men without distinction are very real and we must maintain that doctrine with all it’s implications for God’s grace, on the one hand, and for man’s responsibility and privilege, on the other. It is not improper to refer to that universal overture as a universal call.
Learn more:
- Louis Berkhof: Calling in General and External Calling
- Wilhelmus A. Brakel: The External and Internal Call
- Herman Bavinck: The Universal Proclamation of the Gospel and the Particular Gospel of Grace
- Anthony Hoekema: The Gospel Call and the Effetual Call
Related terms:
1 Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, page 459.
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