The Grace That Calls: Understanding Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 10
1. Introduction: The Voice That Awakens the Dead
Chapter 10 of the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647), titled “Of Effectual Calling,” addresses one of the most profound mysteries in Christian theology—the divine initiative by which God brings sinners from spiritual death to life in Christ. The chapter opens with these words:
“All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ...” (WCF 10.1)
Here the Westminster divines affirm that salvation is not the product of human initiative, but the fruit of God’s sovereign grace. It is a calling not merely external—such as the hearing of a sermon—but internal and efficacious, the supernatural work of the Spirit making the sinner both willing and able to respond.
2. Effectual Calling and the Grace of God
The doctrine of effectual calling distinguishes between the general call of the gospel (heard outwardly by all who receive the Word) and the special call that results in genuine conversion. While many hear the gospel externally, only those whom God regenerates respond with faith and repentance. The calling is thus “effectual” because it effects the very faith it commands.
The Confession’s emphasis on divine agency—“by His Word and Spirit”—echoes passages such as John 6:44 (“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him”) and Romans 8:30 (“Whom He predestined, these He also called”). Election and calling are intimately related: calling is the manifestation in time of God’s eternal choice.
This view stands in deliberate contrast to both Arian and Arminian interpretations of divine calling.
3. Contrasting Views: Arianism, Arminianism, and Reformed Orthodoxy
Arianism: A Created and Conditional Call
Arianism, the 4th-century heresy condemned at Nicaea, denied the full divinity of Christ and viewed salvation as a moral ascent patterned after a created being (the Logos). For Arians, the divine “call” operates more as an ethical summons—an exhortation to imitation—than as a transforming act of sovereign grace. Since Christ was seen as the highest creature rather than the eternal God, salvation was attainable through moral effort and participation in divine wisdom, not by the Spirit’s regenerating power. In this view, the call is external, rational, and conditional, not effectual.
Arminianism: A Resistible Grace
The Arminian tradition (from Jacobus Arminius, 1560–1609) maintained that prevenient grace is given to all, restoring free will sufficiently for the sinner to choose or reject salvation. Grace is universal but resistible. God “calls” all people sincerely, but the decisive act lies in human cooperation with grace. The Spirit assists, but does not determine, conversion. Thus, calling is potentially effectual, depending on the human response.
Reformed Orthodoxy: An Irresistible Grace
In contrast, the Reformed view—enshrined in Westminster’s Chapter 10—affirms that effectual calling is God’s special and irresistible grace. It is not a persuasion but a resurrection. God’s call does not merely offer life; it creates it. The sinner’s consent is not coerced but renewed. The will, previously in bondage, is liberated by divine power to choose God freely and joyfully. As the Confession states, God “enlightens their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God” and “renewing their wills, by His almighty power, determines them to that which is good” (10.1).
Thus, the Reformed tradition sees the difference between the elect and the non-elect not in their response, intelligence, or disposition, but in the gracious decree and operation of God.
4. Election and Those Who Cannot Be Outwardly Called
Westminster Confession 10.3–10.4 extends divine grace beyond ordinary means:
“Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit... so also are all other elect persons, who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.”
This statement avoids dogmatic speculation but affirms that God’s election is not bound by outward means. The Spirit, who “blows where He wills” (John 3:8), can apply the benefits of redemption to infants and those mentally incapable of receiving the gospel message. This affirms both the sovereignty and tenderness of God. Salvation remains by grace alone, yet God’s mercy reaches those unable to respond outwardly.
The divines avoided universalism—they spoke of elect infants, not all infants—but they emphasized that the same gracious power operative in adults can work secretly in those without capacity. Thus, divine election and effectual calling transcend the limits of human understanding and ecclesial administration.
5. Those Not Elected Yet Outwardly Called
A sobering corollary appears in the Confession’s recognition that some may be called outwardly— even to the ministry—yet not effectually called to salvation. Judas Iscariot exemplifies this tragic reality: called to apostleship, empowered to preach, yet spiritually dead. The Confession (10.4) affirms that “others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word... can never truly come to Christ.”
This underscores that ordination and external religious activity do not guarantee salvation. One may speak for Christ without ever having been born of the Spirit. Such individuals receive the general call but not the inward grace. Their inability to be saved arises not from divine cruelty but from the mysterious justice of reprobation—God’s decision to leave some in their sin for the demonstration of His righteousness and mercy toward the elect (Romans 9:22–23).
6. Divine Election and the Euthyphro Dilemma
The doctrine of election often provokes philosophical challenges about the nature of divine goodness. The Euthyphro dilemma, posed by Plato, asks: Is something good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good? If the former, divine goodness seems arbitrary; if the latter, God appears subordinate to a moral standard above Himself.
The Reformed answer, following Augustine and Calvin, is that the dilemma is false when applied to the biblical God. God’s will and nature are identical—He is not subject to external law, nor does He act arbitrarily. Goodness is what it is because it expresses God’s nature. Election, therefore, is not morally indifferent but a manifestation of perfect wisdom and holiness. God’s decree of election is good because God Himself is good.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), writing after the Westminster era, refined this idea by asserting that God chooses “the best of all possible worlds.” For Leibniz, divine election operates not by sheer will but by perfect reason—God chooses a world-order that maximizes goodness, harmony, and moral development. While Westminster theologians would hesitate to speak of “possible worlds” in the same way, both views affirm that divine choice is not irrational. Election flows from the intrinsic moral perfection of God, not caprice.
Thus, divine election stands not as a threat to goodness but as its deepest revelation: the unmerited love that saves sinners for the glory of God alone.
7. Conclusion: Called to Glory and Virtue
The Westminster Confession’s doctrine of effectual calling defends the majesty of divine grace. It asserts that salvation is not the reward of human striving, but the overflow of God’s eternal mercy. Whether through the preaching of the gospel, the secret work of the Spirit in infants, or the mysterious callings of providence, every salvation story begins with God’s initiative.
In the end, effectual calling reminds us that faith itself is a gift, not an achievement. The elect are not those who found their way to God, but those whom God found and raised from death. As the Apostle Paul writes, “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts” (2 Cor. 4:6).
That is the essence of effectual calling—the creative voice of God saying once again, “Let there be light.”
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