The Bible clearly teaches a universal, outward call of the gospel⏤a real proclamation that goes out to everyone without distinction. Jesus Himself, while teaching in the temple, says in Matthew 22:14, “Many are called, but few are chosen”, distinguishing between the hearing of the invitation and the reception of its saving effect. Paul echoes this in Romans 10:18, declaring that the message has indeed “gone out to all the earth.” This outward call is genuine, authoritative, and necessary. Yet Scripture is equally clear: hearing alone does not give life. This outward call exposes our hearts but does not resurrect them.

Alongside this stands another reality Scripture refuses to hide: an inward, effectual call of God that actually brings the dead to life. Paul writes, “Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified” (Rom. 8:30). This call cannot fail, because everyone who receives it is justified. Likewise, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son” (1 Cor. 1:9). This is not a general invitation waiting on human approval⏤it is a divine summons that creates the very response it commands.

Jesus Himself illustrates this distinction. Many heard Him preach, yet remained hardened. But when He stood at Lazarus’s tomb and cried, “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43), the call did not merely invite life⏤it produced it! The same is true of Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones: “Thus says the Lord God… I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live” (Ezek. 37:5). The word of God did not wait for bones to cooperate; it created what it demanded. Scripture consistently portrays God’s saving call as creative, not cooperative.

To insist that God saves only through a single, neutral call that sinners may accept or reject at will is to reduce the gospel to a powerless suggestion. Yet Jesus says plainly, “The hour is coming … when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25). This hearing is not mere sound⏤it is resurrection. The outward call goes to many; the inward call raises the elect. Far from weakening evangelism, this truth anchors it: the gospel is not effective because sinners are willing, but because God is sovereign. When He calls, the dead live!

~ Shalom! Shalom! ☧