WHAT IS THE INTERNAL CALL?
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day… My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 6:44; 10:27-28)
Effective calling can be defined as the act of God the Father that operates in the context of the Gospel proclamation in which He calls people to Himself for salvation. Effective calling is referred to as internal calling. The Gospel call is offered to all people—even to those who do not desire the Gospel. Sometimes, the Gospel call is referred to as external calling or general calling. Since the Gospel call is the vehicle used in Gospel proclamation and is intended to be preached to all, it can operate as an effective call or general call to the sinner.
The elements of the Gospel call, which invites sinners to embrace the message, involves the explanation of the facts concerning salvation. The facts concerning salvation indicates that all of mankind have sinned (Rom. 3:23), the penalty of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), and Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty of sin (Rom. 5:8). Another element is the invitation to respond to Christ via repentance and faith (Matt. 11:28-30; Matt. 11:28; John 1:11-12); and thirdly a promise of forgiveness and eternal life (John 3:16; Acts 3:19; cf. 2:38; John 6:37). [https://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/doctrine-of-salvation-divine-god/]
The Lord will lead us to Himself if we desire to come to Him. Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him will be saved (John 6:40). If we acknowledge God through General Revelation (cf. Psalm 19:1-2; Romans 1:20) then our hearts are open to respond favorably to the Gospel message (the external or general calling) when it is presented to us. He sees that willingness and desire in our hearts and will guide us to His Son if we would just reach out to Him because He is not far from any of us (Acts 17:27). And He wants to be found (Jeremiah 29:13). He makes Himself available, reachable, and findable to all who desire to find Him.
What the internal calling means is that only those the Father draws can come to Christ (John 6:44). Jesus will lose none of those the Father gives to Him (John 6:39). When someone cries out to God and asks Him to reveal Himself, He will teach them how to get to Him and be reconciled to Him (Matthew 7:11). Whoever learns from the Father comes to Him (John 6:45). What we need is a teachable, open heart to believe the gospel message (Matthew 13:8). And if we want more light and knowledge of the truth then He will “order our steps” and “draw us” to His Son (John 3:21). The internal calling is set into motion once He sees our desire to know who the true God really is. He will then bring us the right persons and put us in the right situations to where we can hear the gospel and of course we will then respond to it because it is what we were truly seeking. Our hearts were ready to receive the seed of the gospel and begin bearing fruit for Christ. This comes from the wooing of the Spirit and the drawing of the Father because we said yes to Him and were willing to hear, understand and repent. In this situation, our hearts are convinced that we are sinners and need God’s help. We seek God’s help. He draws us. We respond to His internal calling because He is basically giving us over to what we truly desire. This isn’t to say that there is not a battle waging for souls and the destiny of souls (2 Cor. 4:4-5). Unbelievers are in spiritual blindness. However, the battle is for truth. Blindness speaks of not being able to see the truth (1 John 1:5-7). So, when someone takes a step towards God and realizes they need Him and want to find Him, it is then by His power alone that the blindness can be broken. God accomplishes this through the internal calling. He works in our hearts to show us the truth, opens our eyes and hearts to it, and makes us into a new creation when we answer the gospel call.