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Authors: Derek Prince
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up into the predominantly male British Army, and, in the purpose of God by divine predestination, the army put me in the land of Palestine and ultimately in the city of Jerusalem.
Just before I left the army, I married a Danish lady, Lydia Christensen, a missionary who directed a children’s home. At the time, there were eight girls in her home: six Jewish, one Arab, and one English. From the background and experience I just described, you could not have thought of anybody less suitable than I to become the father of eight adopted girls. If people had made a list of possible candidates, my name would not have been on it.
However, God did not consult other people; He did not even consult me! It was divine choice, divine wisdom. The whole experience did me a lot of good. I had to learn that there were other people in the world besides Derek Prince. The point is this: God gave me the grace to do something for which, in the natural, I was completely ill-suited.
God’s call should take total priority
in every aspect of our lives.
3. It Is a Calling from Eternity
The third aspect of God’s calling is that we are called to fulfill a purpose that was conceived before time began. This truth is exciting to me. I see so many people today just adrift in the sea of time. They have no anchor—they have no past, and they have no future. They are like corks bobbing up and down on the waves. Why? Because they have never apprehended this vision of an eternal God who had a plan for them before time began—and who, in due course, would confront them with His plan when He called them.
The apostle Peter described the appropriate response to God’s call: “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10). When you are called, God has done His part. You must now respond. Peter said we should respond by being eager to make our calling and election sure. I would sum up this response in one word: single-mindedness . You have to have a single focus. You have to have one goal. You must say, like Paul, “ ‘This one thing I do,…I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ I am not going to be diverted.” (See Philippians 3:13–14 kjv.)
Why not take a moment now to say those words to the Lord in regard to your own calling? Please repeat Paul’s affirmation out loud as your response to God’s call on your life:
Lord, regarding Your call, I echo what Paul said: “This one thing I do,…I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” I will not allow myself to be diverted from my calling in God. Amen.
11
FIFTH STAGE: SAVED
As we come to the fifth stage in God’s plan for us—“He saved us”—we need to consider what it means to enter into salvation in response to God’s call. We must first understand the simple requirements for salvation given in the New Testament. Paul stated them in Romans:
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 nasb)
According to that verse, you need to complete just two actions. First, with your heart, you need to believe the record of the New Testament that God raised Jesus from the dead. However, that, in itself, is not enough. To give your assent to what God says, you must actively submit your life to the lordship of Jesus. That means you must personally confess Jesus as Lord. These two simple requirements together—believing in the heart and confessing with the mouth—bring you into salvation.
The Process of Salvation
Salvation brings to us at least four benefits. There were four negative conditions from which we were saved, all of which are related to sin. We were saved from sin in general, but we were specifically saved from its guilt, its condemnation, its power, and its defilement.
Salvation is a process that takes place within us, as described in the following
Just before I left the army, I married a Danish lady, Lydia Christensen, a missionary who directed a children’s home. At the time, there were eight girls in her home: six Jewish, one Arab, and one English. From the background and experience I just described, you could not have thought of anybody less suitable than I to become the father of eight adopted girls. If people had made a list of possible candidates, my name would not have been on it.
However, God did not consult other people; He did not even consult me! It was divine choice, divine wisdom. The whole experience did me a lot of good. I had to learn that there were other people in the world besides Derek Prince. The point is this: God gave me the grace to do something for which, in the natural, I was completely ill-suited.
God’s call should take total priority
in every aspect of our lives.
3. It Is a Calling from Eternity
The third aspect of God’s calling is that we are called to fulfill a purpose that was conceived before time began. This truth is exciting to me. I see so many people today just adrift in the sea of time. They have no anchor—they have no past, and they have no future. They are like corks bobbing up and down on the waves. Why? Because they have never apprehended this vision of an eternal God who had a plan for them before time began—and who, in due course, would confront them with His plan when He called them.
The apostle Peter described the appropriate response to God’s call: “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10). When you are called, God has done His part. You must now respond. Peter said we should respond by being eager to make our calling and election sure. I would sum up this response in one word: single-mindedness . You have to have a single focus. You have to have one goal. You must say, like Paul, “ ‘This one thing I do,…I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ I am not going to be diverted.” (See Philippians 3:13–14 kjv.)
Why not take a moment now to say those words to the Lord in regard to your own calling? Please repeat Paul’s affirmation out loud as your response to God’s call on your life:
Lord, regarding Your call, I echo what Paul said: “This one thing I do,…I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” I will not allow myself to be diverted from my calling in God. Amen.
11
FIFTH STAGE: SAVED
As we come to the fifth stage in God’s plan for us—“He saved us”—we need to consider what it means to enter into salvation in response to God’s call. We must first understand the simple requirements for salvation given in the New Testament. Paul stated them in Romans:
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 nasb)
According to that verse, you need to complete just two actions. First, with your heart, you need to believe the record of the New Testament that God raised Jesus from the dead. However, that, in itself, is not enough. To give your assent to what God says, you must actively submit your life to the lordship of Jesus. That means you must personally confess Jesus as Lord. These two simple requirements together—believing in the heart and confessing with the mouth—bring you into salvation.
The Process of Salvation
Salvation brings to us at least four benefits. There were four negative conditions from which we were saved, all of which are related to sin. We were saved from sin in general, but we were specifically saved from its guilt, its condemnation, its power, and its defilement.
Salvation is a process that takes place within us, as described in the following
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