The Upward Call of God

When we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, and we die with him to sin, by faith in Jesus, and we are raised with Christ to now walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness, we are “born again” of the Spirit of God. The old life of sin we once lived is now to be done away with. And now we are to walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands in holy living, and no longer for the sinful pleasures of the flesh, by the grace of God.

But we do not then become instantly perfect in every way. In fact, we won’t be entirely perfect until Jesus takes us to be with him for eternity and we are no longer living in these flesh bodies on this earth. For salvation from sin is a lifelong process. We are saved (past), we are being saved (present), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus returns for his bride, but providing that we have continued in walks of obedience to our Lord and not in making sin our practice. For if sin is our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matthew 10:22; John 8:31-32; John 15:1-12; Romans 8:24; Romans 11:17-24; Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:10-13; Hebrews 3:6,14-15; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:5,9; 2 Peter 1:5-11; 1 John 2:24-25]

But the word “perfect” means “reaching the end-stage, i.e. working through the entire process (stages) to reach the final phase (conclusion).” It means “reaching the end (aim)” (source: Bible Hub). Another word for it is “consummate,” which means “complete.” Consummation also refers to “the first act of sexual intercourse between a husband and wife after their wedding ceremony” (Google AI).

The biblical marriage for the Jews involved an engagement period, which was a binding marriage contract. So, biblically they were regarded as husband and wife. But then the husband would go and prepare a place for he and his wife to live together. And then he would come and get her, and there would be a ceremony, and then they would consummate their marriage. And our marriage to Christ is like that. For..

We are in a covenant of marriage relationship with Christ, by God-persuaded faith in the Lord. He is our husband, and we are his bride, and he has gone to prepare a place for us. And one day he will return and he will take us to be with him, at which time our marriage to him will be consummated, and our salvation will be complete (perfect, consummated). In the meanwhile we are in the process of becoming perfect, and of becoming more like Christ in character, and of growing in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord.

Yet, lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for continued deliberate and habitual sin and for willful walks of disobedience to God. And the Scriptures make it clear, even the teachings of Paul, that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, that we will not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But we are still clay in the hands of The Potter, being molded into the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, provided that we cooperate with God’s work of grace in our lives in yielding to his control.

So, the point here is that the Christian life is a life-long process of sanctification where, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are being made to be more and more like Jesus. But this requires that we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, to do his will, and to follow him in obedience, and to not ignore his commands, and to not continue in deliberate and habitual sin. We should be daily growing to maturity in Christ, learning more about our Lord and what he requires of us, while dedicating more and more of our lives to his service.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

My Sheep

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.


The Upward Call of God
An Original Work / July 28, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love