Called by the Holy Spirit (Johnson)

Often we talk as if we had something to do with our faith in Jesus. “I believed in Jesus”; “I trusted Christ”; “I follow God”...we assert. And yes, I get it and understand why we say that. But the truth is, you were actually grasped by the truth of the Gospel and were so by a gift of faith...the gift of faith in Jesus and His life, death and resurrection. Today we will then remember that, as Luther would write it, “I cannot by my own reason or strength come to my Lord Jesus or believe on Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me...”. Today, on Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate then the fact that God has brought us to faith or as we are saying it, we were “Called by the Holy Spirit!”