The called (Jude 1)

Jude is writing to believers in his epistle. In the first verse he writes, 'to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.' So "the called" can only refer to something that has happened to a believer and not an unbeliever. So what does Jude mean?

Jude is not speaking here about a call to a particular ministry, but a call to the Lord. The Greek word means "a saint or appointed to be God's holy ones, who receive the whole blessings of God, in time and eternity. It comes from the word in the Greek which means "to invite", which is found in Ephesians 4:1b KJV, which says, 'beseech you that ye walk worthy of your vocation wherewith ye are called.'

It is a divine invitation or call to the privileges of the gospel. Christians have come into the gospel privileges. Jude writes here about the internal call. The Bible says in John 16:8KJV, speaking about the Holy Spirit, 'And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement.'

The outward call is the preaching of the gospel. The Bible says in 2Thessonians 2:14KJV, 'Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.' The outward call is the preaching of the gospel, calling sinners to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to save them by His death, burial and resurrection. This is the outward call. Even unbelievers can have the outward call (the preaching of the gospel).

The inward call is the illumination of the Holy Spirit. The illumination is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit of God (John 16:8). For example, If you put a blind man into a dark room, and switch on the light, the blind man still will not be able to see the light, because he needs sight. The same with the gospel and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. There needs to be an outward call which is the light (the gospel), and there needs to be an inward call, the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, to give the sight to embrace the light. The outward call and inward call go hand in hand when a person comes to faith in Christ. The gospel is preached and the Holy Spirit takes His gospel and convicts (works) on the sinner to enable them to embrace the light (gospel). The illumination is needed for a person to receive salvation. Only a person who has embraced the light (the gospel), responded to the inward call by God's grace, has spiritual sight, thus are the 'called'.