Theological Term of the Week: Vocation

vocation
A calling from God to a task or a relationship. The doctrine of vocation is the principle that the work people do and the relationships they have are assignments from God. He providentially cares for his creation through the relationships he places people in and the work he gives to them to do. Every honest task, no matter how mundane, and every legitimate human relationship (household, workplace, church, community, etc.) has meaning because it is a calling from God and serves his purposes.

• From scripture: 

  Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him (1 Corinthians 7:17 ESV).

  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:27–28 ESV)

• From Living for God’s Glory by Joel Beeke:1 

  Reformed teachings regarding work can be summarized in the following points: 

  1. God works, and we are called to bear His image.
  2. God derives satisfaction from His work.
  3. God provides for us through our work. 
  4. God has commanded man to work, and to work within the framework of His commands.
  5. God holds us accountable for our work and expects to be acknowledged through it. 
  6. God provides particular gifts designed to meet particular needs in the advancement of His kingdom.
  7. The fall radically affected our work. Work becomes toil; thorns and thistles frustrate our efforts; fallen man seeks to glorify himself rather than his Creator through work.
  8. Work is an individual as well as a social activity.
  9. God takes pleasure in beauty, and the Scriptures do not focus simply on the functional and utilitarian aspects of work.
  10. Christ worked as part of His active obedience, and the believer’s work through Christ is part of obedience.

Learn more:

1. Gene Edward Veith: The Protestent Work Ethic, How Vocation Transformed Society, Authority in Vocation
2. John MacArthur: A Theology of Work
3. Brian G. Hedges: Do You Think Biblically About Your Work?
4. Bob Thune: A Theology of Work (pdf)
5. Jerram Barrs: Work: A Holy Calling (pdf)

Related terms: 

• cultural mandate
• image of God
• providence

Filed under Anthropology

1The chapter from which this is taken is written by Ray Pennings.

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Sunday's Hymn: Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus Our Blessed Redeemer

Praise him! praise him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O earth, his wonderful love proclaim!
Hail him! hail him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to his holy name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard his children,
In his arms he carries them all day long:

Refrain
Praise him! praise him! tell of his excellent greatness,
Praise him! praise him! ever in joyful song!

Praise him! praise him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
For our sins he suffered and bled and died;
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail him! hail him! Jesus the crucified.
Sound his praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong:

Praise him! praise him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer!
Heav’nly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Saviour, reigneth for ever and ever;
Crown him! crown him! Prophet and Priest and King!
Christ is coming! Over the world victorious,
Power and glory unto the Lord belong:

 —Fanny J. Crosby

 Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• How Oft Have Sin and Sorrow Strove at The Happy Wonderer
• To Save A Wretch Like Me at The Outspoken Tulip 
• Unconditional Love, By Grace Alone at Tried With Fire
• Lord’s Day 3, 2020 at The Thirsty Theologian

Selected Reading, January 18, 2020

Introducing a brand new category. (It’s been extremely cold and my mind is stuck in winter gear.)

Christology

How Did Jesus Do Miracles—His Divine Nature or the Holy Spirit?
D. Blair Smith reminds us that persons, not natures, do things: “It’s not wrong to say that the Spirit is acting in Jesus’s miracles; he is. It is wrong to say that the second person of the Trinity isn’t.” 

Biography 

Mary Honywood and Her Flickering, Unquenchable Faith
Simonetta Carr’s piece introduced me to a woman of the past I knew nothing about. “Mary was one of the many gentlewomen of her time who supported Protestant preachers during the troubled reign of Mary Tudor. She was also one of the many who struggled in the transition from Roman Catholic to Protestant teachings.” —Simonetta Carr

Winter Weather

Cows in -40 C weather
Don’t feel too sorry for them. God gave them a secret weapon.

10 Delicious Hot Chocolate Mix-Ins
January is the perfect time for a list of ways to spice up a cup of hot chocolate. 

Dead of Winter Map
If you live in Canada, you might be interested in seeing when your dead of winter happens. (Dead of winter is when your lowest temperatures are most likely to occur.)