I posted this back in August of 2007 but I thought it was a good time to re-post it at this time.
The following E-mail was sent to me from a Christian who is truly searching for answers.
How are you? I’m good. Just wanted to ask you a question. What does Matthew 22:14 mean exactly. I’ve read it but I’m not sure what "Many are called but few are chosen" means. Called for what and chosen for what?
When you have some time just let me know!
First, let me say that if you really believed the way the traditional church has taught this you would have to be scared to death. Because the clear indication is that only a few very fortunate people will ever get to Heaven. Even out of those who were later invited (good & bad), if you didn’t have the right garments on you were cast out. Does that sound like the same Jesus who said “Forgive your enemies, pray for them, and love them like you would love yourself?” or the Jesus who hung on the cross and his last words to those same people that he had taught this parable to was “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Now here is what I think: Jesus was talking to his fellow countrymen, the Jews. He was teaching them in a parable that they above all people were invited to enjoy the wonders of the Kingdom of God and all its glory. Now they rejected his invitation and continued on a path of self-righteousness, bitterness, judgment of others, and he was telling them that there would be consequences to their choices. We read later in Mathew 24 that he speaks of the consequences even in more detail pointing to the future when the temple would be destroyed as well as much of Jerusalem in 70AD.
By the way the Kingdom of God is: Rom 14:17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
What should be made clear here is that all of us still have choices to make and the choices we make can determine weather we live in the peace and joy of God’s Holy Spirit. If we choose like the Jews to continue to wear our own suit of righteous clothing we will not enjoy peace, but if we choose to believe we have a suit of righteousness that has already been provided then we find a peace that is not gained by our performance.
We know the parable could not have been talking about Israel’s final condition because there are far too many scriptures that teach otherwise. Let me quote you just a few.
Rom 11:26-36
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor?
35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
I could go on and on, but I will stop here. I would also ask you……..What does your heart say? Will God cast out the many into a HELL of endless torture, or will he do what he said he would do and SAVE THE WORLD and show MERCY to All?
Good Morning
I think one of the main issues humans have, is the need to go somewhere better, and also whether they are going to get there or not. Eternity is not some time and place we go to, it is happening right now. Jesus states this in Luke 17:21. All we need to do is open our eyes.
I agree John. It is an awakening to the reality of our true creation.
As I see things all are called to and are Redeemed. But only a few are chosen to believe the completeness of what the work of Christ did. Most of “evangelical christianity” it is obvious to me have not been “chosen” to believe the completeness of the Gospel of Grace & Peace. But their lack of belief in the completeness of the Redemption of the Cross does not nullify the complete faith of Christ that Redeemed ALL OF MANKIND back to the Father. I speak with Boldness when I say, thank God I have been chosen to believe in the faith of Jesus Christ and to leave my personal faith and belief behind. I say with confidence that I no longer believe in my belief but trust in His belief being enough. He was The Author and The Finisher of the requirement for faith towards God. Jesus Christ put away the requirement to believe. And now knowing that I can believe.
Peace
Geo
I think Ive figured out why Christ actually went to the cross for us. I believe God on numerous occasions tried to show the error of our ways. But being that we have a really nasty side to us, he could never get through. So I think he finally decided to relate to us on our level. “VIOLENTLY”, so Jesus went to the cross and died this incredibly violent death and then came back to show us that life never ends. He then said “dont do anymore sacrifice” ive taken care of it. Pretty simple when you think about it.
Good one John!
I agree !
Peace
Geo
Why do we have to be the best, have the best, know the best?? Religion…to me is like cocaine. It is fake. It is untrue. It satisfies the moment, but not the soul.
The difference between reading these bible verses now compared to reading them when I was 16 is now I feel at peace and everything makes sense. When I heard these verses before my heart always felt troubled. I felt uneasy because the interrpretations seemed wrong, but now when I read scriptures like the ones told in Romans I feel at peace because God sent his son Jesus to save us all. I am no better or worse then the one standing next to me, but I am unique and made perfect by God. In his eyes I am his perfect creation.
Romans 12: 3-5
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Blame it on the sudafed, but I don’t think I wrote what I really wanted to say above. I just recently went to a funeral where the “minister” abused his position and chose that moment to get everyone saved and it really made me uncomfortable so this post hit at just the right time for me and my brain is screaming with words that are trying to escape so I apologize for being so disfunctional right now.
People walking around wearing their suit of righteousness and believing they hold all the truths. This guy spewed bible verses left and right and NONE of them spoke truth to the heart. It made me soo mad! The woman that had passed away was loving and kind, but this minister could only speak about how she was recently saved and that everyone could rest assured that because she was saves she was in heaven now. URGHH!!
My point is that this post made me realize that as mad as I am at this minister my heart should cry out for him because he has no clue what Jesus did for him and for the rest of the world, but God will have mercy on him just as he will have mercy on me for being soo extremely angry with this minister.
Mindy, Jesus got just as agitated at the religious of his day for their suits of self righteousness, but I’m glad you also recognize that they truly are to be pitied. As Jesus would say: Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
Beautiful thoughts, everyone!
Love to all!
I believe the message of the Cross of Christ, in its most simple form, is… “do not fear!”
Tragically, religious minds have turned it into… “you had better be afraid!” They live in fear, preach fear, and lack life because of it. Won’t they be surprised when they someday awaken in the presence of God, and discover that they wasted their lives in fear? And, worse yet, caused others to waste their lives in fear?
Oh my God, your mercy is unfathomable!
Just curious, do you need Jesus to have the Kingdom of God or will other ways suffice?
The way I see it, John… it doesn’t matter whether I have Jesus or not, because Jesus has me. He paid the price for all of us on the cross. We are the pearl of great price, and He not only bought us… He bought the whole field (creation).
Thing is… if participation in the Kingdom of God requires something from me, then I can never have any assurance of being a part of it. I can’t trust in my own abilities. And those who think they can, will eventually come to the end of their delusions and find themselves stripped of their self-righteousness.
I’m not God’s because I believe…
I believe because I am God’s.
It starts and ends with Him, and I am only along for the ride. That simple change in thinking saved my mind from all the fear, doubt, guilt, and shame that traditional religion heaped on me all my life.
That revelation of God’s unconditional love freed me from the bondage my mind had been in all those years.
Bruce. Thanks for the response, but you didnt answer my question. You just gave me more about Jesus. My question is, if I am to use my “real” brain on this earth, can I call to GOD using another name other than Jesus and still be loved by the big guy?
John, The answer to your question is YES.
Thanks Cliff
I’m not God’s because I believe…
I believe because I am God’s.
Amen bruce.
Great comment’s and great post cliff.
The original ? was “do you need Jesus to have the kingdom of God or will other ways suffice ? Yes, we need Jesus and his sacrifice and ressurection which ushered in the kingdom of God, no other way. When the ? was asked again “if I am to use my “real” brain on this earth, can I call to God using another name other than Jesus and still be loved by the big guy” just lost me. Cliff you said “yes”. Could you explain both the ? and the answer? Sorry, I get confused easy. Because he first loved us – Sue
Sue, Someone can call on a different name because it is never the action on our side that secures our redemption, but that is different from being saved. When we (on our side) call on the name of the Lord understanding that He paid the complete price leaving NOTHING on our part then we find salvation from our minds of fear. And by the way, our fearful minds are a direct result of the law of sin and death. Some may live out there entire lives with minds of fear but we are given the promise that every knee will eventually bow and every tongue will give praise to God, just like Saul (Paul) did on the road to Damascus. Read of Paul’s conversion and ask yourself what part he really played.
1 Tim 1:12-17
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
ALL THOSE WHO ACT IN IGNORANCE AND UNBELIEF WILL RECEIVE THE GRACE OF GOD. Doesn’t that include everyone you know?
Cliff, Yes, it does include ALL, I just get hung up when it says “Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example FOR THOSE WHO WOULD BELIEVE ON HIM AND RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE”. I’m not trying to be hard to get along with, but it’s just hard to reconcile all the verses that sound exclusive, sometimes in the same verses that talk of grace and freedom. I quit the church of Christ 25+- years ago and went to many other churches and studied (on my own) and read. It was my distaste for exclusion and Pharasee mindset and always power hunger and greed and cliques, preacher worship, hell, fire and damnation, judgements about ones income ,clothes, looks etc. that turned me off. Same stuff found in the world but with righteous indignation and self righteousness claiming thier belief gives them the right to judge everyone else because they understand the scriptures correctly. I felt more lost in a church then out. I have not gone to any church for many years. I cling to grace and that nothing will separate anyone from the love of God, not even oneself. I love the way you express understanding with such quiet love and discernment. thank you – Because he first loved us – Sue
Am I misunderstanding what I am reading, or what? It sounds to me like you all are saying EVERYONE will go to heaven, no matter what. This whole thing about not having fear confuses me also, because God tells me to fear Him, reverant fear, but fear, as you fear your father. Jesus died on the cross to pay for all our sins, yes. But we are told, by Jesus, unless a man is born again, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven. We have to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, to give Him complete control of our lives. When we are saved, we are no longer our own. You cannot live like you want, and never go to church, and expect to just go waltzing right into heaven, it doesn’t work that way. If you want to live like this world, then you have your reward. My reward is waiting in heaven. I will gladly give up my life, and live by His laws and commandments. His righteousness is what will get me to heaven, nothing else. Again, I hope I am misunderstanding you, but if I am not, PLEASE don’t rely upon your own understanding. Believe in Him, give your life to Him, and follow Him. Take up your cross daily. Die daily. Open your eyes to the truth of the gospel. It is ALL about Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Welcome Alan!
No you are not reading incorrectly.
This blog is a group of people who trust Christ. Not, Christ plus what we must do… just Christ. If the message of the Cross is true, then Christ has secured the redemption of all the world, once and for all. We believe that, and we trust that.
You have an understanding of the Gospel that most of us came out of. But, we have repented of that thinking and turned our faces to Christ, alone. I know, that’s a lot of trust. But, it is the message we have turned to.
And by the way, aren’t YOU leaning on your own understanding?
It’s OK friend, we all do.
Stick around, maybe you’ll find some relief from all that fear you carry around. I love to see burdens lifted from the hearts of people. And there is no better feeling on earth than to realize that your Creator loves you and accepts you unconditionally, no matter what.
Bruce, I know my Creator loves me. And no, I don’t lean on my own understanding. There’s not a whole lot I can say to you right now. I still am dumbfounded by your writing. The ignorance is knee deep. I love you and am praying for you. God bless.
Bruce, if i’m reading you correctly, your statements sound “all-inclusive”, meaning: ALL are going to heaven, whether they call on the Name of Jesus or not, which scripture teaches us to be false. Your belief seems to be based on presenting a couple of verses (skewed somewhat out of context) to contrive them into a presentation and to formulate a scenario to YOUR liking; rather than reviewing the Bible in it’s entirety of which God has presented to us in it’s completeness, and in doing such has informed us of an altogether different format for His Kingdom. Jesus is the Door, He is the only Way to the Father. ..”No man can come unto the Father but by Me..”Those who reject Him, reject the Father, and reject His Kingdom. There is a heaven and there is a hell. Two different places for two different types of individuals, the saved(those who accept/receive Jesus as Lord and Savior), and the unrepentant(those who have refused Him). Sadly, the all-inclusive philosophy that has captured you is nothing new, and is nothing more than “another gospel” of which God has warned us,…”I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another, but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” The “gospel” of all-inclusion IS another gospel whose presentation is designed to mislead many into believing “i’m ok, you’re ok”, and thusly, the deceived walk blindly together down that broad road that leads to destruction. My prayer is that you study His Word in it’s entirety and allow Him through His Truth to set you free from the entanglement of this false ideology.
alan and john, thanx for your comments but i have a question for the rest of the writers also. i was wondering if you all could tell me if you suppose the following people made it to heaven. both thieves, or just the one who was promised paradise? pharaoh? nero? or how about judas? doesn’t Jesus Himself say, “if anyone denies Me in this life, I will deny him before My Father who is in heaven”.
The Kingdom of God is for the few chosen.. a high calling ruling with Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven is for everyone else. There is no fable hell. People are mortal and they die and become dead. They don’t go to heaven or hell. They are in the state of being dead ( sheol, hades). See Acts 2:29, King David was still in the grave and not in heaven. No one go to heaven they will be in heaven.. it is a spiritual realm. The words Jesus spoke are spirit not to be taken literally. There is judgment, the 2nd death that everyone must go through.. either now or later. We have to die to our carnal nature which is only done by God to do and to will His good pleasure. It is by the grace of God and through faith (not our faith) unto His good works (not our works). It is all God doing this. Father God does the calling and Jesus does the choosing.
All the parables are one. If you understand one you understand them all. The KJV bible is not inerrant but the word of God is and you have to search out the truth. God is love and Love never fails in saving all. God is an all consuming fire. Love is fire in consuming all the flaws of human carnal nature until transformed into the image of God. I Corin 3:12-15 & Rev 20 talking about works (thoughts, words, deeds) tried by fire and saved by fire.
So God gave his only son for the few? That seems like alot to me.
I was taugh that many are called and few are chosen means that that many preachers are called be few are chosen to preach? If this mean something different then I have been taught wrong. There are a lot of preachers that do not teach the word of God and do the godly things like they should where what scripture refer to the preachers. Because I don’t believe all preachers are called to preach.
Thanks
Brenda
The statement “For many are called but few are chosen” means exactly what it says.
John 3:
1 ¶ There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
GALATIANS CHAPTER 6:
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
From what I am reading most of you feel you can just walk your way up to the kingdom of God just as you are? What this says is that you have not read the entire bible or you have taken verses here and there and created your own doctrine.
Jesus makes it very clear in the Old and New Testament God’s requirements to enter into his Kingdom.
First you must Repent!
Definition of Repentance: is a change of thought and action to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repentance
Then you must humble yourself and submit and acknowledge that Jesus Christ died for your sins and was resurrected and is seated at the right hand of the father and believe that he Lord and Savior and that only throught him can you enter God’s Kingdom. Which means there is only ONE way.
God is not a respector of persons; therefore, we are not the exception to the rule. If the Prophets, Apostles and servants were expected to live by God’s commandments, laws and statues to inherit the kingdom of God why would it be any different for us?
Mark 12:
One of the scribes asked Jesus which is the first commandment of all?
Jesus answered and said:
30 thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Are you willing to teach his word to others who are uninformed or have little or no understanding in the word of God?
Are you willing to give up all worldly possesions to help a fellow man?
Are you willing to love God more than you love your Husbands, Wives and children.
Would you be willing to take persecution for your faith in God and possibly die for him as many others have done before us?
Unfortunately when we turn on our local and global news that does not seem to be the case. Crime is at its highest, The economy meltdown has not recovered, more and more people are falling away from God not toward God. CNN reported a few months back that faith in Christianity has declined dramatically compared to what it was twenty years ago.
What they found to be alarming was that they did not convert to another religion or faith they quit believing in God. Their reason: They did not like being dictated to “Thou Shalt not ……
So once again “MANY ARE CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN”
These are questions you must ask yourself if all men have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God why should we be able to inherit the kingdom of God without proving our worthiness to our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is to all who believe that you can enter into God’s kingdom as you are is 100% false!
The bible is not just the word of God but from God and the blueprint to salvation!
Your choice by free will.
God speed to all!
Mona…are you willing to love others the way that God loves them? Or are you simply going to sit on your throne and judge others? GOD IS LOVE…
MANY ARE CALLED FEW ARE CHOSEN. This has been an interesting thread. try this thought:
Jesus called the disciples. We are sent out to invite all to the wedding of Jesus and the Bride. Not everbody will accept the invitation. Those that accept the invitation, basically confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and believe Jesus is Lord with their heart unto salvation(Romans 10:9-10) become chosen by God. How??? It goes back to Dueteronomy 10, God conversation with Moses. Read the whole account but look closely at verse 15 . This says God had delight in the fathers to love them and He God chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. The key word being CHOSE. Salvation is being discussed. God chose Jesus as the way, first the Jew then the Greek. Most of the Jews refuse Him. Thus the chosen way of salvation was made available to the gentiles, which are us. By adoption we are in. through grace not of works that any man should boast. When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord you become one of Gods chosen people because you entered in through the seed, JESUS CHRIST.(2nd Peter 2:8-9) The invitation or CALL is to all, only those who awnser the call wearing the garment of salvation(JESUS CHRIST as LORD) become CHOOSEN. Narrow is the way that leads to life, few come in by it, wide is the path to destruction.
Be Blessed!!!
God gives a general call to all through creation and other ways. the people were invited to the wedding then a follow up invitation came from the dispatched messengers. they rejected both invitations “many are called.” because they rejected the invitation (the call) God sent other messengers out to invite the general public and they came! obviously the invited guests represent the Jews and the secondary guests represents the Gentiles. history reinforces this understanding. the Jews have, for the most part, rejected Christ while the unworthy Gentiles received it (in general).God chooses only His elect for salvation….jn.10:26-29. this may be hard to accept but this is what the Bible teaches (in my humble opinion).
May God teach us His truth…may God bless.
donnie
“Here is the patience of the saints, they are those who KEEP GOD’S COMMANDMENTS, and have the faith of Jesus Christ.”
The mark of the beast is an issue of worship. God told Moses He was going to write HIS NAME on the second set of stone tablets. What did He write there? The TEN commandments. Which includes to keep the 7th day set apart, and NOT the first. Papal Rome of course changed the sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, as a MARK of her ecclesiastical authority in religious matters. Show me in the bible where you see the word religion? It is NOT religion, but a relationship. You love HIM because He FIRST LOVE YOU, and thus you believe unto OBEDIENCE of HIS LAW.
Make NO mistake, Jesus said that He did NOT come to destroy the law, and that anyone who broke even one of the least of the commandments and taught others to do so would be least in the Kingdom.
Right after Duet. chapter 5 where the commandments are given, we see in Duet. chapter 6 that God says we are to write His law, which is HIS NAME, on our hand, and keep in between our eyes (forehead). Thus, when a the second beast (USA) causes the world to WORSHIP the first beast (Papal Rome) those who love the lie of grace and no law will believe that God would actually force worship. Thus, they will recieve satans mark in their hand or forehead for not writing GOD’S COMMANDMENTS on that hand and keeping them in their forehead.
Be not deceived. James chapter two clearly defines sin as a transgression of the law, and every week most of the world transgressed the God’s fourth commandment to obey the mark, the traditions, the commandments of men who changed times and laws.
You better be studying to show yourselves approved now more than ever. The constitution is already being radically revised. And to say that there will be NO hell is to call God a liar. The earth will burn for a thousand years, and be purified by such fire. Hell is not forever, as the wages of sin is death, or complete annihilation of the soul.
Read Acts 2:14
Read in 2 Peter about the set apart (holy) commandment that many would prophesy and deliver in the last days. I just blew the trumpet, will you heed this daughter’s warning?
Choose this day whom you will serve. Either sunday unto Papal Rome and world acceptance, and thus eternal seperation from the love of God. OR, keep the 7th day Holy, be His peculiar people, withstand the persecution that comes, and obey it unto death.
Sorry, I meant Acts 2:17
This will sum it up.
http://www.clearcreekchapel.org/Documents/Pulpit/Series/Eschatology/The%20Kingdom.09.The%20Questioning%20of%20the%20Kingdom.pdf
Amy