Are you among the few or many?

What does it mean to be called but not chosen?

 

I agree that the Bible teaches that there are many that come to a saving faith in Jesus by God's grace, but there are few that come into an understanding of the meat and strong meat of the Scripture, which is the gospel of the glory of Christ.

There is the gospel (good news) to the dead man and then there is the gospel (good news) to the spiritually alive man.

Dead man receives good news in that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Once that man is made alive spiritually through the Holy Spirit then there is good news that he can reign with Christ in His coming kingdom.

This offer is open to all spiritually alive individuals, but it can be rejected and it can be lost once it is obtained. That is why there are so many folks that say people can lose their eternal salvation, because they are reading Scripture that talks about rejecting or losing the opportunity to take part in the coming kindgom, which is also referred to as the salvation of the soul. And that's why it gets twisted sometimes, because the term salvation is in there and people automatically assume when it says salvation it is speaking about eternal salvation, but we must remember that there is a temporal salvation as well.

We can save our life (soul) and lose it in the coming kingdom or we can lose our life (soul) now and receive life in the coming kingdom.

 

Do I dare?

Not sure I want to make a Doctrine out of one Scripture...

Mat 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Might be an answer in:

The fact that the invitation to become Children of God is issued to whosoever will...

And, that everyone won't choose to accept that invitation...

And, failure to accept would result in not being Chosen of God...

I know it's simplistic...

Mike Sr.

 

1 Corinthians 1:26
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

 

Choose you this day whom you will serve.

 

Mman,

There will be many for sure.

But what would you suggest WE do other than witness to others?

You cannot turn the New Testament into a second Torah, mandating that believers:

1. be baptized "in the name of Jesus".
2. join the "Church of Christ".

Salvation requires that we give our souls to Jesus. That's it. If one must do the above 2 things in order to be saved then Paul was wrong when he said salvation was not by works. Neither the words "in the name of Jesus" nor name "Church of Christ" on your church are prerequisites for being a child of God.

 

My answer to the original OP is this. I am one of the few.

Many are called. The Holy Spirit calls people everyday, but there are many of them that refuse the call. They refuse salvation. When they do accept Jesus, they are automatically "chosen"!!

There are few that say yes to Jesus and take up their cross and follow him.

I don't think the "many" are Christians. If Jesus said "depart from me, I never knew you", then they never knew Him. They were not saved.

And those will not only say that they cast out devils in His name. They will be those that have chosen false doctrines. They have been playing church not following Jesus.

He said "My sheep know my voice". If they knew His voice, they would not be out doing their own thing.

Working for Jesus,

Tam

 

Folks if they were casting out devils there is no way in the world they could be a lost person. Read Matthew 12. Jesus says basically that evil can not drive out evil.

Those folks were saved individuals. It's unfortunate that the church has lost its way when it comes to the Gospels and the first few chapters of Acts.

The message to the Jews in those days was a message that could only be entertained by saved individuals. The message that was being delievered was not salvation by grace, but it was redemption and forgiveness of sin so that the kingdom could be established. Those are two different things, but the church today and for a long long time now has tried to combine the two.

That's why we get so much confusion. I'll stop here, because I have probably gone further than I should have given the original question. So we'll save it for a different post

 

Baptism doesn't have anything to do with salvation by grace. Baptism has to do with the message of the kingdom, which is also called salvation, but they are two totally separate things and must be kept separate in order to avoid confusion.

 

J.Jump said:Folks if they were casting out devils there is no way in the world they could be a lost person. Read Matthew 12. Jesus says basically that evil can not drive out evil.

Tam says:

Not always true. They may "think" they have cast out demons. But the devil will "cooperate" with you sometimes. Especially if he knows you don't know what you are doing.

Sometimes you might have a "7 sons of Sceva" experience, but most of the time, he will just hide until the person gets away from you.

If however, you are truly operating with the authority of Jesus, they must obey!

I have seen people doing a big bluster and taking authority over the demons and commanding them to come out, and I can see that nothing has happened. The Holy Spirit witnesses that nothing has happened, yet the person doing the casting out, rises in BOLD VICTORY and declares it is done!!

The key is to study the Bible to show yourself approved. Not by man, but by God.

Selah,

Tam

 

Tam,

There is no gray area. Either they come out and obey or they do not. These folks said they cast out demons and we get no rebuke from Jesus calling them liars. So the text says they cast out demons - that can not be done by someone that is unsaved.

 

THIS IS SO SIMPLE A CHILD COULD UNDERSTAND IT, problem is Jesus said to become like little children but too many want to pretend to be bible scholars in order to weasel their way round having to actually obey what God says.

well all you have to do is read just what it says, Jesus said depart from Me, I NEVER KNEW YOU
ye that work INIQUITY

What does INIQUITY mean? INIQUITY means SIN, breaking the law.

depart from Me I NEVER KNEW YOU

1Jn:2:3: And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn:2:4: He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Ti:1:16: They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.


The Bible says Gos takes vengeance on THEM THAT KNOW NOT GOD, WHO DO NOT OBEY THE GOSPEL...

2Thes:1:7-9: “…when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power”

OBEY the gospel?

Revelation 14 6-10 says the EVERLASTING GOSPEL message to the world is that there will be those who have the mark of the beast in contrast with the saints who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. The TRUE FAITH that Jesus posessed led him to keep God's commandments.


how does THE BIBLE say we can tell if we KNOW GOD?

1Jn:3:4: Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

'Whosoever abideth in him,' says John, 'sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.'"

1Jn:3:8: He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.


"Lord," they plead, "we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets" "Have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?"

But Christ says, "I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me." "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven".

HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF MY FAITHER... not he who merely makes a profession of Christianity...

But Lord Im in the church choir, but Lord I cast out devils, but Lord I pay my tithe, but Lord I believe in you...

Jn:17:3: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

[ April 05, 2006, 05:38 PM: Message edited by: Claudia_T ]

 

We have been studying lawlessness for several weeks at church. Lawlessness is doing what is right in your own eyes. When the Bible is talking about those who are lawless (iniquity), it is talking about saved people who don't care what's right and what's wrong in God's eyes. You see it all through the church!

What is the first occurrence in the NT of lawlessness? [Matthew 7:21; “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”] There is something interesting about the word “lawlessness”. The first occurrence of the word “lawlessness” is in Matthew chapter 7. What is significant here is that Matthew 7 is part of the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount begins in Matthew chapter 5 and ends in Matthew chapter 7. What does the Lord deal with in this message? He deals with that which he loves and he deals with that which he hates. He deals with the righteousness which is of faith and He deals with the lawlessness of many.

These were workers of signs. [Matthew 7:22; “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils [demons]? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”]

They have done these wonderful things, but they are lawless! [Matthew 7:23; “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity [lawlessness].”] Here, in verse 21, we have a reference to entering into the Kingdom of the Heavens. “Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees you will not enter into the Kingdom of the Heavens. Then, verse 22 deals with the workers of signs; the signs of prophesying, the casting out of demons, and miracles. These are signs that were worked in the day when Jesus was preaching and in the days just after that and in particular during the period of the book of Acts.

Signs, wonders, and miracles were being performed during the book of Acts. The reason that they were given signs, wonders, and miracles was to authenticate the man of God. Not everybody had a Bible. The only real Bible was the Old Testament in Hebrew and in Greek. The Bible was not completed until around 90 AD. The word of God was not complete and you could not check out a man based upon what he was saying, because you did not have a Bible to use to check him out. They were given signs, wonders, and miracles, but the were only for a time. There are going to be those who do these signs, wonders, and miracles, and they will be judged lawless.

The Lord says, “I never knew you”. I assure you that our God is not dumb. Our God knows everything; he is omniscient. What he is saying is that I do not recognize you because of your lawless behavior. He tells these that work these signs to depart. He is not sending them to the lake of fire. These people are not lost. Satan knows that a house divided will not stand. I assure you that Satan is not casting out Satan. Satan is not dividing his house. These people are saved people, and they are doing something that God does not want them to do, and God allows it to happen. Why does he allow that to happen? God allows it to happen to allow us to make choices in our own life as to whether we are going to be obedient or not. What choice do I want to make? I want to pursue the righteousness which of faith and the sign gifts do not promote faith. The sign gifts promote feelings, experiences, and seeing, and these are not of faith; they are of the flesh.

It is about obedience. It's works.

 

HERE'S THE CHILDREN'S VERSION:

depart from Me I NEVER KNEW YOU


Ti:1:16: They profess that they know God ; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

 

J.Jump said:Folks if they were casting out devils there is no way in the world they could be a lost person. Read Matthew 12. Jesus says basically that evil can not drive out evil.


Okay heres the thing, remember SATAN is the one who make Job sick? if he can make someone sick he can withdraw that as well, so if Satan can put demons into someone all he has to do is STOP doing that.

The bible says there will be many false miracles.

there will be many many christians in these last days who are going to do all sorts of apparent miracles... just as when the magician produced the snake then moses produced his.

secondly if Jesus says many will say they cast out demons but then He says depart from Me I never knew you, then OF COURSE some will do that,

doing miracles is no evidence that one belongs to God. just like when the bible talks about being a tinkling cymbal... you can be a martyr, deliver your body to be burned, etc but if you dont have love you are nothing but a tinkling cymbal.

 

depart from Me ye that work iniquity:

Jeremiah 16:9-12: For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God? Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and ye have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law; And ye have done worse than your fathers.