Who is called by God through Christ?
Hey "Calvinistic characters" - chew on this, "ONE time!
Romans 8:29
For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Ephesians 1:3-5
Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
God
chose us from before the foundation of the world, and we were
predestinated according to God's good pleasure. So does this mean we had
nothing to say about it? Does this mean then that no matter what we
would have done with our lives, we had absolutely no say whatsoever in
whether or not we would become God's children? Is everything that
happens to us therefore totally beyond our control? I think you can
begin to smell the stink already. Let's look more closely at this.
Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
This
must be one of the most misused scriptures in the whole bible. It is
usually quoted to make people feel bad about themselves when they make
mistakes. It also paints God in a bad light, as if he is poking around
with a stick looking for someone worth keeping. When people make
mistakes and fall short, as we all do, this scripture is often used
against them as a weapon, to make them feel guilty and unworthy.
There
are a number of important keys to the word's interpretation, and one of
them is that a scripture must be in harmony with all the other
scriptures relating to the same subject. If we have many clear verses on
a subject and one apparently contradictory verse, do we ignore the many
clear verses and focus solely on the unclear verse? Not if we are
interested in an honest handling of the word of God, we don't. Here are a
few scriptures that clearly teach that God is no respecter of persons.
Romans 2:11
For there is no respect of persons with God.
Ephesians 6:9
...neither is there respect of persons with him.
1 Timothy 2:3,4
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
John 3:16
For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Without
labouring the point, God isn't fussy about whom he chooses. Therefore,
if Matthew 22:14 teaches that God is choosy about people, it contradicts
the rest of the bible.
Another key to the interpretation of the
word is that all scripture interprets itself in the verse, in its
context, or where it has been used before. The immediate context of
Matthew 22:14 happens to be a parable. A parable is a figure of speech,
in this case, an extended simile. A simile is the simplest figure of
speech in language and as such makes only one point of comparison. For
example, if we say a person runs like a cheetah, the only point we are
making is that the person is a fast runner. We are not implying that the
person has four legs, a spotty fur coat, and likes to eat monkeys. That
would be absurd. The only comparison the simile makes in this example
is regarding the person's speed as a runner. Similarly, this parable,
which is an extended simile, makes only one point of comparison and one
point only. You cannot spiritualise every single point in this parable
as if it were an allegory.
Jesus Christ used this parable, this
simile, to paint a picture in the minds of his listeners. He used their
culture and their language to illustrate one point regarding the kingdom
of God - many are called, but few are chosen. Therefore, if we can
understand the meaning of the parable, we will understand the meaning
behind those words. The entire parable illustrates this one spiritual
truth, nothing else.
Matthew 22:1,2
And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son
The words like unto tell us this is the figure of speech simile.
Matthew 22:3-7
And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Again,
he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden,
Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed,
and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
But
when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his
armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Remember,
this is a parable with only one point of comparison. It is not an
allegory. You cannot take each aspect of this parable and spiritualise
it, as it only makes one point of comparison. There is nothing to learn
spiritually from the parable so far as it is merely part of an
illustration from their culture that Jesus used to paint a picture for
those listening. It is fiction, a made up story, not a real life event.
This has never happened and this king never existed in real life. He is
merely building a mind picture for them using words they understood so
that at the end he could make a single spiritual truth live for them in a
very real, unique, and special way. If you were to try to say this is
referring to Israel in the old testament then are you also saying that
it was God who did all this killing and burning? This was a story he
made up that they would understand so he could illustrate a single point
regarding the kingdom of God.
Matthew 22:8-14
Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which are bidden were not worthy,
Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
So
those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as
many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished
with guests.
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
And he said unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Then
said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him
away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Now
we need to check another key to the word's interpretation - all
scripture must be understood according to its biblical usage. The bible
is an eastern book filled with eastern customs and we often need to
understand these orientalisms to get to the truth behind the words.
Understanding eastern culture is the key to understanding this parable
and the truth it illustrates.
In Jesus' day, guests did not wear
their own clothes to a royal wedding. The king personally sent out
wedding clothes to everyone on the guest list. It was the king's
responsibility to provide tux and tails for the gentlemen and dresses
for the ladies. That was their culture. Of course, everyone Jesus Christ
was talking to here would have known that. They would have also known
that to turn up at a royal wedding in your own clothes, having
deliberately refused to wear the clothes provided by the king, would
have been an unpardonable breach of etiquette. It would be a bit like
turning up for dinner with the queen at a State banquet dressed in tatty
jeans and a rude t-shirt, only much worse. Refusing to wear the royal
wedding garment would have been an unpardonable act of disrespect, like
spitting in the king's face in public.
When this person was
confronted, he was speechless. What could he say? He had been freely
given a royal wedding garment and had knowingly and willingly refused to
wear it, showing unbelievable disrespect for the king, and breaking
every cultural protocol imaginable. It was his choice to do so because
he had freedom of will.
Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Whether
we choose to clothe ourselves with what God has made freely available,
is our choice. We decide whether or not we are one of the chosen few. It
is our choice, our decision. We can decide to clothe ourselves with
what God has made freely available, or we can choose to ignore the
invitation. If you want to march into God's presence and tell him that
what he has freely made available isn't good enough for you, fine, go
ahead. Let's look again at those verses in Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:3-5
Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Is
eternal life available to all? Yes, it is. Who decides whether or not
we are one of the chosen? We do. It is our choice. We, by the freedom of
our will, decide to become one of God's chosen. God in his
foreknowledge knew we would believe before the foundation of the world
and, therefore, he foreordained us to the adoption of children. He knew
we would believe, but it was we ourselves by our freedom of will that
made the choice to become God's child. How did we do that?
Romans 10:9,10
That
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved [sōzō].
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Confessing
with our mouths and believing in our hearts are decisions we make.
Without believing and confessing as stipulated in Romans 10:9, we would
not receive the gift of holy spirit, we would not be clothed with power
from on high. The receiving of the gift of holy spirit is entirely
conditional on us carrying out the instruction given in Romans 10:9.
When we confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts
that God raised him from the dead, we are saved (Greek sōzō), made
whole, referring to once again being complete, being whole, with body,
soul and spirit.
Does God force us to believe? No. God never
forces anyone to do anything. He gave us freedom of will and it is up to
us whether we choose to believe God and his word or not. Therefore,
predestination here is simply a reference to God's foreknowledge. He
knew way back in the beginning that we would believe, and so we were
predestined, foreordained to become sons and daughters of God.
BONUS: (example and explanation)
Yeah, Lydia like Cornelius, was simply willing to receive what she was
taught
with open-mindedness, as it is with every one of us, who must receive
God's word,
with meekness!!
Now; the three "R's" of receiving from God:
Receive, Retain, Release
James 1:21
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness,
and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your
souls.
Titus 1:9
Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be
able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
Philippians 2:16
Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of
Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
God or Calvin? STUPID!!
Predestination
God
knows ahead of time who is going to believe His Word. Therefore, God
calls them according to His eternal purpose (to have a family).
God knew ahead of time (foreknowledge) that you and I would believe.
Consequently, God predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his
Son. Predestination is a very misunderstood concept.
God does
not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!! God pre-arranged or
predestinated that which HE was going to do as a result of our
believing. God decided (according to HIS purpose) that HE WOULD GIVE US
holy spirit making us His children. Predestination in the Word of God
is God deciding ahead of time what He is going to do - not what we are
going to do.
Again, God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!!
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