The Called and the Chosen

•••by Russell Young

An understanding of the difference between the “called” and the “chosen” will bring Biblical teachings into much clearer understanding.  “Calling” can have different applications.  It may refer to a person’s having been called to Christ, it may mean that he or she has been called to endure a specific tribulation (as in the case of Job), or it may refer to a person having been called to a specific ministry according to his or her gifting.

In the parable of the wedding banquet Christ said, “For many are invited [called, KJV] but few are chosen.” (Mt 22:14, NIV) Clearly, more are called to enjoy the wedding banquet of the Lamb than will be chosen to attend.  The difference will be the matter of righteousness.  In the parable mentioned above, the guest without “wedding clothes” was cast out. (Mt 22:12)

The chosen ones are chosen from those who have been called into fellowship with the Lord.  From those who have been invited few will be honoured or chosen for positions of privilege.  Those chosen to attend the wedding banquet will be selected because of their commitment to righteousness.

Who are the “called”?  All have been called to come to the Lord for cleansing, but not all have received the invitation.  As in the parable, God has commissioned His servants to go to the street corners and invite anyone that they can find.

The called who have accepted God’s invitation through confession and repentance are cleansed of all past sins and are given the Holy Spirit that they might walk righteously.  Many teach that once a person is redeemed, his state of holiness or moral purity remains one of consecration forever.  The Bible does not endorse such a view, however.

Peter wrote of the redeemed who have become entangled again being worse off than if they had not known the way of righteousness in the first place. (2 Pet 2:20-21) They are neither morally blameless nor are they consecrated to God, but have chosen to go their own way. The writer of Hebrews has revealed the “impossibility” of bringing back to repentance those who have fallen away. (Heb 6:4-6, NIV) They have been redeemed but have treated with disdain their gifting.

When a person is redeemed, he or she is cleansed from their “past sins;” however, that one’s state of holiness might not last.  There is a walk to be walked and a life to be lived.  John has recorded, “If we claim to have fellowship with him [Christ] yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 Jn 1:6-7, NIV) The fellowship that a person is privileged to enjoy with the Lord is dependent upon the nature of his or her walk.  Paul admonished believers not to mock God through living in the sinful nature. (Gal 6:7) The Lord proclaimed that some would be cast from him because they were evil-doers even though they had called him “Lord.” ((Mt 7:21-23)

Paul has reminded his brothers, those who have been called, that they have an obligation to be led by the Spirit and to “put to death the misdeeds of the body.” (Rom 8:14, NIV, 4; Gal 5:18)

There are many other passages that imply that not all of the called will be of the chosen.  Those who teach otherwise are offering false comfort, rather than truth, to their listeners.

To re-state the Lord’s words, “For many are invited [called, KJV] but few are chosen.”  Since there are more called than chosen, there are two ways of taking this passage.  That is, the chosen must either be of a group separate from the called or the chosen must be from the group of the called or invited but not all of it.

If two different groups are being referenced, it might be considered that some were “called” to be of the family of God while others were chosen.  That is, God might have directly chosen them according to his “foreknowledge” to be part of the family.  In such case, they would have become part without even having had to respond to His invitation while the other group would have been invited (called) but would not have had any hope of being chosen.

The other option is that God had called (invited) individuals to be part of his family but they must respond or accept the invitation.  (They would have had the option either to accept or reject it.)  From these and according to his foreknowledge, or knowledge before having chosen them, and according to his understanding he makes his choice.  According to the love responses of the called, God becomes informed of the confessor’s heart state and of his claim of repentance as revealed through his testimony.  God “knows” or becomes “knowledgeable” of that person’s spiritual disposition.  His Spirit is either being honoured or it is being quenched, denied, and/or blasphemed.  “Forsaking” the Spirit is considered blasphemy (Ezek 20:27) and leads to death.  Regardless, fewer are chosen than are called.

Some accept that by their good fortune and through God’s grace and mercy, he chose them before the beginning of time to be a member of his eternal family; however, this special application of God’s grace is not the teaching of God’s Word.  All have been invited (Rev 22:17; Titus 2:11; Mt 28:19) According to Paul’s teaching, “God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” (2 Thess 2:13)

Although many understand Paul’s teaching of glorification to apply to all of those “called,” the passage really only offers hope of glorification, to those “called according to God’s purpose.”

In the parable of the wedding feast, the King had noticed a man who appeared at the banquet without proper wedding clothes.  This man was being disrespectful of the King’s standard of dress and of the King, and failed to acknowledge or to honour him through acceptable presentation.  He had taken no care and had shown no concern regarding the event or the person being celebrated.  He did not show up with an attitude of love or respect for his King but had treated the event and his Sovereign as common and ordinary.  He was thrown outside into the darkness.  The dress required for access to the wedding banquet is a white robe, the dress of righteousness.  Only those so dressed will be chosen to participate in the wedding banquet. “Without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Heb 12:14)

 

The Connection Between Generosity and Humility

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

 

In last week’s study, regular contributor Pastor Clarke Dixon looked at the church in Acts 2 and their generosity.  Today he looks at a character flaw which impacts all of us at some time or in some degree that can destroy a generous spirit.  Click the title below to read this at source.

So That’s What It Looks Like! Generosity and Getting Past Ourselves.

Last week we considered the work of God on our hearts, causing us to be a people who are marked by generous hearts. Generosity is to be a character trait of the Christian person and it should end up being reflected in all of life. However, just because such heart-work is Holy-Spirit-work does not mean that it will happen automatically and without some difficulty. The Bible teaches us to “not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19 NRSV), which means of course that we can quench or stifle the work of the Holy Spirit.

One of the quickest ways of quenching the Spirit’s work in our lives is through pride. Pride kills the generosity in our hearts before we even get started. We think to ourselves “I do generous things. I am generous. I have a generous heart. I am generous enough!” See what such thinking does? It cuts us off from growing further. We may well be generous, and may seem especially so when compared with others, but when pride hits, growth stops. Even the best givers among us have room for heart-growth in generosity.

So how do we keep ourselves from aiming a fire hose at the generosity-fire the Holy Spirit has lit in our hearts?

Let me begin with an example. One area in which pride can quickly grow in me is in my ability to play bass guitar. Having participated in numerous bands with a diversity of styles I have progressed in my abilities. Though signing far less autographs than the frontman or guitarist, I have received much affirmation as a bass player. However, when I see, hear, or am with a really good bass player, I want to never play bass again! Instead I want to leave it to the masters and go back to jamming alone in my basement. This is an experience of humility, a recognition that I have so much more to learn. So the trick to dealing with pride is to spend time with a master. And when it comes to generosity there is no master greater than the Master Himself. Consider that God the Father is:

• generous in setting up a universe fit for human flourishing
• generous in provision
• generous in giving freedom
• generous in giving us the Scriptures
• generous in sending prophets
• generous in establishing covenants
• generous in making promises
• generous in loyal love
• generous in grace
• generous in giving His Son
• generous in giving His Holy Spirit

And now consider God the Son who is:

• generous in his teaching
• generous in his calling of disciples
• generous in his healing
• generous in his feeding
• generous in his serving
• generous in his death
• generous in his resurrection
• generous in His return
• generous in His shepherding

And consider God the Holy Spirit who is:

• generous in His presence
• generous in His comfort
• generous in His conviction
• generous in His challenge

And we could think of so much more. Now that is what generosity looks like! You do not need to walk with our Lord too far before you realize the extent of His generosity and the humble generosity that is yours. The prophet Micah encourages us to “walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8 NRSV).” Is there any other way to walk with God? When you spend time with God you get over yourself. Pride is replaced with humility.

But humility is not the only thing that we experience. Upon hearing a master bass player I want to give up, yes, but I do pick up the bass again and aspire to do better. Pride gives way to humility plus aspiration. Spending time with our Lord will make us aspire to greater generosity as we seek to emulate the Master.

Do you have a generous heart?

If you immediately answer “yes” then the challenge is to walk with Jesus. You may well be generous and you may be an example to others. But be careful you are not stifling the Spirit’s work in your life, getting stuck where you are and no longer growing toward where Jesus is. Walk with the Master and let Him deal with your pride as you learn what a generous heart really looks like. Let pride turn to humility and aspiration and let your already generous heart grow under the Spirit’s guidance.

If you answered “no” then you have the opportunity for great growth. Walk with the Master and let Him show you what a generous heart looks like. Then aspire to have generosity fill your heart, emulating the Master.

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Go deeper: If you want to engage with a study on the generous heart of The Father, check out The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller.

When Computers Set Ministry Agenda

Romans 8:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Most of you probably have some type of agenda/organizer that came with your computer. There are also programs available to pastors and churches that are more specialized; more specific. They are capable of setting the agenda for all sorts of things from a one-year preaching arc to visitation to church finances and everything in between.

In A. W. Tozer’s day the personal computer or laptop had never been envisioned, let alone the smart phone. Instead, he wrote about the most progressive office organizing tool of his day, what we know now as the Rolodex. The article he wrote was titled, “Beware the File-Card Mentality.”

It is part of human nature to want to organize, to put things in boxes and people into categories. It’s part of our DNA to compose lists, make charts and have a diagram for just about everything. Our ability to visually simplify things is not all bad; where would we be without maps? But there are dangers implicit in doing this in a church or ministry environment.

Tozer wrote:

• The essence of true religion is spontaneity, the sovereign movings of the Holy Spirit upon and in the free spirit of redeemed men.
• When religion loses its sovereign character and becomes mere form, this spontaneity is lost also, and its place comes precedent, propriety, system — and the file-card mentality.
• Behind the file-card mentality is the belief that spirituality can be organized. Then is introduced into religion those ideas which never belong there — numbers, statistics, the law of averages, and other such natural and human things. And creeping death always follows.
• The danger comes from the well-known human tendency to depend on external helps in dealing with internal things.
• [This mentality] divides the Bible into sections fitted to the days of the year and compels the Christian to read according to rule.
• From the road in, it looks like a good idea to work out a system of sermon coverage, mapping out the doctrines of the Bible as a farmer divides his acres, allowing a certain amount of time during the year for sermons on the various Bible truths so that at the end of a given period, proper attention will have been paid to each one. Theoretically, this should be fine, but it will kill any man who follows it, and it will kill his church as well and one characteristic of this kind of death is that neither pastor nor people are aware that it is come
• It is a deadly thing and works to quench the spontaneous operation of the Spirit.
• The glory of the gospel is its freedom. The Pharisees, who were slaves, hated Christ because He was free. The battle for spiritual freedom did not end when our Lord had risen from the dead. It still goes on…

All of the above is mostly word-for-word, but for Tozer’s final paragraph, I have to paraphrase this to make it relevant to our century:

• It will indeed be a cause for mourning when the work of God is entrusted wholly to the webmaster, the ‘tech pastor,’ and the IT department.

Restricting the Holy Spirit’s Ability to Move

As a worship leader serving in local churches under various pastors, it was always crucial that I knew where the pastor/church stood on the operation of spiritual gifts — in particular gifts of utterance — since I was the one holding the microphone and controlling a good portion of the opening of each weekend service.  In once church we came up with this “policy” — with tongue firmly planted in cheek, I should stress — for dealing with tongues and interpretation:

TRUTH # 1 — People are free to give a message in tongues as long as there is someone present to interpret.
TRUTH # 2 — There is no one here to interpret.

As insane as that sounds, it’s actually reflective of how many churches deal with the issue of “the gifts” and the movement of the Holy Spirit in general.  There may not be an actual policy — or even a tongue-in-cheek one — but there are unstated rules which limit the possibilities for God to ‘break in’ to the service; and the larger the church, the more of these unstated rules exist.

• We don’t have time in this service for that
• We tried that once and it was a disaster
• We’re open to that, but we do that in a group that meets on Wednesday morning at 6:30
• People desiring that type of worship might prefer a different type of church
• Once we do that, it opens the flood gates for similar things and then gets out of hand
• It might intimidate or drive away visitors
• If the service runs too long, the children’s ministry workers complain
• It will remind everyone too much of what it was like when _________ was the pastor
• It sends the wrong kind of message
• Our services are carefully crafted by the planning team to fit a specific theme and format
• It might damage the carpet

Okay, I threw that last one in rather randomly.  But the tone of argument might sound familiar to you if you’ve spent any time in church.  On the other hand, there are probably people reading this who attend house churches (or simple church) who have no idea what I’m writing about, since those smaller settings allow for a greater set of possibilities to take place. But we do create barriers to God’s Spirit moving in freedom.  Instead, we should be meeting with expectancy; leaving spaces in our worship and teaching times for unplanned things to happen.

Here’s I Thess. 5:19 in a few translations:

• Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.  (NLT)
• Do not quench the Spirit (NASB)
• Do not extinguish the Spirit (RV – Spanish – trans.)
• Don’t suppress the Spirit (MSG)
• Do not hold back the work of the Holy Spirit  (NCV)
• Don’t suppress the Spirit  (Common English Bible)
• Do not dampen the Spirit (Luther – German – trans.)

Are there patterns we’ve fallen into, and unwritten rules we’re following that impede the work of the Holy Spirit in our churches?