Many are called but few are chosen

I used to think that God chose those that will go to heaven and He filled them with His Holy Spirit and changed their heart so that they would be acceptable to the Father. I thought that there was nothing that man could do to be saved because God did it all.

John 8: 47 " He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God."
Throughout the whole Bible, communication between God and man is done through the Father's Holy Spirit. Those that hear God's words are those that are called by God and have received His Holy Spirit. That is why in Matt 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 demons? And in thy name done many wonderful works? " , these people had received the Father's Holy Spirit in order to perform the above mentioned works. But in Matt 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, who is in heaven." , the chosen are those that hear the words of the Father through His Holy Spirit and obey. In Matt 7 :23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity. ", iniquity is failure to obey Christ's commandments which is to love God first and everyone else second. When we do everything motivated by love , we are walking in the Spirit and obeying.

Here we go again.

What I'm saying is that man does have a choice if he responds to the Father's will by obedience to His Holy Spirit.

Matthew 22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,

Matthew 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

Matthew 22:3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

Matthew 22:4 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.

Matthew 22:5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

Matthew 22:6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

Matthew 22:7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Matthew 22:8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.

Matthew 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

Matthew 22:10 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.

Matthew 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

Matthew 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Matthew 22:13 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.

Matthew 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.



The chosen
GOD has those who are born to do HIS WILL. They do not have free choice. He knew them before, they have been pre ordained. They are pre saved.

IN MY WORDS FOR THE EFFECT and not for truth

They are those such as Moses, who said Not me, I stutter.
Or Jonah who said Nope and ended up in a great fishes belly 3 days.
Jeremaih who said, I'm too young.


THEY didn't have a choice. Being saved already, GOD could use them however He saw fit.

I could be wrong but it seems to me most of those who are chosen have a pretty tough to a very tough to a killed doing service life. So to be chosen SOUNDS GOOD but it seems to come with lots of trials and tribulations and beatings and torture.


The called - US, WE, Christians
We hear the words of God that the chosen scribed for God. Those words tell the events of what other chosen ones did. God used the chosen to get the calling done.

Are there still chosen today? I don't know. I personally believe the next 'chosen' the world will know of are the two witnesses. I

But who knows, maybe once we are called and we have attained, we become 'chosen' to call others as servants of God. Either way it's all good. If I were to guess I would say if someone were 'chosen' today, they would spend ALL of their time in the service of God and nothing but the service of God.


God is not a respecter of persons so it doesn't matter one way or the other. God loves us and we love God. Chosen or called.

Romans 10-13 + Galatians 3:5~ Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Does God lavish His Spirit on you and work miracles among you because you obey the law, or because you hear and believe?

Is that what comes to your mind every time you have to spread the Gospel to an unbeliever? I'm assuming that you know it all and don't need to discuss what you think you already know. As for me, I am searching for confirmation and correction.

This is a topic that goes right to the heart of Man’s salvation. I believe that every side has a good position that can be backed. However, what is more consistent with Scripture; man’s choice or God’s? I lean more towards the latter. Of course this will never be settled this side of eternity.

And what you're saying is absolutely correct.

Men can resist the promptings/strivings of God's Holy Spirit, and they've been doing just that all throughout Biblical history.

For example, Stephen said:

Acts chapter 7

[51] Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
[52] Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Those who were resisting the Holy Ghost in Stephen's day were merely following in the footsteps of their forefathers who long did the same themselves.

And so it continues, even to this day, and even on this thread...

No, they had not received the Holy Spirit and it was their claim to have done wonderful works. But when a person gets saved, he/she is indwelled with the Holy Spirit. In other places it is called "born of the Spirit". God never "knew" the persons referred to in verse 23. See John 10:14 about "knowing".

Lol I didn't even read the OP. I saw your post and thought "should I even bother"?

Those that Jesus confessed that he did not know them could not have recieved the holy ghost. If they had recieved the holy ghost then he would have known them for he would have shed it upon them.

I suspect those who will say to him that they had done many wonderful works in his name were doing iniquity as Jesus said.

It always comes up and causes contention between the believer’s.

Everyone who hears the Gospel message is called. Out of the Called a few are chosen for leadership...which is what Jesus was saying to the man who said that he was willing to follow Jesus and become a disciple.

Some people just want to argue and cause contention. Nothing wrong with marking wolves in sheep's clothing.

1 Corinthians 11:19~ No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval.

I think from the confines of one’s own domicile, the ability to have cordial and informative debates has been lost. Even here, a lot want hear themselves instead of actually dissecting a particular topic. Oh well.

I agree, we have free will, we have free choice. Yes, there are scriptures that can possibly make a person think we have no choice, but these verses have to considered in light of what's obvious—that is, we have free choice. We walk with the Lord because we want to, not because we don't have any say in the matter.

Isn't that disrespectful and proudful for a Christian?