Many Are Called But Few Have Chosen

This is the sixth post from Chapter 8 of Friends With God: God’s Friendship With Israel And The Church.

This chapter is about the similarities and differences between the Old and New Covenants.

It’s our choice to love God and walk in his ways, and he will reward us for our mindful, voluntary choice. Moses finished his last sermon to Israel by saying:

I call heaven and earth to record today against you.
I have set before you life and death, (two ways of life, which produce) blessing and cursing.
Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed (children) may live,
so (which requires) that you may love the Lord your God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling (be joined together) to Him.
(Deut 30:19-20)

In both the Old and New Covenants the choice is the same: to obey the terms of “love toward God and neighbour”, or refuse to do so and thus ignore the opportunity of our calling from God.

God wants friends, he doesn’t want servants who obey him out of compulsion. It has always been the same choice, which is why God chose his friend Abraham to be the example of a father of the faithful in both covenants. He also identified Moses and the Apostles as his friends. These people made the right choices, and set for us the ideal relationship of friendship with God.

Come To The Wedding Feast

Jesus tells the parable of the King who invited many of his servants to a great wedding feast, yet they ignored the invitation. Some servants even killed those who gave them the invitation! The King then destroyed those wicked servants and found others who would come willingly.

He concludes the parable by saying: for many are called, but few are chosen (Matt 22:1-14) The word ‘are’ in few are chosen, is not in the original, so it could read for many are called, but few have chosen- which would fit the context of the text better.

We have the opportunity to choose life. God is not going to force us to do so, or it would not be our choice. He tells us what the options are, and then leaves it up to us to choose life- to go to the wonderful wedding feast, or stay at home to do our own thing.

While love is the foundation of God’s law, as discussed in the previous post, the consequences of being in a covenant based on love are significant and serious. We are warned:

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they (Israel) did not escape, who refused him that spoke on earth, (at the time of Moses) much more we shall not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from Heaven, (via his Son, who was sent from heaven) (Heb 12:25-26)

The Pharisees had no love, so they could not understand justice, mercy, and faith, which are essential to appreciate how the law should be implemented in various situations:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, (very small herbs) and have omitted the weightier matters of the law (which are), justice, mercy, and faith (Matt 23:23-25)

When Jesus’ disciples were walking through a field of grain on the Sabbath and started to pluck some of the grain to eat, the Pharisees said they were working- which is forbidden on the Sabbath. Yet Jesus justified their actions by applying mercy due to their hunger, as discussed in this previous post. He concluded the discourse with the Pharisees by saying:

But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. (Matt 12:1-8)

The Pharisees did not love God, they loved power over others. They used the law of God as a stick to beat people up with, rather than a guide to show people how to live a good life, based on love to God and neighbour.

Without understanding that mercy is at the foundation of the law, the Pharisees could not understand the intent and purpose of the law, which is to guide us in living a good, happy and healthy life. Due to their lack of love for others they were therefore unable to be in covenant with God.

Love Out Of A Pure Heart

Paul also confirms that the purpose of the law is not merely obedience, but to develop love:

Now the goal of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved (away from) have turned aside unto vain babbling (they were talking nonsense); (They are) Desiring to be teachers of the law; (yet they were) understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. (they didn’t know what they were talking about) But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; (1Tim 1:5-8)

If you don’t love God and neighbour and therefore don’t understand justice, mercy and faith, then you simply don’t understand that the law is for our good, nor are you able to use the law lawfully, as you can’t correctly appreciate and implement the laws of God.

• The leaders of the Jews had a desire to be teachers of the law; yet they understood neither what they say (about the law), nor whereof they affirm (they were ignorant of the basic tenets of the law being love, mercy, faith and justice).

Their ignorance was because they did not love God.

They consequently could not be in covenant with him. Instead, they loved to have the praise of men! (John 12:43, John 8:39-47) They had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Rom 10:2) Yet, zeal without love is of no value. All zeal does is to just accelerate the mess that is produced from being ignorant of God!

The Law Is Not Made For A Righteous Man

Paul continues in 1Timothy to explain whom the law is actually written for:

Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for enslavers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; (1Tim 1:9-10)

The strict letter of the law was to keep evil people (not in covenant with God) who lived in Israel, under control. Yet those who loved God could go above the specific letter of the covenant law, by using mercy and justice to implement the law to its full intent.

People in Israel needed to love God in order to comprehend the full intent and meaning of the laws within the Old Covenant. Love is the foundation of both the Old and the New Covenants. You may be called by God as a Christian, but until you choose to obey him in love, then there is no covenant with him, as the terms of the covenant have not been met.

Without love toward God and neighbour, these covenants with God simply don’t have any practical application. The covenants exist as an ideal with clear goals that have to be implemented in love to God and neighbour, to ensure the fulfilment of the covenant.

All those people listed in Hebrews 11 lived in covenant with God, as they chose to love God and live his way of life.

There Is No Difference Between Jew And Greek

The law was given to Israel so they could learn to believe in God:

But what does it (the Old Covenant) say? "The Word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart"; that is, the Word of Faith which we (Christians) proclaim; Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation. For the Scripture (the Old Covenant) says, "Everyone believing on Him shall not be put to shame."

For there is no difference between Jew and of Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call on Him. For everyone, "whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Rom 10:8-13)

There is no difference between Jew and Greek in loving God, as it’s the same God who will reward those who call on him.

Prior to the time of Christ, non-Jews could become members of physical Israel, and thus worship God, which required them to be circumcised. Israelites and converted non-Jews could also be granted the Holy Spirit and be in the first resurrection, as we see with Rahab. (Heb 11:31)

Unfortunately, the nation of Israel as a whole failed to love God. Their role of teaching the world about the Kingdom of God was consequently taken away from the physical nation of Israel, and given to those in the New Covenant. (Matt 21:33-46)

Israel was given 40 years of witness about the New Covenant from the time Jesus began his ministry, until the destruction of the Temple (along with deaths of most of the priests) in 70AD.

After the New Covenant began, there was a change to those who were called by God, for there was no need for people to come into the physical household of Israel, as "whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Spiritual Israel

Christians are not being tacked onto the physical nation of Israel, but are rather being made into the Spiritual Nation of Israel, which is a completely different entity. Physical Israel was to be a type of this Spiritual Israel. Chapter 5 of Friends With God, in this series of posts, explains who the Church is and what God has promised for those in it.

In the future physical Kingdom of God, physical Israel will fulfil its role on the Earth of being an example to the rest of the world of how to live God’s way of life. But for now, before Christ returns, the Church is Spiritual Israel, and is the only light to the world of God’s way of life.

The law given to physical Israel was a national law, but because the law-keeper was required to love God and his neighbour, it necessitated that a person develop an individual loving relationship with God, and with other people.

This is the same foundational requirement we find in the New Covenant. Jesus told us:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matt 5:17)

By fulfilling the law he meant that he came to show us how to live these laws to the full, by being the example of how to love God and our neighbour.

The blood of Christ is the New Covenant, by which we have agreed to do The Will of God, as demonstrated by Jesus’ life. (Matt 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, 1Cor 11:25)

His life’s example fully demonstrated the correct implementation of the law- with love, justice, mercy and faith correctly placed at the foundation of it.

From the above we can see that the intent of the law of God, in either covenant, is that it be used correctly, and we can thus conclude that both covenants are based on love and are only ever able to be entered into voluntarily by those who choose to love God and obey him.