Loyal
In some churches there a great deal of talk about the chosen, the elect. Those who God chooses.
I personally believe He chooses us all, but that's another topic. Some of the verses often used to support
this are....
Mark 13:20; "Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.
John 15:19; "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
John 15:16; "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
We didn't choose Jesus, but He chose us. Why? Why did He choose us? If we continue on in this verses
it says.... "appointed you that you would go and bear fruit". (and that your fruit would remain)
We are appointed to bear fruit. There are many verses about what this fruit looks like, but again, that's
another topic.
This may comes as a shock to some, but not everyone Jesus chooses goes to heaven.
John 6:70; Jesus answered them, "Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?"
Even though Jesus chose Judas, He knew who and what Judas was.
Luke 10:1; Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.
Jesus actually appointed seventy "others" to go preach and spread the gospel. He even gave them authority
over daemons.
Luke 10:17; The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."
.. and yet, even though Jesus chose them....
John 6:64; "But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.
John 6:65; And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."
John 6:66; As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
Some of Jesus's disciples that He chose.... withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
Even though Jesus chooses us, we need to choose Him back. We need to confirm His calling.
2 Pet 1:10; Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
2 Pet 1:11; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
We have to be "diligent to make certain" about His calling and choosing us.
We have to practice certain things in order to do this... (so that we won't stumble)
2 Pet 1:5-9 tell us what these things are that we should be practicing, but the point here is...
Even though Jesus chose us, we can still stumble.
Now all stumbling doesn't cost us our salvation (thank God for grace).
Jas 3:2; For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
But we can stumble to the point of going to hell. (practicing sin)
Mark 9:42; "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.
Mark 9:43; "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,
Mark 9:44; [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]
Mark 9:45; "If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,
Mark 9:46; [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]
Mark 9:47; "If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,
Mark 9:48; where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.
It's better to get rid of the things that cause you to keep stumbling... than to be cast into hell.
I personally believe He chooses us all, but that's another topic. Some of the verses often used to support
this are....
Mark 13:20; "Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.
John 15:19; "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
John 15:16; "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
We didn't choose Jesus, but He chose us. Why? Why did He choose us? If we continue on in this verses
it says.... "appointed you that you would go and bear fruit". (and that your fruit would remain)
We are appointed to bear fruit. There are many verses about what this fruit looks like, but again, that's
another topic.
This may comes as a shock to some, but not everyone Jesus chooses goes to heaven.
John 6:70; Jesus answered them, "Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?"
Even though Jesus chose Judas, He knew who and what Judas was.
Luke 10:1; Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.
Jesus actually appointed seventy "others" to go preach and spread the gospel. He even gave them authority
over daemons.
Luke 10:17; The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."
.. and yet, even though Jesus chose them....
John 6:64; "But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.
John 6:65; And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."
John 6:66; As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
Some of Jesus's disciples that He chose.... withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
Even though Jesus chooses us, we need to choose Him back. We need to confirm His calling.
2 Pet 1:10; Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
2 Pet 1:11; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
We have to be "diligent to make certain" about His calling and choosing us.
We have to practice certain things in order to do this... (so that we won't stumble)
2 Pet 1:5-9 tell us what these things are that we should be practicing, but the point here is...
Even though Jesus chose us, we can still stumble.
Now all stumbling doesn't cost us our salvation (thank God for grace).
Jas 3:2; For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
But we can stumble to the point of going to hell. (practicing sin)
Mark 9:42; "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.
Mark 9:43; "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,
Mark 9:44; [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]
Mark 9:45; "If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,
Mark 9:46; [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]
Mark 9:47; "If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,
Mark 9:48; where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.
It's better to get rid of the things that cause you to keep stumbling... than to be cast into hell.
