CALLING AND PREDESTINATION

In my early years as a Christian, I had heard sermons by various preachers teaching us that predestination and free will are actually two sides of the same coin. God being omnipotent and omniscient knows exactly what you plan and choose to do and therefore, 'predestined' what your future will be. I know of many of my contemporaries who had gone into full-time ministries after having 'heard the call of God for their lives'. What exactly it is, according to them, is a question of 'faith' .But is this what the Bible actually teaches about the subjects? Let's take an exploratory tour of what the Scriptures say about the subjects of calling and predestination to search out the truth!

The Lord Jesus said in John 6:44, 'No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.' A simple explanation is that no one can fully understand God' s truth unless God"s Spirit calls or draws the person to His truth. It is God who does the adding to His Church (Acts 2:47), just as He has set the members, each one of them, in the body (of Christ) just as He pleased (1 Cor 12:18).

Many evangelists had quoted 2 Cor 6:2, 'Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation' to bring in the harvest imminently. The quote from Isaiah 49:8 by the Apostle Paul should be accurately translated as : 'In AN acceptable time I have heard You, and in A day of salvation I have helped You.' In both the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, there is no definite term 'the' contain therein. If it is the only time for salvation in Paul's time (the first century), then all of us are doomed! Basically, the verse is saying God has answered the prayer and brought help in a time of salvation for the repentant sinners at all times, even after Christ Second Coming when He will come 'to restore the earth' (Isaiah 49:8).

Personally, I have grappled with the verses in Matthew 13:10-11 as to why the Lord Jesus spoke in parables instead of direct statements to His disciples. When His disciples asked why He spoke to them in parables, He answered, 'Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (God), but to them (the masses) it has not been given.' But now I understand why God reveals His truth to some and not to others. Simply because some are called in this Church Age and others are not now called. However, those who are called have to accept the calling by obedience to follow Christ (by implication to renounce the world) in order to become the 'chosen ones' (Matthew 20:16; 22:14). Sadly, many in this Laodicean Era will not response to the call.

Many Christians are just believing IN Jesus Christ. This is not enough, for even the demons believe in Jesus Christ and trembled. Believing in Jesus is simply believing Who He is - the Son of the living God. We have to BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST, not just about the person of Christ. To believe Christ is to believe ALL His teachings including His message of the gospel of the Kingdom of God which God the Father sent Him to deliver as the Good News for mankind when God will establish His rule on earth to end all wars, injustices and sufferings! Until then, we must believe all of God's promises...simply put, LIVING BY FAITH (God's coming Kingdom of law and righteousness) and not by sight (Satan's world of lawlessness)!

Some may wonder, is it fair for God to call some and not others in this Church Age? Although we do not know and cannot question how God the Father select those destined to become sons of God, we do know He is fair and just. Those who are called and accepted the invitation through obedience to His will will form the Church of the Firstborn (Hebrews 12:23). They will be the Bride of Christ to rule in God's headquarters for the Millennial Age and throughout eternity. They are currently being judged (1 Peter 4:17) to qualify (or disqualify) for these honored positions in the Kingdom of God. Though the rewards are great, but so are the responsibilities. Hence character training to Christ-likeness is the key. Those who are being given the truth and yet renege will be severely judged and punished (Luke 12:47-48), some may even lose their eternal salvation. For much has been given, much will be expected of them. This is especially so for those who are leaders of His flock and teachers of His Word.

The rest of humanity who have either being blinded spiritually, deceived or who have never heard the gospel before in all the ages will be raised in the second resurrection (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15) on the Last Great Day (John 7:37). They will come before the Great White Throne of God to face judgment (Rev 20:11), not eternal condemnation as many theologians believed. That is why the Lord Jesus warned in Matthew 11:21-24 that those from Tyre, Sidon and Sodom who had repented on the Day of Judgment had they seen His miracles, they would have better hope than those who had seen but rejected His works and words! That will be the time when most of humanity (all the multiple billions who had ever lived) will learn of the truth of God and be saved, starting with Israel (Romans 11:26) as prophesied in Isaiah 66:8. Those who rejected the truth then will have no excuse. They will be annihilated in the Lake of Fire (Malachi 4:1). The prophecy in Zechariah 13:8-9 are for those saved during the Great Tribulation. The resurrected sons of God in the First Resurrection will be there to teach and train the billions of people in the great harvest (Jude 14-15;Rev 5:10).

Those who will learn of God's truth in the Millennial Age and repented will eventually qualify as children of God (and not as sons) in the Kingdom of God. They will have lower positions and glory than those who are sons of God since they will undergo lesser trials and tribulations as Satan and his demons would have been bound by then (Rev 20:3). God had predestined who to be saved in which age - the Firstfruits as sons of God in this church age (Eph 1: 9 to 14 - those who FIRST trusted in Christ, verse 12), some during the Great Tribulation and the rest during the Millennial Age.

Speaking of this later harvests, the Apostle Paul states in Romans 11:31-31, 'Even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.' The prophet Micah in the book that bears his name wrote in 4:2, 'Many nations shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.' Similarly in Isaiah 11:9-11 and 66:15-16, 18-19 show of a time when all the nations of the earth will seek Christ and worship Him as their God and King! By then, even the wild beast will stop their aggressive ways and be tamed (Isaiah 11:6-8). What a glorious world that will be!

Let's not be disheartened of all those who died without ever hearing the gospel. They are not all heading to 'the eternal flame of hell fire' as many church ministers would have you believed. All these are folklores from novels used by evangelists in the past centuries to frighten 'men unto repentance', albeit with good intentions. For the Bible says the wages of sin is death, not eternal life in hell fire. Incidentally, the term 'hell' is nothing more than the 'grave'. Man are evil, but not our Loving Eternal Heavenly Father. The worst scenario for man is annihilation in the Lake of Fire for those who rejected God's truth after having been taught and revealed to them. They will become dusts and ashes as God put them out of their misery!