NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
The purpose of this document is to simplify and make clear to the extent possible God’s plan of salvation as knowable from the Bible by those to whom it has been given to know.
Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Christ spoke in parables to the masses that followed Him so that they would not understand Him. At the time of His First Coming He came to teach only His disciples. And since the foundation of God’s New Testament Spirit-begotten Church, God the Father is calling only a select few whose minds He opens to understand His truth which is only possible for a human being to know by revelation. During the calling out process, God’s Spirit is with the individual teaching him enough truth to bring him to the point where he has to make the decision to either follow his calling or go back into the world out of which he is being called out.
Those that are called before Christ’s 2nd Coming are those who have been predestinated to be called before the foundation of the world.
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Please note, to be predestinated to be called doesn’t mean guaranteed salvation. It merely means being given the opportunity to know God’s spiritual truth and to choose whether to commit ourselves to obeying God for the rest of our lives or to go back into the world.
On Being Called and Chosen
God’s calling is the first part of the salvation process. Being called is not the same thing as becoming converted and conversion is not the same thing as salvation. There has been a tendency for people to think that all that needs to occur for someone to become part of God’s Church is to be called. Isn’t the church the “called out ones” they say? Indeed, it is but being called out is not the only factor that needs to be taken into consideration.
What does Christ say on the topic of “being called out”?
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
This is the concluding statement of the parable of the wedding feast. God says that He is calling many but that most of those called do not follow their calling and as a result they are not chosen. They refuse to come out of the world and live in newness of life seeking to the best of their abilities to obey God in all things. They prefer to remain the highest authority in their own lives and live them as they best see fit; not to have God as the supreme ruler in their lives.
Simply being called is not sufficient, we must also be chosen. We are chosen when we self-willingly and without any coercion whatsoever voluntarily accept God as being the highest authority in our lives rather than ourselves.
But, does being called and chosen necessarily lead to salvation?
Overcoming
The Bible is clear that it is those who are called, chosen and who are overcomers who are to inherit salvation. They are those who upon being called choose God’s way of life and commit to changing their lives as much as humanly possible for them to be as much as possible like Christ’s life. He lived a perfect, sinless life though He was tempted in all ways as we are (Heb 4:15).
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Being a Christian is much more than simply knowing the truth. Christians must put the truth that they have in practice in their every day lives. Being teachable means not only to be able to acquire new knowledge but also to believe what is taught us; belief that leads us to put that knowledge to use. Simply knowing and believing is not enough, our faith, what we believe, must express itself in concrete actions or works.
Faith Without Works is Dead
God through James makes it clear that simply saying we believe the truth is not enough. If we really believe what we say we believe then this will result in our changing what we do, how we live our lives, how we treat others, how we interact with the saints and our attitude toward what Paul calls “this present evil world.” Essentially, God says that what we do is the true indicator of what we say we believe.
Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
What counts for God is what we do, not what we say as explained in the following lesson given by Christ to His disciples.
Mat 21:28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
Mat 21:29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
Mat 21:30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
Mat 21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father?
The answer should be plain to all of us, the one who went to work in his father’s vineyard after having said he wouldn’t go. Actions speak louder than words as we say today; a mere profession of belief is not enough; it must be followed up with action or “works” as the Bible calls it.
There is one more requirement to inherit salvation.
Being Faithful Unto the End
The Bible gives out a very serious warning to all those who have been called and chosen. There is no certainty that after having started off on the road to conversion we cannot ever decide to no longer remain under God’s authority. God makes it very clear that if ever a converted person decides to go back into the world, it will never again be possible for that person to recapture the truth they once had.
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
God’s Spirit will then leave the person and they will again become blind as they were before; they have lost their salvation. How blind are they? They do not even realize they have left the truth and this is why it is impossible to reason with them as in their minds they are still being faithful to the truth though they no longer believe the truth originally given them.
For salvation to be possible, we must endure or remain faithful to the truth until the end of our natural lives.
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
For salvation to occur, we must be called, chosen and faithful i.e., endure in the truth until the time of our death. True Christians must be ever careful not to slowly drift back to their old ways of living while thinking everything is fine because they are part of a congregation of the Church of God, are keeping the Sabbath and the Holy days and are tithing. These things are certainly good and necessary and something which all true Christians must do but simply doing these things will not make our calling and election sure; they will not by themselves ensure our salvation.
What is the problem?
Pitfall on the way to Salvation
Christ said that many are called but few are chosen preferring to remain in the world out of which they are being called. And as for those who have embarked on a lifelong conversion process as members of God’s Church, Christ says the following to them.
Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
These verses are a prophesy of what those who have accepted their calling and have been chosen throughout the duration of God’s plan of salvation would do once they become part of God’s Church.
Christ urges all of them to enter into God’s Church by the strait and narrow gate i.e., by striving to observe God’s law to the best of their ability. Why does He do so? The next part of the verse gives us the answer: “.…for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.“
Christ warns all new converts entering God’s Church not to compromise with the truth they have been given. That is the wide gate which is so easy to go through, it requires less effort, commitment and self-sacrifice; converts reason around the law to give themselves permission to keep on with certain of their past beliefs and sinful conduct which they now know to be wrong but which they are unwilling to forsake. Christ says compromising is the broad way that leads to perdition. The Scriptures are plain that no one can serve two masters.
Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Compromise with the world inevitably leads to loss of salvation and Christ says it is the many coming into God’s Church that take the broad way.
Why does compromising lead to loss of salvation?
It is because compromising is an attitude of mind which allows us to reason around the requirements of God’s law to allow ourselves to go back to some of our former ways which we were to forsake upon coming into God’s Church. We may have forsaken them on first coming into God’s Church but in time we find ourselves back into doing the same thing but this time while being in God’s Church. The same mental processes that allowed us to override certain parts of God’s law that was cutting us off from some of the things we used to do that we found so pleasurable before we were called will also allow us to override more and more truth that we find uncomfortable. In time, though still attending services, we become members of the Church on the physical level only; we are no longer part of God’s Church which is solely made up of those striving to obey God in all things.
In Conclusion
In order for salvation to occur we must be called, chosen and faithful and never allow ourselves to get into a spirit of compromise with the world which is the great temptation and peril facing all those coming into God’s Church. It is the broad way that Christ warns newcomers to the faith about and which unfortunately, the many take and lose their salvation.
Matt 7: 13-14 and Matt 6:24 are a grave warning given to God’s Church throughout the ages and it is also prophetic of how men would react to God’s truth when given to know it. They would for the most part not give it the highest of importance in their lives and seek to go around it when it prevents them from carrying on with their former lives.
The history of the first century Church recorded in the Bible makes it abundantly clear that converts would for the most part not remain with the truth and, recent Church history — the debacle that occurred after the death of Mr. Armstrong —abundantly proves that it is indeed the many — including the ministry — that take the broad way and the few that enter by the narrow gate as unfortunate as that may be and as much as we would like salvation to be a story with a happy ending for everyone. This is not what has been happening or will happen.
God has given man the command to choose (Deu 30:19) which means that He has given him the ability to choose. This means there is no higher power that can force him to choose something against his will; otherwise, it there were a higher power that could force him to choose something against his will, man could not be held responsible for the decision taken as it would not be his own decision freely taken but that of the higher power dominating over him. God could not then judge mankind in the same way that mankind is not now under judgment (1 Peter 4:17) because it does not know the truth and therefore cannot choose it.
God put life and death before man and commands man to choose life but if he chooses death He will respect his freedom to choose; He will not try to prevent him from choosing death or put pressure on him to change his decision.
Salvation is a battle between us and the lusts of our mind and of our flesh.
Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Having the absolute freedom to choose makes it possible for us to be lustful. It is something we must resist to the best of our abilities by learning to control ourselves. Controlling ourselves in order to obey God when there is no one forcing us to do so is what character is all about and it is that character trait that will become an unchangeable part of our spirit being at the time of the first resurrection and that will make it possible for us to become part of God’s Kingdom.
God's Spiritual Nation 