Deuteronomy 7:6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
Exodus 19:5-6 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;
Psalms 50:5 “Gather to me my faithful ones
Amos 3:2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Being chosen and called is an act of God. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” Being called and chosen is not enough. There must be a response to the calling of being chosen. There must be an act of acceptance of the call and then act accordingly to that calling. I fear too many want the benefits of being called/chosen but have no desire to live their daily lives in line with this calling. I fear the neglect of His word has diluted the influence in their lives and leaving them blind and deaf to His calling. Being chosen we are to be set apart from the influence of the lies of our culture, society, and worldly wisdom. This calling and being chosen (setting apart) is more than accepting the call, for in this calling there is a call to action. A call to make disciples, to proclaim the gospel, to proclaim the day of salvation, to proclaim the need for salvation, to proclaim hope and the reason for our faith, to humbly serve, honor, glorify, follow and obey.
How are we too except to know any of this if we daily neglect His word and take a complacent attitude toward the calling of God. The simple truth is we will not. We mock God if this is our approach.
We all are to be obedient to God. We cannot just accept the wonderful calling of God and continue to live a life following our own desires. We are to be the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ”
Paul very clearly stated the responsibilities of the called: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful” The called and chosen must be faithful! They must continue to actively believe, obey and rely on God. The called and chosen will need to faithfully endure, both in good and in bad times.
The man in the parable who was invited to the wedding had a duty to come dressed for the occasion, which symbolically meant that he was to put on righteousness, but he didn’t do that. So Jesus made this famous statement that “many are called, but few are chosen.” Therefore, the called-out ones must be spiritually prepared and be clothed with righteousness which is a manifestation of His word in our lives.
If His word is not ever-present in our heart, mind, and soul the world will take it captive with lies and deception.
