What Does The Bible Say? FAQ | TheMillennium.org

In Matthew 22:14 Jesus told His disciples, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” What is the difference between being called and being chosen?

God’s calling is an invitation. The Greek word translated “church” in the New Testament is ecclesia, which literally means “called-out ones.” When God calls a person, He invites him into His Church to help the church perform its great commission of preaching the Gospel to the world (Matthew 24:14), and to prepare to rule with Jesus Christ and teach God’s way in the world tomorrow (Revelation 5:10; Revelation 2:26-27; Revelation 3:21). That is the main reason for being called now. Jesus Christ said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…” No one can be called unless God Himself decides to call him or her.

In John 10:2-4, 14 – Christ likens true believers to sheep, and Himself as the good shepherd. He says the true sheep will know their spiritual shepherd because they will hear His voice and understand His words. The point of the analogy is this: one whom God is calling will have his or her mind opened to understand when they hear God’s truth. One who is not being called may hear the words, but, like a foreign language they will not understand – those words will not be mixed with understanding and belief (Matthew 13:11).

God is not calling everyone now in this age. This is not to say they will never be called – just that they are not called yet at this time. If we study the parable of the king who made a marriage for his son in Matthew 22:1-14, we can better understand the meaning of Christ’s statement “Many are called but few are chosen.” Christ said in this parable that “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come” (verses 2-3). God calls “many”, but most pay little or no attention to God’s royal invitation. Of those who have been reached or witnessed to with Christ’s true Gospel and who have been called by God, only a very few have ever fully accepted and responded to that call.

The parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4-15) reveals what happens that when the “seed” – God’s Word – is sown. Some seeds fell by the wayside, other seed fell on a rock, some fell among thorns, but others fell on good ground, sprang up and yielded a crop. “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience” (verses 11-15).

If we respond to God’s call, then God chooses us and grants us repentance, forgiveness, His Holy Spirit, and His grace. When the Bible speaks of God’s “elect” they are God’s chosen ones. God’s elect are the ones He calls out of this world and who respond to that calling. He opens their minds to grasp and understand His Word, His plan, and His will. Those whom He calls out of this darkened world and into “the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ: (2 Corinthians 4:4) collectively form the Church of God.

The apostle Peter addressing true Christians – true members of God’s Church said, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9). When the glorified, crowned Jesus Christ returns to this earth as King of kings and Lord of lords, He will gather unto Himself His elect (Matthew 24:31). However, even if Christ chooses us, we must remain faithful to the very end (Matthew 24:13). “And those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14). We must be faithful unto death, or we will never be born as glorified, spirit-composed beings, into the Kingdom of God (John 3:3; 1 Corinthians 15:50-54).

Exodus 23:19 states, “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” This command is repeated in Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21. Are these verses referring to a Biblical dietary law? The answer is no they are not!

For proof refer to the account in Genesis 18:1-8. Here we read about Abraham entertaining two angels and the One who later became Jesus Christ. “So Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said, ‘Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.’ And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate” (verses 6-8). Since Abraham, two angels, and the Lord ate calf meat, drank milk, and ate cheese together at the same meal indicates there was no prohibition against such a combination. In fact, no such a dietary law is mentioned anywhere in Scripture.

In analyzing the context of Exodus 23:19 we notice that it does not refer to just any kind of meat or milk – but specifically to the meat of a kid seethed in its own mother’s milk. The association of these two products of the mother’s body suggests that this scripture is referring to something connected with pagan fertility rites. Peake’s Commentary shows that this is so: “The significance of this prohibition has now been made clear by the Ras Shamra texts. According to the Birth of the Gods, i, 14, a kid was cooked in its mother’s milk to procure the fertility of the fields, which were sprinkled with the substance which resulted” (p. 232).

A careful study of Exodus 23:10-19 shows the context is concerned with Sabbath and annual Holy Day worship. Verse 18 reads, “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until the morning.” Unleavened bread was eaten with the Passover on the day preceding the seven-day Festival of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:8). It was a standing rule that no fat should be eaten (Leviticus 7:23-25; Leviticus 3:16-17). The Passover lamb was roasted whole, but its fat was not to be eaten. It was to be burned in the morning (Exodus 12:9-10). The same sequence of thoughts is repeated in Exodus 34:21-26 in reference to “the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover (verse 25).

Why does this verse refer to “kids” when the Passover sacrifice was traditionally a lamb? Originally “kids” (young goats) from the flock (Exodus 12:5; 2 Chronicles 35:7), and even “calves” from the herd (Deuteronomy 16:2;) were permitted as well as lambs (Exodus 12:3-4; John 1:29, 36; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:6, 12). What does boiling a kid in its mother’s milk have to do with the Passover? God did not want the Passover to become a spring fertility festival (Exodus 23:32-33). It is obvious that the command against “boiling a young goat (a kid) in its mother’s milk” had to do with safeguarding the Passover. It was never meant as a dietary law.