Friday, April 13, 2012

The Called, Chosen, and Faithful

Revelation 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. KJV

After Christ rose from the dead and then ascended to the right hand of the Father, His followers were identified by those of “The Way” until someone coined the word Christian, which literally means follower of Christ. You know for a long time I have found it difficult to understand what it really means for a person to be saved. I do know that I did not choose Christ, but He chose me. I read the testimony of one man and he said he was so perplexed by his conversion upon receiving Jesus Christ that he ended up enrolling into Seminary School just so he could possibly get a better understanding of what happened to him.

I have met a lot of people over the years, some during the time I spent living it up in this world and reveling in sinful pleasures with an unbridled abandon. Some of the people indulging in various paths of sinful destruction (as myself) professed to me to be a Christian. As we were controlled by our sins with no desire to stop what we were doing, I pondered in my heart and mind then and even now if it were possible for us to really know Christ while reveling in our sins. I wonder is it possible for a person to willingly indulge sinful appetites and still know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. If the demons believe in Jesus enough to tremble at His name and presence, yet they have reservations for the lake of fire, how different must a human soul’s belief in Jesus be from theirs? If I paint the walls of a particular room with what I think is red paint, but when someone looks at the walls they see something totally different than the color red, then what conclusion must be drawn. How can a follower of Jesus Christ live in direct contradiction to His Word and be His follower?

Well, our subject text of scripture states that those with Jesus Christ are called, chosen, and faithful. There are so many references in the Bible that clearly reveal and teach us what the life of a true Christian must look like. In the first book Genesis, Moses records for us how creation came into being. In Genesis 1:11, the first of several revealing statements is made which is “after his kind” which means the manifestation, image, or likeness. The redeeming power of God through Christ blood produces the manifestation, image, and likeness of God in every soul redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. A fruit tree does not bear or bring forth carrots and in like manner a soul redeemed by God does not continue to bear or bring forth love for sin and enslavement to sin, does it.
John 8:31-32  So Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, "If you continue to accept and obey my teaching, you are really my followers. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." ERV

Free from what did our Lord mean here? As much as I can determine from His statements in the next few verses our Lord is speaking of His true disciples being freed from sins enslaving grip in their hearts and lives. Paul wrote that the wages or payment received from sin is death. Sin never produces anything of worth or value it only brings death and destruction everywhere it rules. So our Lord is saying that all who come to Me will not have sins principle ruling and reining in them any longer. The called, chosen, and faithful cannot make themselves such but on the contrary they are made to be such by Jesus Christ Himself. Listen to what Albert Barnes (1798-1870) had to say about Christ words in John 8:31, “In this place Jesus cautions them against too much confidence from their present feelings. They were just converted - converted by a single sermon. They had had no time to test their faith. Jesus assures them that if their faith should abide the test, if it should produce obedience to his commandments and a true life, it would be proof that their faith was genuine, for the tree is known by its fruit. So we may say to all new converts, Do not repress your love or your joy, but do not be too confident. Your faith has not yet been tried, and if it does not produce a holy life it is vain.”

Death is not God’s biggest enemy for He is Eternal. The devil is not God’s biggest enemy for He kicked him out of Heaven and has made reservation for him in the Lake of Fire as it is written here: Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. KJV God the Fathers biggest enemy is the sin of humanity because it has cost Him the lives of many of His human creatures having gone to hell and it cost Him the one and only time in all eternity of separation from His Son Jesus Christ when He paid for humanities sin on the cross. This is why through the gospel, Christ death, burial, and resurrection God the Father calls, chooses, and makes faithful everyone who would truly believe and receive. The wall separating the Father from all human beings is sin and Christ has broken down or blown up that separating wall in His followers.

Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of Silent Assassins of the Soul; Finding Freedom from Sexual Impurity, a guide for men in the enemy’s crosshairs; coming in May 2012