"Many are called, but only a few are chosen" - What does this mean?

Question

sounds a bit harsh to me, as if, even if we follow to the best of our abilities and live lives that are clean in thought, word and deed, we are still unlikely to reach the Kingdom of Heaven.

With quotes like this in the Bible, it is beyond me why people follow religion at all! I'm not knocking anybody because i used to go to church and still believe to a certain extent but it seems a like a long shot to me that if you follow and live a clean life, you still might not get into heaven cos only a few do.

What's the point in all of this persecution and martyrdom for a religion that doesn't even guarantee a reward at the end when it says in other parts of the Bible that all followers will receive tha kingdom of heaven as their reward.

Help to explain this to me please because quite frankly it sounds a tad absurd!

Answer 1

Many people are called to do something, for example you could be call into a job interview with all these other people but at the same time not everyone is chosen for the job. So to put it all together god calls a lot of people to go to heaven but not everyone he calls are going to go to heaven. The reason why he calls for people is so that they would walk in the right path but not everyone walk in that path so that’s why not everyone he calls for is going to heaven.

Answer 2

KJV:

Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.

It is discussing how the kingdom of heaven was originally for the Jews but they disregarded the gift and went about their way. The kingdom is then open to everyone. Apparently both good and evil.

However one man was found without wedding clothes and he was cast out.

I think that means that even though you might accept the invitation you may get kicked out for not behaving yourself in life.

Kind of like a person who believes in God but was a serial killer his whole and never had the desire to repent. He didn't feel what he did was wrong so why ask for forgiveness and repent?

His faith was of the mind and not of the spirit.

So while all are invited you still have to live up to a moral standard. Otherwise you will not be properly attired.

But yeah - how DO you know?

-- I believe this is why the doctrines such as salvation through grace and not by works was preached by Paul. I think the early christians had the same questions and concerns. So he made it easy. I hope he was right.

Answer 3

The Bible constantly contradicts itself. God is not a 'human' however they refer God as 'He' however it also says God is neither Gender. As well it says Man was made after Gods likeness.

If you do believe in 'God' (the Christian/Catholic view) then you should make sure to read the Bible as many dont. God is not all gracious and kind of a 'God' as you assume to think. God is neither Evil nor Holy. He plays with peoples lives (I think it was the book of Joseph that explains that more). He destroys the Human kind whenever they mess up. If God did give us life then what thinks he has the right to take it away? If I were to bore a son, do I have the 'right' to kill him at my will? Of course not, God is a sadistic 'God'.

Well to answer your question.
The entire Bible is absurd for the most part. It does'nt explain where alot of people come from and therefore Adam and Eve are NOT the foundation of all of Mankind (we would be some dumb motherf*ckers if it were true). If you do believe in God and believe the Bible %100 then you have really got to open your eyes to reality. Not all of it is real (if any of it is really, some IS real according to historic facts but most of it is incredibly ridiculous).

"Many are called, but only a few are chosen"

You can try and try but even if you give it all you have to know that you might still not get into the 'Kingdom of Heaven'. This would probably to discourage the people who are'nt willing to give it their Full Faith. With my faith ever so low and continuing to dwindle I wont and probably wont ever have the faith I had in 'God' like I did when I was younger.

Answer 4

Me thinks it does too! "The chosen few" - ha, chosen by who? I'm not that religious, but wouldn't condemn any who are; their choice, but I personally think that the sayings about the chosen few, reward in heaven if you are good and do this, do that and don't do this, don't do that, but damnation in hell if you are bad, and do this, do that etc., are no more or less "sayings" used by "Fire & Brimstone" kind of preachers - scaremongering tactics used to try and get simple-minded people, in days gone by, to go to church. No bums on church pews, no coins in the coffers! Makes sense, (to me anyway), because the "Church" whatever "religion" it represents is the wealthiest institution in the world! If it's of any interest, read any literature you can about the formation, rise and fall etc., of any of the religions, and you will see how those institutions acquired their vast wealth - from the people - mainly the poor, via taxes etc.,

Hope that may have been of some assistance, but don't worry, if you and I become one of the "chosen few", I'll meet you one day; white robe, fluffy wings, halo - the lot, in heaven. If not, than F.....g Hell! I surely do hope so and I'll reserve a bed!

Answer 5

Its an honest quote. God is not going to say to any of those that are following Him that because you have been called, and in this case many are called but few actually live the life that in according to the Lord that you are going to be chosen

. What kind of life is this? A life that where we walk in the spirit. Where we give our being day by day to the Lord for Him to work and wrought Himself into us. Where we are not just those that are saying that we love God and go to church but we live a crucified life where it is no longer just us living but Christ living out from us. Dear friend, many do not want to pay this kind of price in their being to gain the Lord. Few actually choose to take this way. These are the ones that the Lord will bless in a special way. These ones will be chosen to participate in the glory of the age of the kingdom for 1000 years. Ruling with the Lord becuase they loved the Lord more than their own soul life. These are the ones that the Lord " knew" the wise virgins who did not just have the Spirit in their lamps( in their spirits) but they also had the extra oil in their vessel ( transformed soul) they paid the price to deny the self, take up the cross and follow the Lord Jesus.
If you ask me to compare myself to brother Paul or Peter or Mary, I feel as though I fall so short in my love and committment to the Lord. But its when we say to the Lord that we know our limitations and weaknesses and what so easily besets us, and we open our being even a little and tell Him, that no matter what happens, don't let us loose our reason for loving and serving Him, to finish what HE started in us, i believe that this gives the Lord the means to work in us. This shows we are willing to cooperate with this Lord who NEEDS this on our part. He will not work alone.. He needs you and I to cooperate with Him so He can have a deeper way in us.
The thing about the ones that the Lord has chosen is because they FIRST chose to follow the Lord no matter what. It was actually their day to day choice.

Good Q . Thought provoking and honest

In CHrist
sandy

Answer 6

You have what is called the 5 wise virgins & 5 foolish virgins, At midnight, (at the endtime a cry was made) This cry woke up all 10 virgins, Because all 10 slumber & slept. This cry was to wake people up to get back to the word of God, Therefore The 5 foolish went to the 5 wise & give us of your OIL(HOLY GHOST), The wise say not so, go & buy from them that sell(These TV Preachers), & while they went to buy, The 5 wise went in & the door was shut. Now these 5 foolish is not an actual Number, only figure speaking.They are those that live a clean good life & have accepted Jesus Christ, But they won't follow the truth as God reveals it as time goes on. Now these foolish virgins is NOT Tares, But neither are they Bride material either, They will be left behind to go through the tribulation & they will give their lives for their testimony, But the 5 wise is the Bride, As God reveals his word they are will to walk in it . The Bride is raptured, & the foolish virgins is not, yet they will have a part to live in the milliennium but under a lesser authority, while the Bride will rule & reign with Christ. Now what this means about the 5 wise went in & the door was shut, means while these foolish went to buy, the door of any further revelation is closed to their mind.

Answer 7

The spirit must possess childlikeness; for it is and remains a child of Creation, even when it bas gained full maturity.
A child of Creation! In this lies the deep meaning; for the spirit must develop into a child of God. Whether it will ever achieve this depends entirely on the degree of recognition it is willing to acquire on its wanderings through ail the Spheres of Matter.
more
Thus the spirit is a child of Creation. And it must be childlike therein if it wishes to fulfil the purpose for which it stands in Creation. The arrogance of the intellect caused the spirit to withdraw from childlikeness, because the intellect could not "understand" what it really is. As a result, however, the spirit lost its foothold in Creation, which in order to remain healthy itself must now expel it as a stranger, an intruder and a dangerous creature.
And so it will come to pass that through their wrong thoughts and actions men will dig their own graves

Answer 8

See Matthew 22. It's in context of a parable about a king and a wedding banquet. At that time, a king or rich person might give a banquet and invite people from all classes, including people who did not have suitable clothing. The king then provided those people with the clothing to wear.

In the parable, one shows up at the banquet without proper clothing. Since he was provided with proper clothing, he had no excuse. He had obviously chosen not to put on the new clothing. For refusing the offer of new clothing, he was cast out.

The parable is a lesson for all of us. We are offered "new clothing," (new spiritual life) but it's up to us whether or not we will wear it. If we choose not to, we will not be chosen.

Answer 9

Everyone is guaranteed a reward in heaven. This verse you are referring to is part of this parable that Jesus told.

The Story of the Workers in the Vineyard

Matthew 20: 1-16

1 "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who owned land. He went out early in the morning to hire people to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to give them the usual pay for a day's work. Then he sent them into his vineyard.

Jesus was trying to make the point that whether you are first or last to be chosen to work in the vineyard (heaven), all receive the same pay (gift of eternal life). The ones who had worked the longest (the self-righteous ones) grumbled because the last who were chosen received the same amount of pay as the ones who had only worked an hour.

13 "The owner answered one of them. 'Friend,' he said, 'I'm being fair to you. Didn't you agree to work for the usual day's pay? 14 Take your money and go. I want to give the ones I hired last the same pay I gave you. 15 Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Do you feel cheated because I gave so freely to the others?'

In the New International Reader's Version of the Bible the "many are called but few are chosen" is omitted. It is in other versions as well.

Jesus chose to give the same gift to all, but when grumblings occured out of those who "felt" cheated, he opted to pay the last workers, who came at a late hour to work in the vineyard, first. Many are called, but few are chosen.

Answer 10

This quote is for the overzealous, not the ones truthfully seeking. They run to and fro, trying to to things in God's service that while they are honorable, are NOT what God intended for them to do! There are many different ministries outlined in the Bible, so all one has to do to find out which ministry is within the scope of God's will for them to perform is to pray for God to give them a burden or a job to do and He'll guide them to it! The overzealous are the ones who are in it for the "slaps on the back" and etc. which can get them in trouble with their own soul if they're not careful for the Scripture says we're not to serve Him "....with lipservice as menpleasers...." One MUST be obedient to the call of God in their lives and to His salvation plan! Simply "living a good life" won't be enough because one's morals have a tendency to get in the way. If morals were enough to get into Heaven, then Jesus' life and death would have been totally unnecessary and "good lives lived" would be enough!

Answer 11

Good morning! The problem that trips everyone up is the part about "...as if, even if we follow to the best of our abilities and live lives that are clean in thought, word and deed we are still unlikely to reach the Kingdom of Heaven." and " if you follow and live a clean life, you still might not get into heaven cos only a few do."

God calls all to Him, but we all have the choice to come and accept what He has purposed for us. Being a christian is a relationship you have with your creator. "For by grace we are saved, through faith, and not by works" (he. 2:8,9) Grace is a gift that God gives us that we have done nothing to earn. No one is good. Jesus himself said that. No matter how hard we try, we stumble. It is our sin nature (we do what we shouldn't and what we should do, we don't do, Paul wrote about this to the Romans). Christ did all of the "work" for us when He took on our sins by His death and suffering. "pierced through our transgressions, crushed for our sins, the punishment that brought us peace, was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed" He brought/bought us peace with God. "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord Jesus shall be saved" and "whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." ~ Jesus

It is a relationship and as with any relationship it takes conversation (prayer) and interaction to build that bond. Thus, all are called to Him, but few accept the invitation and truly do walk in His ways. Jesus said if you abide in me, than I will abide in you. Jesus is the word. The word is our bible. Read and pray regularly. Place your faith in the fact that He already did the work and made the payment and that is how you will enter heaven. He sits at the right hand and He either knows you or He doesn't. Faith.

He has already prepared the way for you to come to God. Not everyone wants to go that way. The parable Jesus told prior to vs 14 helps explain. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father, but through Him. We are all led to Him, but not all enter.


Once you place your faith in Him and accept His sacrifice as payment for your sin, you are the kingdom of God. His spirit lives within you and you are His temple. It is a bit humbling to me!

So you see, we are not trying to be good to earn heaven. It is not possible, we are obeying out of love for a redeemer that already built the bridge. I hope this explanation helps. Please, keep the questions coming! It will help your faith grow. May God bless you!