Repentance ...

MATT. 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Regarding Jesus' call to repentance, how do I connect the teaching in John 6 with the letter to the Laodicean church in Revelation 3?

Does He call everyone, or just the elect?

The Bible teaches that the Lord must draw men and women to Himself in faith, since we are unable to do so on our own (i.e. John 6:44). But the Bible also teaches that the means God uses to accomplish this process is by a public call to repent and believe, which the Lord sends out for the sake of those who are chosen to hear it. Consider these scriptures:

MATT. 15:10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand.

MATT. 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. MATT. 22:3 “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. MATT. 22:4 “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ MATT. 22:5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, MATT. 22:6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. MATT. 22:7 “But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. MATT. 22:8 “Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. MATT. 22:9 ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ MATT. 22:10 “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. MATT. 22:11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, MATT. 22:12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. MATT. 22:13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ MATT. 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

MARK 7:14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: MARK 7:15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. MARK 7:16 [“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]

LUKE 8:4 When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: LUKE 8:5 “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. LUKE 8:6 “Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. LUKE 8:7 “Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. LUKE 8:8 “Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

In each of these examples, the Lord issues a call to a crowd for repentance and belief, but the Lord expected that this call would only be heard and received by those “who have ears to hear.” Many are called in this fashion, but only a few (of those who hear the call) are chosen to accept it. This is consistent with the teaching of John 6.

Therefore, Jesus' call to repentance found in His letter to the Laodicean church is a broad call to a crowd, which went out to everyone who read the letter. Jesus told this church to come to Him for salvation; represented as gold, white linen, and eye salve. Remember, the term “lukewarm” describes an unbeliever who thinks he/she is a Christian. The church in Laodicea was lukewarm in the sense that they assumed they were saved (i.e., hot) but didn’t realize they were actually unsaved (i.e., cold). However, Christ's call was only intended to be heard by the those saved; the elect. Those who were elected to receive it, responded in faith. The rest ignored it. Notice how He ends His letter:

REV. 3:22 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Clearly, Jesus was speaking to those chosen to hear His words, not to everyone. Those chosen of God will respond to the call of the Good Shepherd, as Jesus says in John 10:

JOHN 10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. JOHN 10:2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. JOHN 10:3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. JOHN 10:4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

JOHN 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, JOHN 10:15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

Verse by Verse Ministries : Questions and Answers

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Can all believe or only the chosen?

Is Paul saying in Romans 3 that all have the ability to be justified by grace? If so, how does this fit with the rest of his teaching about being selected before birth?

Your confusion comes from taking these two verses out of their larger context in Romans 3. When we take vs.24-25 out of context, we lose sight of what Paul meant when he used the word “all.” So by returning to the context of the passage, we find the intended meaning of the word “all."

Rom. 3:21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, Rom. 3:22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; Rom. 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Rom. 3:24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; Rom. 3:25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; Rom. 3:26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Rom. 3:27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. Rom. 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Rom. 3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, Rom. 3:30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

Paul describes our righteousness may be found. The righteousness required to enter Heaven is the righteousness of God, given to us by God’s grace, apart from works. Notice in v.22 that Paul adds that this salvation is “for all those who believe; there is no distinction…” Paul is saying that the means of salvation is the same for both Jew and Gentile. There is no separate plan for Gentiles apart from Jews. We find this conclusion confirmed further when we look at the end of the passage, as Paul concludes God is the God of both Jew and Gentile.

Therefore, when Paul uses the term “all” in this passage, he is referring to both Jew and Gentile. The word “all" doesn’t refer to all humanity.

For a greater understanding of these things, we strongly recommend you listen to our entire Romans Bible study.

Verse by Verse Ministry : Questions and Answers