Called, Chosen and Faithful

April 3, 2009

The entry below sparked other thoughts in me…I had to think about Saul being chosen. Sometimes as followers of Jesus we have this “lingo” we speak. Every now and then the Lord challenges me by putting the question in my heart… “Why do I say this or that?”

We say a person is “called” or has a “calling” and we say some are “chosen” like Saul. I suppose we say these things because we think they are spiritual. God does speak about being chosen and called. He does call to us he has called to others in the past such as Samuel in 1 Samuel 3.

I love that passage because it shows God’s patience with us and it shows how we learn to recognize the voice of God when he is speaking to us. It always makes me chuckle. God has a big job putting up with us and yet he loves us so.

I decided to do a word study on “called” and “chosen”. I wanted to know what it was I talk about! What the difference was and where am I in the whole scheme of things (because you know you have to know where you are to understand where you’re going! :}).

I found an interesting verse in Revelation 17 and in it I saw something I had never seen before.


In verse 14 it says this… “They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful.”

Wow, there is a distinction… “What does all this mean?” I asked the Lord.

I went to the dictionary to find out what the words meant and that answered some questions I had but I wanted to know from the original text in the bible…what did God mean when he inspired this verse? I turned to the Strong’s Concordance for more answers and this is what I found.

Called—Strong’s number 2822 Greek word Kletos and it means… called, invited (to a banquet)

invited (by God in the proclamation of the Gospel) to obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom through Christ
called to (the discharge of) some office
divinely selected and appointed

Then I wanted to know what chosen meant in this verse. This is what I found…Strong’s number 1588 the Greek word Eklektos and it means: picked out, chosen

chosen by God,
to obtain salvation through Christ 1a
Christians are called "chosen or elect" of God
the Messiah in called "elect", as appointed by God to the most exalted office conceivable
choice, select, i.e. the best of its kind or class, excellence preeminent: applied to certain individual Christians

And what did God mean by “faithful”? The Strong’s number was 4103 the Greek word Pistos and it was the most interesting of all I thought. Trusty and faithful was its meaning also…

of persons who show themselves faithful in the transaction of business, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties
one who kept his plighted faith, worthy of trust
that can be relied on
easily persuaded
believing, confiding, trusting
in the NT one who trusts in God's promises
one who is convinced that Jesus has been raised from the dead
one who has become convinced that Jesus is the Messiah and author of salvation

As I asked God for revelation and my thoughts were taken to Matthew 13 and the Parable of the Sower but this wasn't coming together, what was God trying to say? I asked God again for revelation because I didn't want human reasoning ; I wanted revelation! What was the truth? What were God’s thoughts?

Then the verse came to me from Matthew 24:45 where Jesus asks… “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? There the “faithful” definition fit together like a beautiful puzzle piece. This is an example of the “faithful”!

Then my mind went back to Matthew 13 there had to be the example of the chosen or the called there and sure enough in verse 16 and 17 it says… “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

And again in verse 23 of Matthew 13… “But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Chosen to hear and understand.

And the called, who are they? Mark 3:13 is what stood out to me when I was searching for “called” it says this… “Jesus went up on the mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.”

Then I wondered why Revelation 17:14 listed them in the order called, chosen and faithful and the Lord revealed to me that the ones being called in Mark 3:13 were the disciples…these are the phases, if you will, in the life of a follower of Christ…

We are called and we come…Jesus reveals his word to us and we are chosen to hear and see and understand and from that point we are faithful to the business he has called us to from the beginning.

What a beautiful picture! We come with Christ in Revelation at all stages each one in their own place at the perfect timing of the Lord. God has you where you are for a reason! Enjoy it!

I have a friend that says we are all in the same boat…just some are in the front, some are in the middle and some are in the back but we are all going the same direction in the same boat.

Still don’t see it…well here is the pattern again look at Romans 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called; he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. There it is!

This is the process we all go through as believers in Christ…called, chosen, and faithful. Notice that Romans 8:30 is talking about God’s people not God and let it sink in what this verse is saying!

I am also reminded of these verses in Ephesians 2:8-9… “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith –and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

I challenge you to read the bible from now on with this process in mind and I’m betting you will see this pattern many times over.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2Cor 9:15)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just wanted you to know we didn't know Danni well. But, we and some of our friends sat around this evening talking about life. And, Danni came up and we cried and smiled. It's just touching after 5+ months what an impact she still makes on our lives. Thank you for sharing, thank you for letting us be apart of your lives, and thank you for being a mother that God can touch us thru. Your a blessing to me and to many others. We love you and your family. And, am blessed to have been apart of your journey and we will always think of Danni. Danni is our love and a great strength to remind us when we are down God is always there. And, the thoughts of her remind us of that. XO THANK YOU! You will never know how you've touched us so deeply!