“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” (1 Cor. 3:6)
“Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matt. 13:30)
“For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14)
Now, if you will, look at these verses. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” (Heb. 10:38)
As men much wiser than myself have learned, or been shown by the Almighty, no one can reconcile the Sovereignty of the Most High God of heaven and earth with the free will that He has granted to all men, it is not possible. These are not contradiction points, but areas of contemplation, but the life spent in nothing but this contemplation will miss much more that is being offered.
The inverse of these first few verses is this, if indeed God has chosen some to reside in His eternal Kingdom, then by default He has chosen some not to, and the only alternative to an eternity in heaven is an eternity in the Lake of Fire. “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Romans 9:20) Did Judas Iscariot have a choice, did Lucifer, did you or your neighbor?
We do not want to believe that God has intentionally created souls for the purpose of eternal damnation, that He knew beforehand that most who are born will never accept Him as Lord, and before they were born their fate was sealed. It is beyond our finite minds to contemplate the infinite mind of God, it cannot be done, and so the question today for you is this, should it matter to you?
Would you continue to serve the Lord if you knew these words to be true, that he knew before your loving parent or closest friend was born that they would suffer eternal hopelessness, pain beyond comprehension, would you still call Him Lord and Savior?
These thoughts must be pondered in this venue, because one day when you are in heaven you are going to find out that person you loved dearly is not there, and the emotions that will come upon you then must be at least pondered today. They were not chosen, you were. Is that enough? Is he enough for you to still rejoice in Him with that knowledge, can you continue to love Him here as you will there, harboring no ill-will towards Him, no blame, nothing still but love for Him with that knowledge forever, that one you loved is burning in that Lake of Fire?
I could be wrong, I am finite, but I do not believe that when we are glorified we are going to forget them, I do not believe that all of our free will is going to be removed from us, that we will be forced to see His righteousness in this area. The Almighty has made no robots, so to speak, even the angels had a choice, and the answer in part may be found in them, do those angels who still serve the Most High do so by choice, by their own free will? Were not those who fell their brothers?
Questions that can only be answered by the Lord God are the worthiest to ponder, for they have no answer outside of Him. This question of what is called by men the Doctrine of Election has no earthly answer, only God knows, and so the only question that you can ask yourself that matters today is this, can you love and serve Him as Lord and Master today and for all eternity with the full knowledge that your loved ones will suffer for all eternity?
