Accepting God’s Invitation
Matthew 4:19-20 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed Him
Here Jesus chose the first disciples. God appeared to them, they were not seeking God. That is the way it works for all of us, and is even how God appeared to Abraham and Moses and all the Patriarchs. God comes to us first there can be absolutely no debate about that.
Notice the second part of the above passage. When the invitation went out to “follow me“, the disciples made a choice to drop their nets and “follow” Jesus. They answered the call God placed on their lives and put their trust in God and left everything behind. As we will see below all true disciples must leave everything behind and follow Jesus.
RSVP God’s Invitation
The message of the eternal gospel will be proclaimed throughout the entire world. Jesus told us that once this threshold is achieved that then the end will come. We are quite close and the day of our salvation draws ever nearer yet God’s invitation to come is still open to ALL.
Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, ALL who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest
God says “Come and give your heart to Me” and I will do the rest. It is a gospel of love and repentance. If man had no choice in coming to God than Jesus was in error when He taught and sent the Disciples to preach the gospel of repentance. Why does God tell us to do things if we are supposed to be robots without free will to choose? Turning around and changing directions requires an action. Accepting God’s invite requires an act of faith on our part. This action is not of works, it is of grace. Exercise of faith is divinely inspired and is a choice that is left us to us. We have the final say in the matter, it is called our free will to choose to obey God or not. Our choosing repentance is central to understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Luke 13:3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish
In fact, Jesus said that is why He came.
Matthew 9:13 For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, TO REPENTANCE
God calls us into action. He invites us to come to Him. He calls us to turn our hearts to Him. This is a godly repentance where we truly are sorry for our sin and choose to love back the God who so loves us. The Apostles all preached repentance when Jesus sent them out.
Mark 6:12 So they went out and preached that people should repent
Repentance precedes being BORN AGAIN. Regeneration follows repentance which opens our eyes to see the kingdom of God here and now. If we do not repent we can not come to the place where we can be Born Again. We will be devoid of the Holy Spirit and remain in rebellion to God, despite what might be an outward expression of religion and our flesh attempts to be a good person.
The question “what must I do to be saved” must always be followed by the answer of repentance. That is how and when the Holy Spirit comes and it is the Spirit of God that brings the spiritual knife to circumcise our hearts.
ACTS 2:38 Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
ACTS 3:19 Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord
The opportunity to choose repentance is granted to us by the soveriegn grace that comes from Jesus. We choose repentance and then the Holy Spirit comes and brings regeneration which completes itself ONLY IF we stay the course with God. All men must make this choice. We either turn our hearts to God and put our trust in Him or we continue to live in rebellion to His Word. God is patient with us and wishes none to perish and keeps His invitation open until we die or He shuts the door when He returns in flaming fire.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.
Many people who call Jesus Lord do not repent from the heart and remain unchanged and in bondage to sin. God does not sprinkle magical pixy dust on anyone; – we must make a choice to live for God. God in His majestic way brings wrath to those who choose not to repent and by this makes known the glory of His riches to those that truly love Him.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast shows God’s invitation and our preparation requirements. After the first invitees, the Jews rejected the invitation and did not come, God sent His bond servants (slaves) out to invite all that they found to His feast. It says they invited ALL, even those that were sinners (did evil). Jesus came to call sinners to repentance and a walk of holiness with Him.
Matthew 22:8-10 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ 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.
We don’t get to crash God’s party. We must be invited by God and He says everyone gets invited. We accept this invitation by preparing ourselves and putting on the proper clothing that the Lord gives to us. We must walk in covenant to put on the garment of salvation which is the righteousness of Christ. This means we die to self and obey God’s commandments. One man at the feast was quickly noticed and expelled. He did not prepare himself for the feast, he failed to purify himself. The Bride of Christ will make herself ready we are told in Revelation. If you are part of the church of Jesus Christ you are doing things to prepare yourself for the wedding feast.
Matthew 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, 12and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.13“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness;
Many Christians spurn the invitation of God and the call He places on their lives. They do not RSVP the invite, they just show up and expect to enter the narrow gate. They are just like this man in this parable. Paul described these types of believers speaking to the early church in Rome.
Romans 2:5-8 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
We better be seeking glory and making wise choices. To reject the truth, all men must make a decision. When we choose not to follow Jesus, we reject the truth and say no to God’s invitiation.
Yet we don’t find God and then get to boast about it. Many have indeed gotten this part wrong and have become modern-day self-righteous Pharisees and bring the way of truth into disrepute. Their self-righteousness and form of godliness has a root of spiritual pride deep in their heart that secretly wants to draw disciples unto themselves. Make no mistake, God makes us Holy, we do not do it out of our own goodness or the strength of our flesh. It’s all grace which is the power of God working inside of us. But the gospel doesn’t end with this one truth.
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him
Following Jesus is not automatic, the grace of God is not irresistable as taught by many. Man must make a choice to follow Jesus and to love Him. Indeed that is why we have an enemy so God can test our hearts and make sure we love Him with all of it. This is the heart of the gospel and is at the core of any rightful definition of love.
When we are Born Again into God’s Kingdom as adopted sons, our walk is not done, it is just beginning. We don’t complete the race by simply entering the race, we must run with endurance and finish said Paul. We must move on to maturity and endure the trials, tests and temptations of life, overcoming all of them and endure all the way to the end to be saved. If we remain a baby and never move past the milk (basic faith) we will be overcome and not make it. In speaking of the end times, Jesus said woe unto those that are still nursing infants. He was not talking about little babies, He was speaking about Christians that do not move on to maturity. They will not endure. Please go read Hebrews 5 for a clear definition of moving onto maturity.
Regeneration starts our walk and seals it, IF we keep following Jesus being led by the Spirit of God. But if we choose to be a rebel and shrink back from the Word that has washed us and brings about sanctification, we will fall from grace. The guarantee of the deposit of the Holy Spirit is valid only if we keep covenant with God. If we follow other voices or turn our hearts back into the world like Lot’s wife did, we no longer walk in covenant and will be destroyed unless we are brought back. This is the role of fellowship and helping one another and carrying one another’s burdens, so we will not wander away. Praise God for His great mercy that is abundant and enduring.
God’s Hedge of Protection
The promises of God include both promised blessings and promised curses. Curses are God’s judgment when we do not keep covenant with Him. The new covenant brought better promises than the old and gave us the means (Holy Spirit) to actually keep covenant. That is why Jesus came, to destroy the work of the devil and give us the POWER to overcome sin in our lives. When we walk in covenant, which means we practice righteousness; nothing will come snatch us away and God is faithful and will not cast us out. But the Word of God is very clear, that IF we CHOOSE to disobey and not stand in His grace, then we can indeed fall away from His hedge of protection.
Hebrews 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
If we deny Him by our deeds, God will absolutely deny us. Any practice of sin separates us from God even if we claim to be a Christian or previously walked in righteousness. Every single verse of Scripture that speaks to judgment; speaks to our deeds and what we DO. We better be found obeying God and keeping covenant being led by the Holy Spirit.
Paul’s wrote something in the Book of Romans that is commonly used in an isolated fashion from the rest of Scripture to add leaven and build the false doctrines around the meaning of grace and regeneration.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If we are actually IN CHRIST, we will not be practicing sin. Jesus is not a minister for sin. This verse confirms the truth, that if we are IN CHRIST (the ARK) we are in covenant and receive all the blessings and protections of God. If we walk with Jesus, nothing — no demon, no trial, no man and no temptation will be able to separate us. We will be able to do all things thru Christ who strengthens us. However, we will lose our protection if we are enticed away in our hearts by the deceitfulness of sin and choose to sow to the flesh. Romans Chapter 8 is about walking in the Spirit and builds on the prior Chapters that define for us what being IN CHRIST really means. We only can serve one Master and one Lord. People practicing sin are not IN CHRIST and Jesus is not their Lord.
Romans 6:16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
In the Parable of the Vineyard, the Lord tells us what happens when we sow unrighteousness.
Isaiah 5:4-5 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? 5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. Jesus spoke about a vineyard as well and gave us a parable about how we stay under His protection.
John 15:5 – If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
Neglecting Our Salvation
The adage, “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” aptly applies here. Sure God could force us to drink, if He so chose, but He does not. He leads us to the water (draws us near) and then leaves it up to us whether we drink of it (repent). We are accountable for our own salvation. We don’t save ourselves but we need to respond to the call of God. We must invest the grace God pours out on us.
The writer of Hebrews asks a very good question about our salvation.
Hebrews 2:1-3 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
To neglect something implies that there is awareness and a conscious action or choice must be made to do or not do something. To know about something and not do it is negligence. To not know about something is ignorance. In both the case of negligence and of ignorance the people of God are destroyed. God gave us His written Word so we would not be ignorant, whether or not we are negligent however is TOTALLY UP TO US and the choices we make to be led by the Holy Spirit or go our own way.
Many Christians are being negligent about their salvation in these last days. They are disregarding the clear instructions given by God to follow Him in a walk of holiness in order to overcome sin, the powers of darkness and the world. We must overcome these obstacles that God Himself has placed in our path for our testing and purification. We must become DOERS of the Word. If we only hear the Word but do not do it, we deceive ourselves and carelessly reject the salvation that has appeared to all men. This is negligence and we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to ALL MEN, 12instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age
Those that hold to Calvinism will tell you that the word “all” just means the Jews and the Gentiles that actually were saved. I will give you a few passages to ponder the point about the meaning of the words ALL MEN. Here the Apostle John speaks on his purpose in life.
John 1:7 He (John) came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him ALL MEN might believe
1 Tim 2:4-6 who desires ALL men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for ALL, to be testified in due time.
Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
God’s plan was EVERYONE who believes to be saved. Of course what “believing” means is an issue of the heart not what we say with our lips or in our head. We have no excuse for negligence of such a great salvation. We won’t be able to blame God, our parents, our families or even the devil. It will be our fault if we don’t make it thru the narrow gate.
Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
All men everywhere are responsible to seek the God who is revealed in nature. God is a rewarder of all that diligently seek Him.
Making Disciples Thru Preaching
There is no such thing as a saved person that is not also a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus defined a very high bar of what it meant to be a disciple. He told us to count this cost before we even consider CHOOSING to follow Him. I cannot possibly recap all of that here but this is the punch line.
Luke 14:33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple
God does not take these things in our hearts away from us, we must freely surrender them to God and then He will help us overcome. His grace is sufficient for us to suffer in the flesh and lay down the things of the world and overcome the trials of life. We must make the choice to die to self and live for God. I am angry at the devil for propagating the lie of election; perverting the WORD into a blood shedding, soul killing doctrine of demons.
Jesus told us we would do the works He did and even greater works. We were told to go make disciples following the example He gives us in the gospels. We do the works of God by preaching the truth and pointing people to a walk of holiness setting the example with our own walk and testimony. Woe to the hypocrites which include the former me, the one that played church and believed in the traditions of men.
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you
We are told to preach the WORD in season and out of season. Whether or not the seed takes root in someone’s heart is up to God and His perfect will. But we are not to water down the truth, tickle the ears of men and try to build God’s church. That is what religion and Babylon is doing.
Romans 10:14-15 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
God Shows No Partiality
We all need to remember that God is not a respecter of any man. God shows no partiality in His dealings and His judgments except for the promises contained in His Covenant. Clearly those in covenant and those out of covenant are treated differently. But speaking to believers and those in covenant with God, we are all judged to the same standard. There is no partiality with God.
ACTS 10:34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him
If we fear God and obey His commandments, we are God’s children. This is the heart of the eternal gospel as spoken by the angels and handed down to the Apostles. Whether we receive blessings or curses depends on us staying on the straight and narrow path that leads to life. God does not change and all of His promises, both good and bad come as a result of covenant.
Romans 2:9-11 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.11For there is no partiality with God
Ephesians 6:7-9 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. 9And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
Colossians 3:25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.
The soul that sins shall die. If a man turns from practicing righteousness, his previous righteousness shall be remembered no more. Did God really say there is no eternal security for those that practice sin? Yes He did. God does not play favorites. He wants ALL MEN to have eternal life. His will is for the sanctification of all men. God is not a respecter of any person including the ones He invites to His banquet.
Galatians 2:6 – But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to NO MAN
Many will come against the truth of God’s Word. They will use clever questions and refer to man’s dictionaries often to try to prove a point. We are told that teachers of false doctrines will promote forms of godliness, but not godliness itself — and will want to argue the meanings of words and ask controversial questions. They will seek us but not commendably. This has indeed been my experience in recent dealings in my walk. These arguments remind me of the very sad affair with our former President Bill Clinton. In his infamous deposition testimony, Mr. Clinton wanted to argue a point based on what the meaning of the word IS is. Unbelievable but all predicted for us in advance.
1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, 4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, 5 useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
I truly hope that nobody remains in spiritual darkness over the issue of free will. It is the exercise of one’s faith in God that will prove God’s love for us and the love we have for God. That is covenant! We must make it and walk in covenant to have eternal life. Only those that do the will of God enter the Kingdom. The will of God is that you keep covenant. Give God all the glory for the work He is accomplishing in you.
Exercising Faith
God is a tester of all faith and our hearts. We must make constant choices to overcome sin, the powers of darkness and the world. That is the walk and the journey set before us once we are Born Again into His Kingdom. We do that thru the power of the Holy Spirit from a regenerated heart given to us by God when we repent with our whole heart.
All the Patriarchs in the Bible chose to follow God once God appeared to them. Most did not want to go at first but they chose to live for God just as the disciples did when they dropped their nets and walked away. That is the exercise of our faith. It is a choice we make out of love. God doesn’t make you do anything. Here are some classic examples of faith being exercised.
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household
Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac
Hebrews 11:24-25 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 25CHOOSING rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season
True Christians will follow Jesus into death. It takes the exercise of faith to walk up a hill carrying a cross and become a living and holy sacrifice unto the LORD. If we had nothing to do or no faith to exercise then it would not be a sacrifice. We must die to the flesh, we must crucify the old man, mortify the deeds of the flesh; otherwise our faith is all in vain and we tell God “I love my flesh more than I love you.” To be born again, we must heed the call of God and die and be willing to give up everything. To produce fruit we must abide in the vine but we cannot abide in the vine until we choose death via a godly repentance. As we die, a new creation bursts forth one full of righteousness and fruit.
John 12:24-26 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and DIES, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
God wants our love. That is why He made us — to love Him and show His love to others in the image and likeness of His Son. He does not force us to love Him and we can certainly choose to live out our life in this flesh pursuing the things of the world and its lusts. He is not going to stop us from choosing that path. He respects our free will to choose to serve Him or to choose to lord it over our own life. We must humble ourselves and He will exalt us on the last day and redeem us from every lawless deed.
I pray and hope that more and more will act upon the undeserved grace that has been poured out. Choose life today.
Thanks Deborah. I was driven to summarize my understanding on the choice we make for God after considering some of the comments from those that hold to Calvinism doctrines. I got a bit too long and rambling!
Thanks Pete, another good post. The explanations that the Lord gives you are very clear. Keep blowing that trumpet.