Hi Mike,

Does God want some to be saved and some not?

1Ti 2:3-4 God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is … not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

OR

Pro 16:4 The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Joh 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

2Th 2:11-12 God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned.

D____

Hello D____,

The answer to your question is it is both. The “chosen” in this age and the “called” in the ‘lake of fire’ are typified by Joseph’s brothers in the book of Genesis.

IN THIS AION (AGE) “many are called, but few are chosen.” The ‘chosen’ will be used, as something called ‘the lake of fire’, to bring in the ‘called but not chosen’.

Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now [In this aion; while in the flesh] not believed, that through your [the “few chosen”] mercy they [the “many called”] also may obtain mercy [while in the figurative ‘lake of fire’]

Who is it that dwells in this ‘lake of fire?’ Do the wicked dwell there? No, they are only there temporarily; only until all impurities are ‘burned’ out of them. This long drawn out ‘torment in the presence of the Lamb’ is typified by the torment Joseph inflicted on His brothers when they came down into Egypt to buy grain. Joseph, having had ‘all power given unto him,’ typifies Christ ruling the world (Egypt). Benjamin, who was not guilty of selling his brother for twenty pieces of silver, was never tormented by Joseph. Instead he received five times the gifts and blessings from Joseph. Joseph’s brothers, on the other hand, continued to be ‘tormented in the presence of the Lamb’ for many years after Joseph revealed himself to them. So it will be in the ‘lake of fire.’ The only people who will dwell comfortably in the fire are those who, like their God, will become that fire. Here are the scriptures for that amazing untold Truth:

Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him [a consuming fire]; for we shall see him as he is.

Is this really what the scriptures teach?

Dan 3:21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Dan 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

There! God’s people are at home in the fire of His word, but those who withstand them are burned up by that fiery word.

Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

These ‘two witnesses’ symbolize those who are faithful witnesses to the Word of God. It says so in Zechariah 4:

Zec 4:3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side] thereof.
Zec 4:4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
Zec 4:5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [ these ‘two olive trees’ who give oil to the seven churches] is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

God’s spirit IS His Word:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Here is what God’s word does to His people who are His “many called” but not “chosen:”

Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word [Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen], behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Jeremiah’s words were the same as those of the two witnesses. ‘The times for repentance is fast approaching an end. If you do not come out of fallen Jerusalem, you will be punished in Babylon, with Babylon.’ Why do you think “their dead bodies lie in the street of that great city wherein our Lord was crucified? It is because it has always been the “many called,” who have always persecuted the “few chosen.”

Who is it that is at home in this fire? God has given His witnesses the strength to be at home in this fire.

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

What is the answer to this question about ‘Who among us will dwell comfortably in the fire?

Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

The chosen saints are the ‘[small] lake of fire.’ They are indeed an exclusive group:

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The ‘second death IS the ‘lake of fire.’

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

It is not the second time anyone physically dies. It is ‘second’ by virtue of its timing. Those who die to the flesh first experience this ‘death to sin’ while still in the flesh. These few ‘overcomers’ “are not hurt of the second death.”

Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Yes, it is an ‘exclusivist message.’ I didn’t write it; I just quote it, and I quote it faithfully:

Mat 22:14 For many are called [in this aion], but few are chosen [in this aion].

These words are ‘fire in the mouths’ of those who point them out. Those who don’t like this plan of God accuse me of bringing an ‘exclusivist gospel’. Yet these are the very Words of Christ. Christ did indeed claim that He and not the rest of the called of His day, was the Son Of God. These Words got Him rejected and crucified. Why should we expect any better treatment?

Joh 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

Christ is speaking to the ‘Christians’ of His day. These Jews were the church of His day. Their response to the Truth is the same as the response of today’s hypocrites who claim to revere the words of Christ yet find it so easy to hate their perceived enemies. Christ was not a danger to these people. He was, and is, their deliverance, but they did not perceive Him as such. To these, His brothers, Christ, just as Joseph seemed to His brothers, was a threat because Joseph saw that his brothers would one day bow down to him. So it was with Christ, and so it is to this day. The first-fruits are chosen to be hated and rejected because they are chosen out of the called. Just like Joseph they will be used by God to save the ‘called’ at a later date.

Your question was, “Does God want some to be saved and some not?” And the answer once again is both “in their own order.”

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

How was this message received by the ‘church’ in the days of Christ? The same as it is received by the church of today:

Joh 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

The ‘elect’ will always be accused of exclusivism, just as Joseph and Christ were.

Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you

The answer to your question, once again is, it is both; “But every man in his own order…”

Once again, I quote Romans 11 to demonstrate this truth:

Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, [So] that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

I hope this answers your question.

Mike