Hi, I've been interested in the calvinist viewpoint for a while now, but there are still some bits and pieces that I'm having trouble with....
One is in reference to the 'chosen'. I'm a bit confused here because I've been referred to the parable of the wheat and the tares, which seems self explanatory to me. However how can God choose his own children? Do you know what I mean?
Like, the wheat belong to God because he planted them, and the tares belong to the enemy because he planted them. So who is there to choose? Aren't God's children who they are and the enemy's children who they are?
I hope I explained myself clearly, I'm not too good with words, but I try
We must first start with a premise- God is the creator of everything. God owns the whole kit and kaboodle, and can do what He pleases with anything on and off the earth.
That being said, let's take a look at Matthew 13:24-30 and 13:36-43. According to Jesus, the players in this parable are the following:
The Man who sowed good seed- Christ Jesus
The field the seed was sown in- The world
The good seed- Believers in Christ
The tares- God haters
The dude that spread tares- Satan
The harvest- The second coming of Christ
The reapers- Various angels
Now there is one group that Christ doesn't identify- the men, or the servants of the one who planted good seed. If you notice in the parable, it's the men who were sleeping on the job and thus gave the evil one the opportunity to mess with the field. The implication of the parable is clear- it is the servants of Christ in this age (the leaders of the Church) who have the responsibility to work the field and keep it pure, and they, of course, failed. This is nothing new- the Scripture is replete with men who failed to be faithful to the work the Lord has given them. Ezekiel and Jeremiah are chock full of such examples.
So by the time we get to the second coming of Christ, there will be found in the world of God both believers and unbelievers, and God will deal with both accordingly. Matthew 24:1 through 25:46 goes into even greater detail concerning the end of the age.
But one thing that this parable does not address is the mechanics of God's methods of chosing, or election. Christ does discuss this principle, as do other NT writers and of course the OT. If you turn to this parable and strive to understand how God sovreignly chooses some people for honor and others for dishonor, you will end up spending your time head scratching- that's not what Christ was talking about. To hear references to Gods election or choosing of His people in the Gospels, try Matthew 16:13-17, 24:15-31, 20:1-16, Mark 13:14-20, John 13:18-21 and 15:9-17. There are other references in the gospels, too- plus scads more in the OT and the epistles.
Theognome
