GOD'S SMALL REMNANT

The Church is called the Body of Christ. Not everyone in the Church, however, is part of the Church. Not everyone in the Communion lines makes up the Body of Christ. “Many are called, few are the elect”, Jesus made clear to us (Matthew 22:14). Many are baptized and many receive Holy Communion, but few of them will make it to heaven. The sacraments do not work like religious magic.

The Communion is a double-edged sword. It can either secure your eternal salvation or it can seal your eternal doom and damnation. What makes the difference is the measure of the repentance of your sins and the depth of your inner brokenness (contrition).

The Communion is not administered to save you, but rather to sustain the salvation you already have been given. This becomes evident at the time of Communion when the priest intones: “The Holy things to those who are Holy!”

The Communion of the body and blood of Jesus Christ aims at renewing the redeeming grace you received at the time of your water Baptism and Chrismation. You were instantly saved when you came out of the Baptismal font. You received the rebirth at infancy. You were “born of God” (1 Peter 1:3). (1 John 5:1). You were born again.

Though water baptism is regenerative, the infant that is baptized must seek later in life a personal experience of that salvation. This is done by inviting Jesus Christ as personal Savior when he or she becomes of age. Without such a life-changing experience, the sacraments can bring eternal condemnation to the recipient. We can’t make it to heaven on our baptismal certificate. The threshold experience of the second birth is a prerequisite for spiritual growth. How can you grow if you haven’t been out of the womb? “That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Those who receive authority to become the sons of God are those who are “born of God” (John 1:13).

They may become sons of God’s kingdom, but even that gift of adoption might not necessarily guarantee their salvation. Jesus predicted that many whom we now exclude from the household of faith will enter the kingdom of heaven, while “the children of the kingdom,” that is the professing Orthodox, will be cast out into hell. It will be a place where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12).

Again, “many are called; few are elect.” Don’t look at those crowds in church on Sunday. Yes, they are reverent and devout in appearance. Too many priests mistake reverence and piety for a right relationship with God. We might judge people in church by their appearance, but the Lord looks upon the heart. What ultimately counts is the heart condition. Do we have a love relationship with Christ? Are we acting like His Bride? Are we expecting Him as our divine Spouse in preparation for the Marriage in Heaven that will bond us with Him forever? Few, if any, are consumed with that nuptial love and passion for the Bridegroom Who purchased the Church with His own blood.

God will end up with His small remnant of true believers. Even in the Old Covenant God was left only with a few who made it into the promised land. As a matter of fact, none of the Israelites who left Egypt and journeyed through the wilderness under the leadership of Moses entered the land of promise.

No sooner the children of Israel reached their destination, ready to cross the Jordan River and enjoy the land flowing with milk and honey, when they were cast away by God because of their disobedience and perpetual murmuring against Moses. They were left to die in the wilderness (Numbers 32:10f). Only their children were permitted to cross the Jordan and possess the land.

In like manner too many baptized members of the Orthodox Church travel life’s long journey on earth, hearing God’s unfailing promise about inheriting the kingdom of heaven. They have their inheritance legally, but not experientially. Their imperfect obedience keeps them out of the land of promise. Their relationship with Christ is lacking in fervor. They have not had a love relationship and nuptial intimacy with the divine Bridegroom (Nymphios).

God will end up with a few genuine believers, His small remnant. He views His plan for the salvation of the world as accomplished even with a residue of His covenant people. The prophet Zechariah predicts that two-thirds of the Israelites will perish in the coming battle of Armageddon. Only one-third will be saved from the onslaught of the invading armies led by the Antichrist (Zechariah 13:8).

God’s relying on a small remnant is a pattern that is evident in the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah, for example, declares: “Unless the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant we should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:9). God’s prophet also cries out: “The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God” (Isaiah 10:21). “Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The hour of winnowing is already upon us. The day of Christ’s return is fast approaching. The voice of one crying in the wilderness continues to be thundered: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” ( Matthew 3:2). When Jesus embarked on His earthly ministry, the first public utterance that came out of His mouth was the same one John the Baptist cried out: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

The evangelist Mark states the same initial message of Jesus in these words: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark1:15). Then at a later stage Jesus includes this same message in the Great Commission He directs to His disciples. As a matter of fact, He selects the sermon topic for them. It is this same beginning message. After the Lord commands them to preach on their apostolic journeys, He specifies clearly what is to be preached. They are not to search around trying to figure out the theme of their preaching. Here it is, clear and simple: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:7).

If priests, archbishops and patriarchs sit on apostolic thrones, then they are bound to respond in obedience to Christ’s commandment included in the Great Commission. The apostolic succession that they claim to have must be demonstrated by the apostolic kerygma that should be proclaimed from the rooftops: “Repent. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.

There is an implicit warning in this apostolic type of preaching: that time is running out. The self-evident fact is that there is a deadline ahead. If you miss that deadline, your repentance will do you no good. Indeed, what makes Hell really Hell is that everyone in that place of perdition repents, but to no avail. We will stand before the judgment seat of Christ when He comes to execute judgment upon the world. Now is the time to “repent and believe the gospel.”

As St. Paul declares emphatically, warning the new believers in Corinth: “Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Nothing could be more tragic than to have the return of the Lord Jesus Christ catch us in an unrepentant state. I am referring primarily to Church members, the "sons of the kingdom,” who are nominal believers, lacking a testimony of a life-changing personal relationship with their divine Savior.

They are among the many who are called,” but, alas! “not chosen,” not among the few elect or select ones who are to be welcomed to possess the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. How sad it is when too many in our churches have their spiritual inheritance legally, but not experientially! There are eternal consequences that follow.

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