Reconciling "few will be saved" with "my yoke is easy"

[may_they_be_one]

How do we keep working out our salvation with fear and trembling, hoping we’re one of the few, and still rest in the knowledge that the yoke we’re expected to carry is not too difficult?

Is it as simple as knowing that we can give our burdens and crosses to the Lord?

Is the real test of losing our faith and salvation in whether or not we can fully trust God?

This is difficult when we’re focused on the temporal, and it is easy when we’re focused on the eternal.

Am I missing anything?

 

[MarcoPolo]

I think that is a good question. But I think you stumble on the correct answer. This life is a blink of an eye, so compared to the eternal happiness to come, the suffering here is virtually nothing. From the temporal view, suffering here is great, as even the Incarnate Christ experienced.

In one of my college courses, the prof. mentioned this Psalm:*So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)*And it is understood that we want to learn to properly quantify the length of this life, so that we might be wise and see how brief it is.

Hope that helps.

 

[may_they_be_one]

I think that is a good question. But I think you stumble on the correct answer. This life is a blink of an eye, so compared to the eternal happiness to come, the suffering here is virtually nothing. From the temporal view, suffering here is great, as even the Incarnate Christ experienced.

In one of my college courses, the prof. mentioned this Psalm:*So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)*And it is understood that we want to learn to properly quantify the length of this life, so that we might be wise and see how brief it is.

Hope that helps.

It does. Thanks!

This reminds me also of the verse (in psalms? I actually only recall it from the contemporary worship song): “my suffering lasts for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Another thought: Are the many who do not end up saved the ones who couldn’t bear the short suffering/easy yoke, too focused on the flesh, and essentially gave up too soon?

 

[bmullins]

As a farm boy I know that a yoke is easy for the animal, as long as the animal goes where the owner wants him to go. It’s very easy to walk along with a light load, and the yoke simply sits there. But when the bull or horse wants to go the right, while the ‘master’ is pulling to the left… the yoke begins to chafe. The harder the fight, the more it chafes, the worse it hurts.

So yes, a yoke is easy and a burden is light… as long as we are obedient. The mystery of this parable is in the yoke itself. A yoke is not simply a necklace, but a tool used to guide you to the place where you are wanted. As Jesus is our ‘master’, and we are wearing his yoke, we too must go where God wants us, and when we do that we are free! There is no chafing, no pain. It’s only when we oppose God’s will in our life, that things become difficult, our burdens become hard to bear.

 

[jcrichton]

How do we keep working out our salvation with fear and trembling, hoping we’re one of the few, and still rest in the knowledge that the yoke we’re expected to carry is not too difficult?

Is it as simple as knowing that we can give our burdens and crosses to the Lord?

Is the real test of losing our faith and salvation in whether or not we can fully trust God?

This is difficult when we’re focused on the temporal, and it is easy when we’re focused on the eternal.

Am I missing anything?

…I think that most people that focus on Salvation miss an intricate part of Salvation… yes, it is free; yes, it is eternal; no it is not secured by a clause in Scriptures… Salvation is secured by obedience to Christ… it is not merely claiming Christ as Lord and Savior… but actually abiding in Christ (St. John 15:1-10).

…the few that would be Saved is not because Yahweh God has set some limitations on the number of people to be Saved (that’s man’s machination)… God wants everyone to be Saved (Ezekiel 18; St. John 3:14-21)… but, as during the Old Covenant, not all wish to humbly submit to God’s Will (Romans 10:17-19; Hebrews 3:12-19); so put your trust in Jesus; abide in Him so that He may Abide in you and He will help you with your yoke… Salvation is not a statement or contract; Salvation is Living in the Light:

5 This is what we have heard from him and are declaring to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 If we say that we share in God’s life while we are living in darkness, we are lying, because we are not living the truth. 7 But if we live in light, as he is in light, we have a share in another’s life, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and truth has no place in us; 9 if we acknowledge our sins, he is trustworthy and upright, so that he will forgive our sins and will cleanse us from all evil. 10 If we say, ‘We have never sinned,’ we make him a liar, and his word has no place in us. (1 St. John 1:5-10)

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[jcrichton]

It does. Thanks!

This reminds me also of the verse (in psalms? I actually only recall it from the contemporary worship song): “my suffering lasts for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Another thought: Are the many who do not end up saved the ones who couldn’t bear the short suffering/easy yoke, too focused on the flesh, and essentially gave up too soon?

…again… it is not a matter of numbers… Jesus came and promised to return… when the issue of the end of times arose He never went into specifics other than “be ready!”

Here’s a clue about who will be Saved:

But when the Son of man comes, will he find any faith on earth?’ (St. Luke 18:8b)

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[Bob_Crowley]

How do we keep working out our salvation with fear and trembling, hoping we’re one of the few, and still rest in the knowledge that the yoke we’re expected to carry is not too difficult?

Is it as simple as knowing that we can give our burdens and crosses to the Lord?

Is the real test of losing our faith and salvation in whether or not we can fully trust God?

This is difficult when we’re focused on the temporal, and it is easy when we’re focused on the eternal.

Am I missing anything?

I don’t know Greek, so I can’t comment on the original Gospel documents, or their translation.

However I think I remember my old pastor referring to the JB Phillips version of this quote in which it was translated “My yoke fits” rather than “my yoke is easy”. He thought the JB Phillips NT translation was pretty good.

In other words, what Christ asks us to do will “fit” us. He won’t demand the sort of nonsense that the world does.

 

[Megan7]

I think that is a good question. But I think you stumble on the correct answer. This life is a blink of an eye, so compared to the eternal happiness to come, the suffering here is virtually nothing. From the temporal view, suffering here is great, as even the Incarnate Christ experienced.

In one of my college courses, the prof. mentioned this Psalm:*So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)*And it is understood that we want to learn to properly quantify the length of this life, so that we might be wise and see how brief it is.

Hope that helps.

 

[Uzziah1]

How do we keep working out our salvation with fear and trembling, hoping we’re one of the few, and still rest in the knowledge that the yoke we’re expected to carry is not too difficult?

Is it as simple as knowing that we can give our burdens and crosses to the Lord?

Is the real test of losing our faith and salvation in whether or not we can fully trust God?

This is difficult when we’re focused on the temporal, and it is easy when we’re focused on the eternal.

Am I missing anything?

His yoke is easy and His burden is light, but many are called while few are chosen. I have always puzzled about salvation percentages. The dragon in Revelation sweeps one-third of the stars from the sky. That doesn’t sound like “many are called but few are chosen,” right? 2/3 odds are pretty good!

Hans Urs Von Balthazar, who died two days before JPII could make him a cardinal, wrote “Dare We Hope,” inquiring into the possibility that Hell will be empty.

God is an aggressive savior. He didn’t just die on the cross. He hunts us down for salvation.

So, will Hell, surprise, surprise, surprise, be empty?

 

[jcrichton]

His yoke is easy and His burden is light, but many are called while few are chosen. I have always puzzled about salvation percentages. The dragon in Revelation sweeps one-third of the stars from the sky. That doesn’t sound like “many are called but few are chosen,” right? 2/3 odds are pretty good!

Hans Urs Von Balthazar, who died two days before JPII could make him a cardinal, wrote “Dare We Hope,” inquiring into the possibility that Hell will be empty.

God is an aggressive savior. He didn’t just die on the cross. He hunts us down for salvation.

So, will Hell, surprise, surprise, surprise, be empty?

…but the 1/3 is speaking of the angels; Lucifer managed to convinced even the Heavenly hosts that his way was better than Yahweh God’s… so the odds for humans are no better–I would dare say even worse since we not only have the faculties to reject God but we relish on anything and everything that appeals to the flesh, specially if it seems offensive to God or the Church (I’m speaking from both personal experience and what I’ve come to understand about the culture created and nurtured by hollowood); …and if we truly doubt that Hell will be filled to near capacity, just look at the changing values world-wide, the anti-Christ theology that “Christians” are embracing, and the revelations found in the book of Apocalypse:

15 Then all the kings of the earth, the governors and the commanders, the rich people and the men of influence, the whole population, slaves and citizens, hid in caverns and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They said to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us away from the One who sits on the throne and from the retribution of the Lamb. 17 For the Great Day of his retribution has come, and who can face it?’ (Apocalypse 6:15-17)

18 It was by these three plagues, the fire, the smoke and the sulphur coming from their mouths, that the one third of the human race was killed. 19 All the horses’ power was in their mouths and their tails: their tails were like snakes, and had heads which inflicted wounds. 20 But the rest of the human race, who escaped death by these plagues, refused either to abandon their own handiwork or to stop worshipping devils, the idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood that can neither see nor hear nor move.
21 Nor did they give up their murdering, or witchcraft, or fornication or stealing. (Apocalypse 9:18-21)

7 When they have completed their witnessing, the beast that comes out of the Abyss is going to make war on them and overcome them and kill them. 8 Their corpses lie in the main street of the great city known by the symbolic names Sodom and Egypt, in which their Lord was crucified. 9 People of every race, tribe, language and nation stare at their corpses, for three-and-a-half days, not letting them be buried, 10 and the people of the world are glad about it and celebrate the event by giving presents to each other, because these two prophets have been a plague to the people of the world.’ (Apocalypse 11:7-10)

Salvation is Granted freely to the whole world and Salvation is Eternal… but God will not force anyone to Believe and Obey Him; His Will is that all be Saved… sadly, we have a different agenda:

16 For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 For God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. 18 No one who believes in him will be judged; but whoever does not believe is judged already, because that person does not believe in the Name of God’s only Son. 19 And the judgement is this: though the light has come into the world people have preferred darkness to the light because their deeds were evil

. 20 And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, to prevent his actions from being shown up; (St. John 3:16-20)

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[Uzziah1]

…but the 1/3 is speaking of the angels

We debated this in one of my Bible study groups years ago.

Verse after verse after verse after verse uses the “stars of the sky” to express the number of saved humans, not angels …

Genesis 15:5
Genesis 22:17
Genesis 26:4
Genesis 37:9 (referring to the Patriarch Joseph’s brothers)
Exodus 32:13
Deuteronomy 1:10
Deuteronomy 10:22
Deuteronomy 28:62 (although this seems to be a "faithful remnant prediction)
1 Chronicles 27:23
Nehemiah 9:23
Psalm 147:4 (sandwiched between verses speaking only of humans)
Daniel 8:10 (refers to the clearly demonic little horn of Revelation not only sweeping stars out of the sky, but TRAMPLING UPON THEM. Satan’s demons?
Daniel 12:3 (clearly comparing people, not angels, to stars)
Hebrews 11:12
Jude 13

Deuteronomy 4:19 talks about not worshipping things not God, and includes stars in the list of things not God

Judges 5:20 talks about stars as something different than people on earth – but is it people in Heaven?

Job 25:5-6 seems to implicitly distinguish between mankind and stars

Job 38:7 may be comparing angels to stars, or implicitly distinguishing them from angels because the stars sing while angels shout

Psalm 136:9 joins the moon and the stars in the same category. The moon is probably a devil symbol, so this casts doubt. But stars still IN the sky rule the night – they haven’t been knocked down to earth yet as in Revelation; so, the Psalm 136:9 stars aren’t necessarily “angels” – they can still be people ruling with prayer

After examining all of these, I rejected the notion put forward by another that stars symbolize angels.

 

[jcrichton]

We debated this in one of my Bible study groups years ago.

Verse after verse after verse after verse uses the “stars of the sky” to express the number of saved humans, not angels …

Genesis 15:5
Genesis 22:17
Genesis 26:4
Genesis 37:9 (referring to the Patriarch Joseph’s brothers)
Exodus 32:13
Deuteronomy 1:10
Deuteronomy 10:22
Deuteronomy 28:62 (although this seems to be a "faithful remnant prediction)
1 Chronicles 27:23
Nehemiah 9:23
Psalm 147:4 (sandwiched between verses speaking only of humans)
Daniel 8:10 (refers to the clearly demonic little horn of Revelation not only sweeping stars out of the sky, but TRAMPLING UPON THEM. Satan’s demons?
Daniel 12:3 (clearly comparing people, not angels, to stars)
Hebrews 11:12
Jude 13

Deuteronomy 4:19 talks about not worshipping things not God, and includes stars in the list of things not God

Judges 5:20 talks about stars as something different than people on earth – but is it people in Heaven?

Job 25:5-6 seems to implicitly distinguish between mankind and stars

Job 38:7 may be comparing angels to stars, or implicitly distinguishing them from angels because the stars sing while angels shout

Psalm 136:9 joins the moon and the stars in the same category. The moon is probably a devil symbol, so this casts doubt. But stars still IN the sky rule the night – they haven’t been knocked down to earth yet as in Revelation; so, the Psalm 136:9 stars aren’t necessarily “angels” – they can still be people ruling with prayer

After examining all of these, I rejected the notion put forward by another that stars symbolize angels.

You, as everyone else in the world, have the right to your own opinion.

I am not as gifted as most so I can only conclude from Scriptures what Scriptures implicitly or explicitly Reveal:

3 Then a second sign appeared in the sky: there was a huge red dragon

with seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet.
4 Its tail swept a third of the stars from the sky and hurled them to the ground, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was at the point of giving birth, so that it could eat the child as soon as it was born.

7 And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, 8 but they were defeated and driven out of heaven. 9 The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had led all the world astray, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him. (Apocalypse 12:3-4, 7-9)

…ever heard of less is more? …too many times we seek to group as much Scriptures as possible to define a theme/point… it does not always work… there are direct concordances that can support or second a particular passage… but then there are those verses that simply confound the issue or a whole mess of Chinese acrobatics must take place in order to reconcile one Scriptural passage with the other/s…

…without jumping to a different book we find Apocalypse 12:4 speaking about a thrid of the angels being separated from the whole–the word “stars” is used as a Grammatical accident to mean “angels;” we can tell that “stars” is a metaphor for “angels” because verse 7 tells us about the war in Heaven where St. Michael and his angels fought back Satan and his angels (verse 8)… and the latter were driven from Heaven and ended up being hurled down to earth (verse 9)…

…of course, you do not need to accept this… but I pray the Holy Spirit enlightens you, as the rest of us, so that these conflictive views cease and the schisms in the Body be healed!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[thistle]

How do we keep working out our salvation with fear and trembling, hoping we’re one of the few, and still rest in the knowledge that the yoke we’re expected to carry is not too difficult?

Is it as simple as knowing that we can give our burdens and crosses to the Lord?

Is the real test of losing our faith and salvation in whether or not we can fully trust God?

This is difficult when we’re focused on the temporal, and it is easy when we’re focused on the eternal.

Am I missing anything?

D-R Bible, Haydock Commentary:

Ver. 30. For my yoke is sweet, &c. For though, in regard of our weak nature, it be a very heavy yoke, yet the grace of God renders it easy and light, because our Lord himself helps us to bear it, according to that of the prophet Osee, (Chap. xi, ver. 4) I will be unto them as he that takes the yoke from off their heads. St. Bernard says, that our Saviour sweetens by the spiritual unction of his grace, all the crosses, penances, and mortifications of religious souls. St. Augustine owns, that before he knew the power of grace, he could never comprehend what chastity was, nor believe that any one was able to practice it; but the grace of God renders all things easy. (Rodriguez, On Mortification. Chap. xix.)

 

[FSGRY]

LOLhttp://www.50centloseweight.com

 

[fred_conty]

When I think of “yoke is easy, buden is light” I think of what it whould have been like if I had not known Jesus. What would I be like? What would have happened and what kind of life would I have had. After a lot of reflection of how he has changed me and made a real difference, I have always come to the conclusion that I would be in JAIL. No exageration about that. And this would only be followed by an eternal Jail.

Just a sobering thought for me and a huge hug for Jesus.

 

[jcrichton]

When I think of “yoke is easy, buden is light” I think of what it whould have been like if I had not known Jesus. What would I be like? What would have happened and what kind of life would I have had. After a lot of reflection of how he has changed me and made a real difference, I have always come to the conclusion that I would be in JAIL. No exageration about that. And this would only be followed by an eternal Jail.

Just a sobering thought for me and a huge hug for Jesus.

Exellent testimony!

Jesus truly is the “free” in “…the Truth will set you Free!”

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[lucklove]

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