Made for destruction?

Question: Why did Jesus pick Judas as a disciple knowing how he would end up? It seems like all the other disciples went into ministry until death.

There a couple of things to say in response to this question that draw out the tension.

Firstly, we should not doubt the sincerity of the call of the Lord Jesus. Jesus views him as a follower and a disciple. You see this in Mark 3: 13-20 as Jesus names his 12 disciples. So, we can say that yes Jesus did pick Judas, he called him to follow him.

Secondly, Judas fell from apostleship. He was lost because he was never saved. Some people draw attention to the fact he never called Jesus Lord only 'Rabbi' (Matt 26:25). And so he leaves the gospel story a doomed and damned man as that is what he chose and God confirmed him in that dreadful choice. And we can also say then, that even though he was called he did not follow because he chose not to.

Both of these things need to be held even though they feel contradictory!

Does that make the call of Jesus in some way ineffective? I keep having Hebrews run around in the back of my head and the warnings it lays down for Christian people. Ch 6 especially talks about those who have 'been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of this coming age'. Surely these people are Christians yet it talks about them falling away. So, we know that it is not once a Christian always a Christian.

But this doesn't rob us of assurance either. Hebrew 6: 19

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Interestingly, this verse comes straight after the writer talking about falling away. We can have assurance of our salvation. We can confidently say that we are chosen by God if we confess that Jesus Christ is LORD. But to begin the race is good to finish the race is even better and only those who are chosen will finish. Those chosen will continue to heed the warnings of Scripture to love God and obey him.

The exhortation in Hebrews 6 is that,

'we want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure'.

We can only go on what people tell us, we need as JC ryle (I think) said, gracious assumption.