He Chose Us To Be Holy

He Chose Us To Be Holy

Ephesians 1:3 – 10 says:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

God chose whoever abides in him to be holy since before creation. As we are holy, we can expect God to not only hear our prayers, but answer them as well. God’s love for us is shown in the ever present way in which he leads us in our struggles and our victories.

            The word predestined in this passage gives major difficulty to many who think God simply said, “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” and chose people who are saved or others who are not. However, the word predestination is taken, many times, out of the context of the Scripture. Though volumes have been written on the subject of predestination, I am going to take but a few short paragraphs to sum up what God’s Word says.

            When one takes the entire Word of God into context, one can see that God is just and has given each one of his creation the right to choose God or Satan. There are truly only two choices. Even though there are those who might say this oversimplifies the context of the Scripture, it seems plain from the Word of God that is absolutely the case.

            God does not send anyone to Hell. God simply allows one to choose where he or she wants to live for eternity. If one wants to accept God, he or she will want to live with God for eternity. If one does not accept God, he or she will want to live apart from him. Therefore, rejecting God tells him that one does not want to live in the same place he is going to be. So, he allows them to live apart from him in a place called Hell. He will allow them to live with the one they have chosen to live with whether Satan or God. It is the choice of the individual.

1 Peter 1:1-2 says:

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus,  Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

This verse makes it clear that God chooses his people through his foreknowledge of the decision they will make when he is presented to them. He does not choose through coercion or lottery. Some say that if God does not have the absolute power to make someone choose, he is not sovereign or all powerful. However, it would seem the fact that he gives everyone the ability to choose and yet still make everyone’s life come out according to his plan, not to mention the entire world, boggles the mind.

            The enormity of the variables of the world is astounding. Much more so than a god who simply chooses for everyone, and then puts the world on auto pilot until the end.

            We serve a God who is intimately a part of our everyday lives and cares about what you do and how you live. He is attentive to our every need and desire and applies the same to billions of people every day. What an awesome, loving God!