He chose you

Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)

Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.

I cannot comprehend the truth expressed in verse 4, can you?  God making the world is incomprehensible enough much less the thought that before creation God loved you and me and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.  Really, can anyone understand the depth of this thought?  Well, no, you cannot, but of course there are innumerable things in life and natural creation that the finite human mind cannot comprehend. Yet we accept them without worrying about having to understand.  So it should be with biblical truths such as Ephesians 1:4.

Who is Paul writing to when he affirms these unbelievable words?  The answer is in Ephesians 1:1---to the saints specifically living in Ephesus and also to all people who believe in Jesus Christ.  Saint means holy and holy means separated unto God and unto Jesus Christ.  Saints were/are dedicated Christian people, but they are still people, not perfect.  So Paul’s outrageous claims about God’s love and choosing His people are directed toward those who He knows believe or will believe in Him. 

Note that salvation is not originally based on your choosing God, but God choosing you.  This truth disturbs many people because it suggests that God does not choose everyone. Theologically, these verses describe the Doctrine of Election and such doctrine is very controversial. You may have heard of the term ‘Calvinism’, named after John Calvin, that strongly espouses the doctrine of election, that God extends His grace and grants salvation only to chosen people or “the elect”.  Another name for this theology is “predestination” (read Romans 8:28-30).  It is up to you to determine whether you believe or not in the doctrine of election, based on Ephesians 1:4-5 (and other passages).  One of those other passages is I Corinthians 1:27-30 where Paul writes that God chose particular kinds of people—the foolish, the weak, and the low—to be part of His church.

The Bible teaches both the doctrine of election and the doctrine of salvation.  William MacDonald in his book Believers Bible Commentary (Thomas Nelson, 1995, page 1908) writes that both doctrines are found in John 6:37 where the first half of the verse speaks of God’s sovereign choice while the second half speaks of salvation offered to everyone.  I Timothy 2:4 speaks of God’s desires that everyone be saved, but He also knows that not everyone will believe in His salvation.   

What helps me to believe in the doctrine of election is a verse from Matthew 22:14, “Many are called, but few are chosen”.  Many people are called/invited to enter the Kingdom of God, but only those who have been chosen will actually believe in Jesus Christ and accept the invitation.  God knows beforehand who these people are and indeed many people have a problem with this.  However, keep in mind that the world revolves around God, not around human beings.  Many people hear the call of God through various means---creation (Romans 1:18-23), other people sharing the gospel, their own conscience---but only a few of those hearing the call will truly respond.  Everyone has ears but only a few listen and respond (Matthew 11:15, Mark 4:9, Luke 8:8, 14:35).  It is God who draws certain people to Him; otherwise they cannot come on their own (John 6:44).

The doctrine of election causes people to question God’s fairness, that people really don’t have choice (we are God’s robots), and that evangelism is unnecessary.  If you read Romans 11, you will better understand God’s fairness/mercy to all.  If you read Romans 10 you will see the need for evangelism, and Romans 9 deals with the question of choice.    

I believe that anyone attracted to the gospel of Christ has been chosen by God, even if you are still wavering in what you truly believe.  Before the creation of the universe God thought of you. He did not choose you because you chose Him first; He chose you so that you would choose Him, does that make sense?  He did not choose you because you were already holy and without fault, but he chose you so that you would become holy and without fault.  The Scripture says that God decided in advance to adopt you into His own family by bringing you to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.  It is up to you whether or not to believe this.