Posts: Chosen

Chosen

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world that He might shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak thing of the world that He might shame the strong; and the low born of the world and the things which are despised God chose, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.” (1 Corinthians 1:27 – 29) God purposely brought His message through those whom the powerful see as beneath them. The elite could not claim they were necessary. The lowly knew that this was beyond their skill set.

“Be even more diligent to make your call and election sure.” (2 Peter 1:10) Starting back at verse 4, the faithful have been promised the ability to develop the divine nature while still on earth. The vast majority of people want to improve themselves but progress is meager. The faithful get help and, if they will but participate, steadily add godly character traits. Peter’s admonition is not to be the best we can be, but to trust His promises, redemption, and power to transform us into His image. Those who trust get the ability to overcome themselves.

“And those who are with Him are called and chosen and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14) In John’s vision, a ferocious beast makes war with the Lamb, but the Lamb overcomes. Those with the Lamb are described in three different but individually important ways. One could say that all are called because the gospel has gone to the whole world. But the word always describes those who both heard and responded. They are chosen because their faith has the attributes God desires. They are faithful in that they persevere despite hardship. The description is still apt.

“Paul…an apostle of Jesus Christ toward the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth…through preaching..” (Titus 1:1 – 3) Paul began each of his letters with the setting for that which followed. To his friend and co-worker, Titus, Paul identified his mission as building trust in God and exposing reality in contrast to convenient excuses. Following are various methods Titus might use while teaching in the various congregations on the island of Crete. Developing trust and facing reality remain the church’s major goals.

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving each other…” (Colossians 3:12 – 13) This list of positive traits are necessary to accomplish Paul’s previous admonition: neither ethnic nor class divisions shall exist in the church. Because such acceptance of diversity has never been accomplished in human history, the faithful obviously will require help. The listed qualities are also the fruit of the Spirit who dwells in each of the elect.

“You are a chosen nation, a royal priesthood, a holy ethnicity, an acquired possession, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” (1 Peter 2:9) The faithful rightly may see themselves as a new ethnicity with its own peculiar culture in which the members find identity. Each descriptor sees the group from a different viewpoint: chosen not earned, rulers and intermediaries, pure, and owned by God. Such nationalism produces vocal invitations to similar rescue from the brokenness of this life.

“…to the chosen sojourners of the dispersion of [modern-day Turkey] according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, into compliance and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:2) Peter wrote to Jewish Christians in Turkey partly to assure them that they were not out of compliance with God’s plan for Israel, but rather were the reserved stock, purified like Temple furniture. For the next two millennia, groups who broke away from the mainstream have had the same qualms. Peter’s letter supplies the benchmarks.

“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the cosmos that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, having planned ahead to adopt us, through Jesus Christ, to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” (Ephesians 1:4) Before creation, God already wanted a big family that would last. The necessary character traits to make any family work are faith and love (trust and selfless concern), so those with those attributes are those He planned to adopt. Jesus paid off our spiritual bankruptcy, but faith and love get us in the family.

“But on account of the elect whom He has chosen, He shortened the days.” (Mark 13:20) In Jesus’ description of the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem, which He described as the most terrible period in all of human history, He noted that God would limit the devastation for the sake of the faithful. The worst-ever event could have been worse. Although God must let evil play out, because stopping free will would also eliminate both faith and love, He has compassion. The faithful will suffer, but not more than they can handle. And, He knows our real limits.

“He will send His angels with a great trumpet call, and they will gather together His elect out of the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:31) In His description of the time surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD, Jesus announced that all the faithful would be gathered into His eternal kingdom, on earth and in heaven. Such was accomplished within the next 30 years as the gospel went to the whole world. The faithful continue to be gathered into that kingdom to this day to join other faithful spirits.

“Many are called; however, few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14) In the preceding parable, Jesus described a royal wedding feast which the denizens, although invited, cared not to attend. The messengers, finally, were killed. So, the king sent his army against them and destroyed their city. Then, the king invited the common people, although even they were required to make some attempt to be presentable. Jesus’ point was that everyone has been called; only some respond. And only those who make an effort are accepted.

“Shall God not execute the avenging of His elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?” (Luke 18:7) God is Spirit, and is composed of all the positive character traits with no negative ones (not like the yin and yang of Chinese philosophy). Justice is one of those positive traits. God cannot just let things go, overlook the misdeeds on the earth, which is why He had to come to earth to pay off humanity’s debt. Further, God will not let justice lapse for persecutors of the faithful. Be patient. Leave vengeance to the professional.

“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?” (Romans 8:33) When Jesus went home and cleaned up heaven, Satan was cast out. Before that time, Satan had been accusing the faithful before God day and night (Revelation 12:5 – 12). Since that time, Jesus has been making intercession for the faithful from His position at the right hand of God (Romans 8:34). The adversary has been replaced by the advocate (1 John 2:1). Those whose faith has been found acceptable have nothing to fear in the courtroom of God.

“I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” (2 Timothy 2:10) After becoming a Christian, Paul had a rough life. But he forged ahead out of love, doing what was best for others without regard to the effect on himself. Expressing the same sentiment in Philippians 1:21 – 26, Paul understood that those whose faith is acceptable to God (the elect) need nurturing and building up to stay the course.

“Even so, then, at this present time there has been a remnant according to the election of grace.” (Romans 11:5) Paul’s contrast is to the time of Elijah when he believed that he was the only one who still believed. God assured him that He had 7000 others. God found their faith acceptable even though the nation had gone terribly wrong. By God’s gracious nature, that small percentage was preserved even though God could have justly dispatched the whole nation. The faithful today live in a similarly broken world, yet are confident in that graciousness.

“Israel has not obtained what it seeks, but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” (Romans 11:7) As Jesus explained in John 6, Israelites who came to faith through understanding the point of the Old Testament also responded to Jesus, whereas those who clung to the physical as the means by which to connect with God did not. The very Scriptures that were designed to enlighten them, blinded them. The same holds true today among the church-going public. Some come to faith; some are blinded by the light.

“…remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope of our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.” (1 Thessalonians 1:3 – 4) Paul had high praise for the fledgling congregation in Thessalonica ,who had received only a few weeks instruction before Paul was driven away. He observed not only their faith and love, but also a hope not unlike that of Jesus that produced patience. These earmarks lead to the confident conclusion that God approves.

“Behold I lay in Zion a stone, an elect cornerstone, precious; and the one believing upon Him shall not be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:6, Isaiah 28:16) In ancient times, the cornerstone was large and precisely carved so that all subsequent measurements during construction could be made accurately from its angles and corners. Jesus is the point from which all are measured and through reference to whom subsequent construction of life may be accurately laid out.