Chosen By God’s Mercy
Every person who will be saved is chosen by God. Their names have been written in the Book of Life since the beginning of time. And they will go to be with God for eternity only because they were chosen to do so.
The Bible discusses the “chosen” and the “elect” quite extensively and is quite clear in so doing. Yet this is one of the most controversial concepts in Christian belief.
On the surface, the idea of being chosen feels like a version of pre-destiny. As if nothing we do on earth matters because God has already determined whether we will go to heaven or to hell. This is not the case.
God has not determined where we will go in advance. However, time, as we know it, does not exist for Him. From before we were even born, God knew who we were going to be and what we were going to do. This omniscience is what has allowed Him to choose us and protect us from the beginning. And it is how He knows which book (life or death) to write our names in.
Being Chosen is About Our Choices
Our free will is not restrained. We are not puppets that God plays with. We are living, breathing creatures to whom God has granted near-limitless choices. We have the choice to love others or to hate them. To do good things or to do bad.
We know that we have freedom of choice because the Bible speaks of it constantly. One very direct example is Deuteronomy 30:19:
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live…
The Chosen Are Selfless
Everyone has a choice, as we read above. Yet, the chosen choose to give up their choice in favor of God’s choice for their lives. They are selfless, putting their love of God and of others before their own wants.
The world values those who are selfish, taking for themselves whatever they want and can obtain. It wants us all to want a “dream” life, craving what can be seen over what is hidden beneath the surface. This is why when we look around we see so many people being two-faced in what they say and do. Because they are always maneuvering themselves for what they feel will benefit them at that moment. And because they only care to benefit themselves.
God’s chosen people are not of the world, and they do not affiliate with worldly people other than to preach God’s Word to them.
2 Timothy 3:2-5 teaches us that we should stay away from people who are selfish and worldly:
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
And Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:39 that loving worldly things leads to destruction. Therefore, chosen people do not try to have the “dream life” on earth. They also do not attempt to maintain an appearance that isn’t completely true to who they are:
Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
The Chosen Fulfill the Ten Commandments
God set out many laws for His children to follow. We do not practice the law as the Jewish people did before Christ’s coming. But this is because the law is fulfilled in Christ’s resurrection and our faith in Him. If we are to make the choice to be chosen, we will fulfill the meaning of the law through our worship of God. This includes the most important portion of the law, the Ten Commandments:
- Do not have any gods other than the One True God.
- Do not make an idol to worship or bow down to.
- Do not curse the Lord’s name.
- Observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy.
- Honor your father and mother.
- Do not murder.
- Do not commit adultery.
- Do not steal.
- Do not lie or give false testimony about someone.
- Do not envy or be jealous of anyone else for any reason.
Because chosen people want to honor God in all they do, they live as Jesus lived. They do not engage in sexual immorality or affairs, they do not drink heavily or do drugs, and they do not kill or commit suicide. Most importantly, they recognize that they cannot be lukewarm; they cannot walk with God while holding Satan’s hand. In other words, being chosen requires giving up everything that we normally strive for in order to live a different and more meaningful life.
The Good News
Reading all of this, you might feel sad that you haven’t lived up to this ideal God expects of us. You might feel like there is no point in trying to be chosen because you’ve already screwed up too much. Do not feel like this. Instead, let me tell you the Good News!
Jesus came to this earth and died for our sins. You do not need to be of Jewish descent or be born a Christian to be saved. All you must do to be saved is believe that Jesus is God and that He died for your sake.
When Jesus was resurrected, He overcame the separation that once existed between the Jews and the Gentiles (non-believers). All people, believers and unbelievers alike, have sinned and are not worthy of salvation. Yet God gives us salvation freely regardless, so long as we believe. Romans 3:22-24 is clear about this:
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
You have the choice to be chosen. One of God’s elect. You do not need to be sinless or blameless now. But you need to choose to transform yourself into someone who is the closest thing to sinless and blameless you can be. And you need to choose to live out your life in full faith to Christ Jesus.
God’s Family: The Chosen
Many non-believers change and come to be better believers than those who were raised in the faith. This is because being raised around Christianity does not mean you actually believe what you hear or see. This is why Jesus made clear that His family is made up of the chosen ones, the believers who love Him. In Mark 3:31-35, Jesus said:
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
But understand that Satan has a family too. A family of people dedicated to evil and set for destruction. And the chosen ones must be aware of this because the evil family will try to lead God’s family astray. Jude 1:4 says:
For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
What Should I Do If I Want to Be Chosen?
If you want to be chosen by God, then you must have faith in Him. And you must have love for all of God’s creation. You must understand and be okay with the fact that God calls to everyone, but few people come to Him. This puts you in a minority that will be persecuted by the majority that feels threatened by your faith. Jesus, in telling the Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1-14), said the following:
“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
You might not be a Christian right now, or you might be a drug addict or a murderer. But that doesn’t matter the moment you choose to have faith. For God will reach out and rescue you from the depths of your despair.
Read the Bible. Love God. Seek understanding. Have faith. And bear good fruits. Do these things and you will be chosen.
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