Chosen

If someone asked you to name the biggest blessing in your life, what would you say? There could probably be as many answers to that question as there are people who answer it.....but I wonder how many would name a spiritual blessing? That is what I want us to consider today -- our spiritual blessing[s] in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Last time we looked at the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus where he named those blessings one by one. I’m so excited, this week, to begin reflecting on those spiritual blessings, taking one at a time as Paul listed them. But before beginning the discussion of these blessings, we need to remember that Paul was writing to the church at Ephesus. He was writing to Christians, those who had turned to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And if you are a believer in Christ, then these blessings are yours too, and all that Paul has written here is for you as well. All believers are recipients of these blessings.
 
Paul began in Ephesians 1:4 with the blessing of being chosen by God, the blessing from which all the others flow. He wrote,  just as He chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him. Notice first that we were chosen in Christ. What does this mean? I think it is easiest to explain by taking a look at the nation of Israel. In Deuteronomy 7:6, Moses told the people of Israel, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. The Hebrew people believed that their privileged status as the people of God came from the fact that they were descendants of Abraham. Because Abraham was their “father” (1 Chronicles 29:18, John 8:39), all that God had promised to Abraham was theirs. God’s covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17) included them and so all the covenant blessings were theirs. In the same way, it is our relationship of being “in Christ” that is the ground for all of our spiritual blessings. As believers, our blessings come in Him and through Him.
 
We see two other important facts about this blessing also. First, God chose us before the world began, before we ever existed except in the mind of God (we’ll talk more about that next time). Second, God's purpose in choosing us was to bring us to the state of holiness, to make us blameless in His sight. This is a process that is known as sanctification, and it is taking place in the lives of believers as we go about our daily living. It is a process that will be completed when Christ comes again. Because God’s purpose for us is holiness, we can be sure it will be brought to completion.
 
But lets get on to the blessing of being “chosen”. What does it mean to be chosen? To be sure, there has been much discussion on this topic, but lets look at it in Scripture from the apostle Paul’s point of view. In 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, he wrote, for we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. Paul’s point was that when the Thessalonians believed the gospel message he preached to them, he knew they had been chosen by God. It was because God had chosen them that they received His message in the power of the Holy Spirit and came to faith in Christ.
 
Later, in his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote, we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you to be saved (2:13). Paul thanked God for the Thessalonians’ salvation. He did not thank them for choosing to be saved. Paul’s writings clearly show that when he speaks of being chosen, God is the chooser. God is the One who chooses to save us and call us to Himself. Our salvation is not the result of anything we did or could possibly do. This teaching is even more clear in Paul's letter encouraging Timothy to be strong in his suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began (2 Timothy 1:9).
 
In Ephesians 2, Paul explained, that before we believed, we were spiritually dead - until the Spirit of God called us. We were not able to respond to anything outside the realm of sin (2:1-3). Remember Lazarus who was dead until Jesus called his name (John 11)? In the same way, you and I were spiritually dead until the Spirit of God called us. And just as Lazarus could not boast, "Jesus couldn't have done it without me," neither can we. God overcomes our spiritual insufficiency and grants us faith that we might believe. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God--not because of works, lest any man should boast (8-9). Remember what Jesus said: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).
 
Wayne Grudem, in his book Systematic Theology, writes that the Bible’s teaching about the blessing of being chosen should be a comfort and encouragement to all believers. It is an assurance of our salvation by the sovereign choice of God. Being chosen is a gift by His grace, unconditional and guaranteed by the truth of His Word. In addition, it should give us encouragement to share the gospel with others. The apostle Paul, who resolutely preached the gospel across Asia and Europe, wrote, for this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory (2 Timothy 2:10). Paul endured grievous hardships to preach so the chosen would hear the gospel and believe.  Paul wrote that he was beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.  I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.  Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).  But Paul persevered in preaching because he knew that God did not call him to endure these things in vain. God knew the chosen would respond -- and so did Paul.
 
Knowing there are people whom God has chosen all around us in this world  guarantees there are souls hungry and waiting for God’s truth. You were once one of those people. But now you have heard and received the gospel message by faith. Who needs to hear the gospel through you? Who has God placed in your life who is ready to hear His truth right now? Who will you bless this week through the blessing God has bestowed upon you?

May we all, like the apostle Paul, endure all trials and hardships and persevere to share God's spiritual blessings with others,
Suzie
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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