[For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth] (Deut. 14:2). [You are a chosen generation , a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people] who are ... [chosen and faithful] (1Peter 2:9, Rev. 17:14). [I chose you out of the world] (John 15:19).
It is written in Deuteronomy 14:2 that the Lord God chose us to be His holy people. We know well that the triune Gods- the Father, the Son, and the Spirit - are all termed "the Lord." Then who out of the three chose us among all peoples of the earth? This is the issue we would like to question.
And now I would like to present an argument through the Bible, that it is God the Holy Father, our real Father who has chosen us.
Most believers today think that Jesus alone chose them (John 15:16) and takes care of them while the Father is unconcerned about them, only searching for their faults and sins with sharp eyes, who is stingy with His love and pardon and always seeking to give judgment and orders.
But I would like to prove, through the Bible, that this conception of God is absolutely contrary to reality and that our Father is not at all who we think.
I say again that He is our real Father who is not in the slightest bit less concerned about His sin-polluted children than Jesus or the Spirit. He is rather so much more concerned that [the very hairs of [our] head are all numbered ] (Matt. 10:30) by Him. He draws near to every child of His with tender care and love for each one individually. It is our heavenly Father who has chosen us out of all the people of the earth and made us heirs to His everlasting kingdom.
Every child of His that lived on earth throughout the ages have been [predestined according to the purpose of Him,] the only true God, [who works all things according to the counsel of His will] (Eph. 1:11). [The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will] (Eph. 1:3-5). [You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gave Him the name Abraham] (Neh. 9:7). And after that God also said to Moses, [Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you'] (Ex. 3:15). We can see that it was our Father who chose Moses, the leader of Israel. And [the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our father, glorified His Servant Jesus] (Acts 3:13), whom He had chosen to be the Savior of the world.
While I was preaching in a church regarding this subject one of the brethren asked, "But wasn't it Jesus who chose the Apostle Paul?" My answer to him was "No," and we opened the Bible. Let us now investigate this matter. Please find Acts 22:13-15 first. This is the word delivered by Ananias, a messenger of the Lord, [Brother Saul, receive your sight ... the God of our fathers (the Father) has chosen you that you should know His (the Father's) will and see the Just One(Jesus of Nazareth) and hear the voice of His (Jesus') mouth ; for you will be His (God's) witness to all men.] And later he praised the God of heaven in gratitude who had called and chosen him, [Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ... He chose us in Him before the foundation of the word] (Eph. 1:3, 4). He exclaimed [By the grace of God (the Father of Jesus) I am what which was with me] (1 Cor. 15:10).
Now let us find out about Jesus' twelve disciples. It seems as though they were chosen and called by Jesus Himself, but actually, our heavenly Father Himself chose them and committed them to Jesus His Son. What we must know first is that before Jesus chose and ordained the twelve, He had gone to His Father and spent a night in prayer. For it was a most profound and grave matter for Him to choose His disciples to whom would be entrusted the work of redemption of the world, that the Father and Son had begun with such great sacrifice, and upon whom the success or failure of it would depend upon. [In those days He went out to the mountain to pray; and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Him, and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles] (Luke 6:12, 13). These were the disciples whom God had given to Jesus in answer to His previous night's prayer, “Oh My Father who sent Me! Please choose for Me disciples who will take up the work of redemption that You have planned." And then He said, [No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him] (John 6:44). [All that the Father gives Me will come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out] (John 6:37). [I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand] (John 10:28). In these words He pledged Himself to protect and steadfastly preserve those whom His Father had given Him.
Indeed, there is no one under heaven who can snatch us out of the mighty hand of Jesus Christ, our General, who has overcome the world and has always been victorious in the battle against Satan the great enemy. Our stray and fall is not by the force of the enemy but by our own choice. Unless we agree, Satan the devil cannot snatch us from the bosom of our Lord Jesus Christ. [He who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him] (1 John 5:18). He also guarantees us double protection, [My Father ... is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand] (John 10;29). What a mighty and thorough, undestroyable double-walled protection our Father and Eldest Brother, who neither slumber nor sleep, guard us with! Moreover, we are also surrounded by three, four-fold walls of protection - the Holy Spirit and the attendance of thousands and ten thousands of angels.
Now finally, who has chosen you, reader? Let us incline our ears to the Bible, the true witness of God. [God is faithful, by whom you are called into the fellowship of His son, Jesus Christ our Lord] (1 Cor. 1:9). [The Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth] (Deut. 14:2). [You are a chosen generation ... His own special people] (1Peter 2:9). We are His own children whom He has chosen and called out of the world. What a wonderful grace and love of our Father it is! If our Father had not chosen us out of the world and drawn us to Jesus, who could enjoy communion with Jesus and become His friend today?
[In this is love, not that we loved God,] [He first loved us] (1 John 4:10, 19).
[All we like sheep have gone astray] (Isa. 53:6), but He loved us so much and made us His children.
Hymn
1. The love of God is far greater than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell:
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win;
His erring child he reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure - the saints' and angels' song.
2. Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure - the saints' and angels' song.
* Questions and Answers about the Doctrine of Foresight and Predestination
As I was traveling by train, a smart young man who was sitting in front of me asked me a question, "Excuse me, but are you not a pastor?" From this introduction, a conversation began with him asking, "In church I learned that because God has long ago chosen those whom He would save, it would be useless for those who are not chosen to believe in Him; meanwhile, the chosen ones would be saved by any means. Is this the true doctrine of the Bible?"
This is an issue that not only perplexed this young mind but is also disputed among many theologians today. The doctrine of foresight and predestination was first initiated by the words of Apostle Paul who said that God had chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world; and so a group of theologians assert that because God had chosen those who would be saved before the foundation of the world, none could be saved but them. Still others assert otherwise, based on the words of the Apostle John, "Since God so loved the world, He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him can be saved," therefore, the redeemed ones cannot have been fixed for salvation a long time ago. At this point I would like to say that both views are right. Though you may say, "What an absurd answer that is!" Let me have a moment to explain it.
There are about sixty students in a school classroom. The teacher in charge of the class is responsible for choosing the best student and giving that student a prize at the end of the year. Then can he not, being in charge of them all year round, foresee and predetermine who will win the first prize? It is easy for the teacher who has carefully watched his students, to foresee and predetermine who will win the first prize. And his foresight and predetermination is usually over 95% accurate, so at last, the one whom he foresaw and predetermined receives the first prize.
But there is an exception. If the one whom the teacher foresaw and predetermined unexpectedly deviates from his good conduct in the middle of the year and starts making bad friends, neglecting to study and going astray, while on the other hand, the unfaithful and mischievous pupil regrets his past and sets his heart to diligent studying, then eventually, the ends will somehow justify the means. This naughty and mischievous student will end up receiving the first prize upon evaluation of the final examination while the predetermined, expected winner will only lose out. In such a situation, can the teacher say to the mischievous student who got the highest grade, "Because you are not the one I foresaw and predetermined, I will not grant you the first prize. I will rather grant it to him whom I foresaw and predetermined at the beginning of the year, even though he got such a low grade by his negligence throughout the term?"
Perhaps there is no such teacher in the world who would judge so unfairly. Likewise, do you think our omniscient Father who knows everything from everlasting to everlasting, the past, present, and future, cannot foresee who are His faithful and obedient ones to be saved from a long time ago? Nothing is hidden from His sight. It is His responsibility and right to foresee and predetermine us, for He is our real Father who has begotten and brought us up. None can raise objection to His power. Who has the right to interfere with what He does as He pleases in how He brings forth and raises His own children or gives them rewards? Even parents in this world can bestow large fortunes upon the faithful ones while upon the reckless ones, they give no inheritance but rather drive them out; and yet, no one can interfere or question the parents' judgment.
We have seen in the Bible people such as Balaam the prophet and king Saul whom God had foreseen and predestined going astray to destruction. While on the contrary, people such as the burglar on the cross, who had led a degrading and corrupt life in the world, repent of his past sins and return to God, taking another's place and receiving the reward in heaven. Therefore, I do not believe in the theory that those whom God has foreseen and predestined from the beginning of the world will be saved at any rate. I believe that even the Gentiles who are not chosen will inherit eternal life and the kingdom of God if they only, though so late, like the burglar on the cross, return, repent and obey Him at anytime.
So I support both assertions that God has chosen those who will be saved since the beginning and that any one who believes in Him will be saved. Therefore, I am certain that both statements of Apostle Paul and Apostle John in the Bible are genuine truths that no one need misunderstand or doubt.
[When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. Again, when I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right ... walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die] (Eze. 33:13-15).
[As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?] (Eze. 33:11).
Praise the Lord! Glory to our righteous heavenly Father!
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